Koechlin Songs
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 10/1987
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: A66243
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Si tu le veux |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Chansons pour Gladys |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Cortège d'Amphitrite |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Amphise et Melitta |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Déclin d'amour |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Aux temps des fées |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Repas préparé |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Chanson des ingénues |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Améthyste |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Hymne à Vénus |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: La nuit |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: Le thé |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: Le printemps |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: L'été |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: L'hiver |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: La lune |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: L'air |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
Composer or Director: Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin
Label: Hyperion
Magazine Review Date: 10/1987
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 57
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDA66243
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Si tu le veux |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Chansons pour Gladys |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Cortège d'Amphitrite |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Amphise et Melitta |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Déclin d'amour |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Aux temps des fées |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Repas préparé |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (Le) Chanson des ingénues |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Améthyste |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| Hymne à Vénus |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: La nuit |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: Le thé |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: Le printemps |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (5) Rondels, Movement: L'été |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: L'hiver |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: La lune |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
| (7) Rondels, Movement: L'air |
Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer
Boaz Sharon, Piano Charles (Louis Eugène) Koechlin, Composer Claudette Leblanc, Soprano |
Author: Michael Oliver
Koechlin's obsession with the stars of the silent screen, especially with the English actress Lilian Harvey, drew from him a vast amount of music but nothing odder than the Chansons pour Gladys (Gladys was the character Harvey portrayed in the film Calais-Douvres; the name may make us smile, but it sounds rather poetically classical in French). The fourth song of the cycle of seven is quite characteristic. In his text Koechlin gravely enshrines Harvey in classical imagery by using renaissance French archaisms, a misquoted line from Catullus (in Latin), even the English word 'lovely' (in the evident belief that it rhymes with 'Botticelli'). His setting of these words is delightful: raptly and contemplatively modal, but with just a hint (not always present in Koechlin's hymns to Harvey) that he realizes just how absurd he is being. Throughout the cycle the vocal lines are chastely incantatory, the bareness of their piano accomaniments sometimes hiding curious harmonic audacities; there is not much variety to them, but Koechling's mystical recognition of Harvey as Venus Anadyomene born again is genuinely visionary.
The seven Rondels prove, if proof were needed, that Koechlin was not so naive as the texts of the Chansons pour Gladys make him appear. They are in a lighter vein, almost a more 'popular' one (the sixth is an elegant spring song, with a nod towards Schumann, the seventh an enchantingly epigrammatic sketch of a pretty girl drinking tea, while in the third... goodness, is Koechlin really quoting from The Mikado?). Each of them would earn its place in any recital of French song; their neglect is inexplicable.
Between the poised purity of the one cycle and the charm of the other come a number of songs whose interest lies mainly in the quiet boldness of their harmony. Their vocal lines tend to deliquescence (like Faure left out in the rain), no doubt in response to the rather damp imagery of the texts Koechlin chose (''The sky was softer than the throat of a turtle-dove... Dreamingly, a frail nymph with long tresses wove pallid flowers about an amulet...''). But the two cycles are well worth getting to know: Claudette Leblanc sings them with purity and precision, though their range is sometimes wider than her voice can comfortably accommodate. Swallowed syllables at difficult moments aside, her diction is good, and her pianist is excellent; so is the recording.'
The seven Rondels prove, if proof were needed, that Koechlin was not so naive as the texts of the Chansons pour Gladys make him appear. They are in a lighter vein, almost a more 'popular' one (the sixth is an elegant spring song, with a nod towards Schumann, the seventh an enchantingly epigrammatic sketch of a pretty girl drinking tea, while in the third... goodness, is Koechlin really quoting from The Mikado?). Each of them would earn its place in any recital of French song; their neglect is inexplicable.
Between the poised purity of the one cycle and the charm of the other come a number of songs whose interest lies mainly in the quiet boldness of their harmony. Their vocal lines tend to deliquescence (like Faure left out in the rain), no doubt in response to the rather damp imagery of the texts Koechlin chose (''The sky was softer than the throat of a turtle-dove... Dreamingly, a frail nymph with long tresses wove pallid flowers about an amulet...''). But the two cycles are well worth getting to know: Claudette Leblanc sings them with purity and precision, though their range is sometimes wider than her voice can comfortably accommodate. Swallowed syllables at difficult moments aside, her diction is good, and her pianist is excellent; so is the recording.'
Koechlin Songs
Koechlin Songs
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