Theme Varie [CD]

Conceived as a treasure-trove of lesser-known French and Belgian repertoire, the works on this album span a forty-year period, from 1892 to 1932. A number of unifying threads run through the programme, perhaps the most significant of which is the influence of a composer whose music is not heard here at all: Cesar Franck. Franck taught and championed Guillaume Lekeu and Mel Bonis; and Bonis in turn taught Charlotte Sohy, whose principal composition teacher was Vincent d'Indy, one of Franck's most devoted acolytes. The artists decided against including Franck's Violin Sonata in favour of the work by his fellow Belgian Lekeu, much more rarely recorded, and hardly ever heard in the concert hall. A number of shorter works surround this sonata to form a uniquely rewarding programme, starting with Charlotte Sohy's Theme varie. Three works by Mel Bonis complement the duo's recording of her Violin Sonata on their previous album (CHAN 20275), whilst the two elegies by Saint-Saëns have also been unfairly neglected. Fascinatingly, the second elegie and Messiaen's Theme et variations are separated by just a dozen years, although they inhabit sound-worlds seemingly decades apart. Elsa Barraine was Messiaen's contemporary and lifelong friend. Her haunting Nocturne seemed to provide a fitting conclusion to this programme.