Juilliard: ACJW Ensemble Performs Ligeti, Debussy and Fauré

Yesterday evening's recital at Paul Hall by the ACJW Ensemble featured chamber works by Ligeti, Debussy and Fauré.

The first piece on the program, and the one I was most interested in hearing, was Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet (1968) by György Ligeti.  This is not one of the composer's better known works but was still intriguing to hear since it provides an excellent example of Ligeti's use of "micropolyphony" in which tone clusters are no longer discrete but instead gradually transition from one to the next.  An article by Robert Kirzinger, quoted in online program notes provided by the Kimmel Center, details the structure of the work:

"Each movement treats one aspect or a particular instrument of the quintet. The even-numbered movements are miniature concertos for each of the instruments-the clarinet in the second movement, the flute in the fourth, the horn in a tiny reflection of Ligeti’s own Cello Concerto in the eighth movement, and so on. The odd-numbered movements are studies in ensemble texture and harmony..."

The next piece on the program was Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1915).  This was actually the fourth time I've heard this popular piece performed this season, and it has been interesting for me to track the differences among the various renditions.  In general, I found the ACJW's interpretation crisp and well articulated and thought it compared very well with that performed by Carol Wincenc and friends at her Juilliard faculty recital in October.  An interesting note found in the Wikipedia article states that the composer had originally intended to use an oboe in the instrumentation but had finally decided to replace it with the viola because he felt "that the viola’s timbre would be a better combination for the flute."

The final piece on the program was Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15. The piece had an unusually long gestation - it was written from 1876 to 1879 and was premiered in 1880; the final movement was then revised in 1883.  Like Debussy, Fauré rejected the influence of Wagner and German music and pursued his own course.  The quartet is an excellent early example of what he sought to accomplish in his chamber works almost all of which contain a piano in the instrumentation.  My favorite part in this piece is the piano melody, introduced by the strings' pizzicato, in the second movement scherzo.  It sounds incredibly modern to my ears and not at all a product of the nineteenth century. Though by no stretch of the imagination can Fauré be considered a romantic, the adagio that follows is passionate and intense and filled with emotion.