String Quartets no 1 & no 2, Pieces for clarinet and piano, Prelude & dance for oboe and piano

Claudel-Canimex Quartet: Élaine Marcil , violin / Marie-Josée Arpin, violin / Annie Parent, viola / Jeanne de Chantal Marcil, cello

Simon Aldrich, clarinet / Lise Beauchamp, oboe / Sara Laimon, piano

20-page booklet

Release date : 09-2006

Nearly all the content of this disc is a world premiere recording. Before going to the studio, the Claudel-Canimex Quartet played Delerue's two String Quartets in concert. With all the intensity and the precision that made their reputation, the four musicians women render wonderfully the tension and the surges of passion of these demanding works. The pieces for clarinet and oboe with piano accompaniment, played by renowned soloists, make a good introduction to Delerue's classical style. This release will please to every film music fan already familiar with the composer's production, as well as to every fan of contemporary music.

Four pieces for clarinet and piano

01. Valse mélancolique  1:25

02. Romance  1:40

03. Aria  1:39

04. Elegia  4:09 

05. Prélude et danse pour hautbois et piano  7:12  

String Quartet no 1 (25:48)

06. Allegro  7:20

07. Vif et léger  5:08

08. Adagio  7:50

09. Allegro vivace  5:31 

String Quartet no 2  (19:24)

10. Lento-allegro  7:05 

11. Lento  5:09

12 Allegro con moto  7:09

TT  62:00

Christophe Huss - Le Devoir, Montreal, 09-29-06 (translated from French)

Those who are seeking for easy tunes will be disappointed, but it is obvious that Delerue masters perfectly music writing and delivers here, like in his pieces for clarinet, his private diary, his torments. The Claudel-Canimex is as much convincing on disc as in concert.

Claude Gingras - La Presse, Montreal, 04-14-07 (translated from French)

Delerue was very skilful at writing for the quartet. Favouring neo-classical style an polytonal language, he knew how to get the best from the four instruments with tight tones, while highlighting at times the two violins, the viola and, with special eloquence, the deep voice of the cello. Nimbleness, restlessness and solemnity alternate during the seven movements.

Robert Schulslaper - Fanfare, USA, Sept/Oct 2008, Issue 32:1

The second “classical” disc concentrates on Delerue’s String Quartets Nos.1 and 2, but begins with Four Pieces for clarinet and piano. These brief miniatures touch on Satie and Schubert, but are not purely imitative, being graced with Delerue’s personal blend of charm and simplicity. While the first three pieces blend easily with Delerue’s film style, Elegie’s probing melodic line, sophisticated harmonies, and relatively complex accompaniment would only be heard in a concert hall. The bleak mood will surprise those who imagine that Delerue only wrote sweetly nostalgic romantic themes. Next, the slow, intense opening of the Prelude and Dance for oboe and piano is coupled with an energetic second movement that could find favor with modern choreographers. It’s exotic, subtly ecstatic, with a hint of Dionysian revelry.

Fontaine’s sensible advice to those encountering the quartets for the first time is to set preconceptions aside: “Throughout his career, Georges Delerue favoured the strings, often using them exclusively, or almost so, in his film scores. However, don’t expect to find here the melodic style, often tinged with romanticism, which characterizes his most famous film music. Instead, Delerue opts for a polytonal style, which inevitably is more disconcerting and sets a more dramatic tone.” It’s possible to hear the First Quartet as an homage to Ravel, but other presences make themselves heard. For example, an exultant episode at 4:55 into the Allegro reminds me of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht. The pizzicato second movement, Vif et léger, certainly brings Ravel’s Quartet to mind, but Fontaine proposes the Scherzo from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, along with Honegger in general, as possible influences. Moving on, the Adagio is fraught with an anxiety that’s temporarily dispelled, but not vanquished, returning to end the movement on an unquiet note.

The Second Quartet owes more to Shostakovich than to Ravel: I hear a similar gripping intensity, dynamic accentuation, and thematic concentration throughout the three movements. Not that the earlier quartet is diffuse or less tautly argued, nor is the performance limp or lackluster—far from it. Rather it’s that the playing in the Second seems even more focused and passionate. As an example, listen to the third movement’s eerie prestissimo sections, played with flawless precision and thrilling energy.

© Disques CinéMusique