French Cello Sonatas, Vol. 4 - Magnard & Vierne

Albéric Magnard and Louis Vierne: Two French Masters of the Cello Sonata. The early years of the twentieth century were a time of transition in French music. While impressionism was gaining ground through Debussy and Ravel, some composers remained faithful to the ideals of structural clarity and expressive depth inherited from the Romantic tradition. Among these figures were Albéric Magnard and Louis Vierne, two artists whose sonatas for cello and piano, both composed in 1910, stand as monuments of French chamber music and offer contrasting yet complementary visions of their era. Albéric Magnard, born in Paris in 1865, was a pupil of Dubois, Guiraud, Massenet, and D'Indy at the Paris Conservatoire, and he frequented the circle of César Franck. In 1896 he became a teacher at Paris's Schola Cantorum. Then, from 1904, he settled in the countryside on his estate at Manoir des Fontaines in Baron (Oise), where he died in 1914, shot by German troops while attempting to defend the property. His last chamber work, the Sonata for Cello and Piano Op.?20, is among his most significant compositions. Composed between 1908 and 1910, it is structured in four movements like all his chamber works, betraying his devotion to German contemporaries and in opposition to French impressionism. Louis Vierne (1870-1937), having been taught by César Franck and Widor, became a famous organist. His most important post was that of Notre Dame in Paris, where he was celebrated for his improvisations. As a composer, he indulged in the post-Wagnerian language of his era: highly complicated counterpoint, dense, chromatic harmonies, and an exalted, spiritual atmosphere characterise his works. Vierne's Sonata for Cello and Piano in B minor Op.?27, composed in 1910, offers a fascinating counterpoint to Magnard's work. While Magnard emphasizes formal clarity, Vierne indulges in lyrical expansiveness and harmonic daring. This is the 4th instalment of the French Cello Sonatas, played by Marina Tarasova and Ivan Sokolov. Their earlier issues have won uniform enthusiastic critical acclaim. The Boëllmann and Widor sonatas merit the very best performances they can possibly have, and in the hands of Marina Tarasova and Ivan Sokolov, they receive them. Tarasova's full-throated, richly coloured cello tone sings with glorious voice, while Sokolov's piano serves as continuo in an elaborate counterpoint for and against the cello, always in perfect harmonization. (Fanfare)