Day 23

Hey! One video and the same four PDF’s.

Downloads:
4, just in case you any of these again.

practice checklist 1 - broad strokes
practice checklist 2 - mid-range
practice checklist 3 - prism
practice checklist 4 - detailed

Today’s Recommended Listening:

Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)
“Tout un monde lointain”: I. Énigme

(Cello + Orchestra)

Jean-Guihen Queyras
Orchestra Philharmonique de Luxembourg (Gustavo Gimeno conducting)
[Spotify] - 7 minutes

I adore this concerto. My first experience with Dutilleux was when I encountered his “Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher” for solo cello as a sophomore in college. Richard had wanted us to do the 12 “Sacher” Pieces, commissioned and premiered by Rostropovich for the 80th Birthday of Paul Sacher, a conductor and music patron. 

The 12 works in the set are by Conrad Beck, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Henri Dutilleux, William Fortner, Alberto Ginastera, Cristobal Halffter,  Hans Werener Henze, Heinz Holliger, Klaus Huber, Witold Lutoslawski, on a theme written by Benjamin Britten. (Those pieces, incidentally, are now 50 years old). I found a 2-CD set of Patrick & Thomas Demenga playing them and was hooked on this cycle of works.

Dutilleux’s Concerto, Tout un Monde Lointain, followed just a few years after his stunning Trois Strophes. The Concerto is in five movements and every movement is incredible. Dutilleux, like Barber, had a very small output of works but every one of them is a masterpiece. This opening of the concerto has one of my favorite moments in music, ever - when the cello reaches the high note after the opening cadenzas and the orchestra plays a chord and then changes the chord before the cello begins its descent. Dutilleux’s orchestral writing is so lush and evocative, and the virtuosity of the cello is on clear display.

Jean-Guihen Queryas is a French cellist born in Canada. Without knowing who he was, I actually grew up on a few of his recordings as a soloist with Ensemble Intercontemporain. When I was exploring, I discovered more than a dozen albums that I’d never seen before, and I’m looking forward to diving more into it.

What to explore next:

      1. Dutilleux - Trois Strophes sur le Nom de Sacher for Solo Cello
        [Demenga]

      2. Dutilleux - String Quartet 
        [Juilliard String Quartet]

      3. Ligeti - Cello Concerto 
        [Queryas / Ensemble Intercontemporain]

See you tomorrow!
—Eric