CLASSICAL new release harmonia mundi UK available 11th ...

HMU907501
Barcode: 093046750121
Bela BARTOK
44 Duos for two Violins
Angela & Jennifer Chun (violins)
Rather than mere technical studies, Béla Bartók's 44 Duos for 2
Violins are studies in musicianship and the integration of folk song
into the composer's personal idiom. All but two of the themes are
traditional - culled from the 'peasant' tunes Bartók gathered in his
fieldwork. For this spirited recording, Angela and Jennifer Chun
have prepared a new grouping of these colourful miniatures.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
Fantasy HMU907444 "Recommended." Classic FM Magazine
HMC905267
Barcode: 794881941223
Thierry PÉCOU
Symphonie du jaguar / Vague de Pierre*
Ensemble Zellig, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France /
François-Xavier Roth & Jonathan Stockhammer*
An irresistible energy irradiates the entire sound material of
Thierry Pécou's orchestral music, right down to the silences.
This almost spiritual celebration of rhythm is extremely rare in
contemporary composers. Impelled by their rhythmic drive, the
Symphonie du Jaguar and Vague de pierre explore the mysteries of
the pre-Columbian mythologies of Maya Mexico and the literary
painters of ancient China. The Symphonie du Jaguar refers to the
cyclic course of time and the trajectory of the sun (Kin), in its incarnation as the daystar, and in the form of a
red jaguar in its journey into the bowels of the earth where it is regenerated. Here there are five cardinal
points - east, west, north, south, and centre, symbolised respectively by the four solo instruments (clarinet,
trombone, violin and cello) and, in the centre, the female chorus; at the end of the work, the clarinet and
trombone emit calls in the five directions.
Whereas the Symphonie du Jaguar was inspired by Mayan civilisation, Vague de pierre - 'Stone wave', a literal
translation of 'Shi Tao', the name of a Chinese literary painter of the late Manchu dynasty - is underpinned by
an external source, the writings of François Cheng and François Jullien on art and philosophy in China.
Born in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1965, Thierry Pécou has received many prizes for his compositions, which
have been commissioned by leading institutions and performers.
He frequently performs his own works at the piano, as director of Zellig, a flexibly sized ensemble devoted to
new music of which he is the founder, or as soloist with orchestra in his piano concertos (Tremendum and
L'Oiseau innumérable).
ALSO AVAILABLE: HMC901974 L'Oiseau innumérable/Alexandre Tharaud
"His collaboration with Pécou brilliantly synthesizes the delicacy and translucency of French composition
post-Ravel…The result is an appealing sound world and a highly recommended recording."
International Piano, September/October 2008
harmonia mundi UK- released 11th January 2010