Search - Jehan Ariste Alain, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Olivier Charlier :: Henri Dutilleux: L'Arbre des Songes (Concerto for Violin & Orchestra) / Timbres, Espace, Mouvement / Two Sonnets by Jean Cassou / Prière pour Nous Autres Charnels - BBC Philharmonic / Yan Pascal Tortelier

A master

Daniel Unger | California | 03/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was, I'm afraid to say, my first encounter with Dutilleux's music. Although not as earth-shaking an experience as my first time hearing Messiaen, it was nevertheless an overwheming one. I found "Timbres, espace" to be a truly powerful work, demonstrating the composer's utter mastery. I actually was looking at a reproduction of Van Gogh's "La Nuit etoilee" while listening to the piece, and it was genuinely transforming. I look forward to hearing this work live in concert, and only wish more orchestras would take the time and effort to program more works by this great composer. The other works on this recording, especially the concerto for violin, are all remarkable. Dutilleux certainly deserves his place as a 20th-century master."

Very impressive

D. Jack Elliot | Omaha, Nebraska | 10/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The difficulty in free-form, coloristic writing such as Dutilleux's is that the audience has no point of reference, no learned expectations to enable them to understand what the composer is up to. In other words, the composer's task is in one way much easier if he keeps to the conventions of, say, a sonata form; for he then can play upon what the audience expects of such a form, for dramatic effect and immediate, all but guaranteed comprehension. So in free-form, through-composed music such as is found in these pieces, it can be a real challenge for the composer to communicate with his audience.



Dutilleux meets this challenge more than ably. His expressive devices and gestures are so effective and distinct, and the formal architecture of the pieces, while not generally based in any conventional forms, develops according to such an intelligent emotive logic, that there's no difficulty following the progression of ideas. Rather than being aimless, then (as this kind of writing can easily become), these are gorgeous, expressive, and uniquely original orchestral compositions. I much prefer Dutilleux to the other composers of this sort of music with whom I am familiar: Varese, Zappa, and Salonen.



The BBC Philharmonic plays the music with enthusiasm, as though they'd been raised on this style. This disc presents some of the most fulfilling musical Modernism I've ever come across. Highly recommended."