Gustave Samazeuilh - Le chant de la mer

Gustave Samazeuilh (1877 - 1967) - Le chant de la mer (1918 - 1919)

I. Prélude [0:00]
II. Clair de lune au large [3:33]
III. Tempête et lever du jour sur les flots [11:18]

Marie Catherine-Girod, piano (1997)

Le chant de la mer, by Gustave Samazeuilh, is a work in three movements usually lasting around 20 minutes. Samazeuilh studied with Ernest Chausson and Vincent d'Indy.

"Le Chant de la Mer (1918-19) is a massive three-movement work that is surely one of the most undervalued pieces of 20th century piano music. The Chant is highly structured and follows a ‘well-thought out temporal and symbolic scheme’. I imagine that listeners will immediately think of Claude Debussy’s orchestral suite La Mer and wonder if Samazeuilh has created a piano companion for this work. The actual progenitors of this work are once again Ernest Chausson and Vincent d’Indy. The opening Prelude is slow and majestic as a peaceful ocean ought to be and features ‘static layers of sound’. It is possibly more MacDowell than Debussy. The ‘Clair du lune au large’ can be perceived as an allegory of human passions expressed in terms of the movement of the tides with ‘moonlight on the waves’. The composer has not been blind to Debussy’s achievement in giving an impressionistic picture of the sea, and there are certainly several nods to La Mer, especially in the final movement, ‘Tempête et lever du jour sur les flots’ which musically paints ‘tempest and daybreak on the waves’ Here Samazeuilh makes use of ‘rapid flourishes, ostinatos and tremolos, chromatic broken-chord ascents and descents, and alternating black-and-white key glissandos…’ It is also clear to see the pianism of Liszt in this movement.

The three movements, in order, were dedicated to Francis Planté, Marguerite Long and Alfred Cortot respectively."

(source: John France - http://landofllostcontent.blogspot.co...)

Original audio:    • Gustave Samazeuilh - Marie-Catherine Girod...