French Piano Music

[mballan]

Especially for HHH......Alexandre Edouard Goria (1823-1860) French pianist and composer. Studnt at the Paris Conservatoire from 1830 to 1839 under Dourlen and Zimmerman. He took first piano prize in 1835, and had a successful career as a teacher and composer of popular salon pieces and opera transcriptions.

Op 19 Reverie

Goria A - Reverie Op 19.pdf

Op 42 Semiramide Fantaisie

Goria A - Semiramide Fantaisie Op 42.pdf

Op 97 Tannhauser Fantaisie-Caprice

Goria A - Tannhauser Fantaisie-Caprice Op 97.pdf

.............and another work by Henri Rosellen (1811-1876) who I have covered previously on this thread [merci Mr P].

Op 94 Fantaisie on Robert Bruce

Rosellen H - Fantaisie on Robert Bruce Op 94.pdf

Malcolm

[oren segev]

One more by Goria

Goria -op 78 Au bord de la fontaine.pdf

Oren

[Richard0428]

If anyone is interested, there is a selection of intriguing piano pieces by Jehan Alain posted on YouTube (by yours truly!) under the playlist 'Jehan Alain - selected piano works'.
I'd be interested in people's opinions. I think he is an underrated composer for the piano and it's as much of interest to organists as it is to pianists by the way!

Many thanks for uploading these files (lots of fascinating stuff to wade through there!). Of the pieces I've heard so far, the Suite Monodique (all three movements) and the Lumière qui tombe d'un vasistas are particularly appealing, and it seems clear that Alain was a composer of real stature for the piano, with a quite original soundworld,fascinating in its consistantly dark, gnarly, slightly mystical character.
It's great to be introduced to unfamiliar music through the sheet music, but also by hearing it played by someone who's really knows the music and can state a good case for it. Unfortunately each day, after practicing the current repertoire and going to work, I find there's rarely time (or energy) to sightread through the vast majority of the tempting music that appears in these pages, so many fine pieces slip through the net. Therefore thanks very much once again for the audio files! Alain, it seems, is another French composer of little-known but very distinctive and strangely beautiful piano music. I'm filing him after Tournemire and Vierne and will be sure to try to learn a piece or two.

[fredbucket]

Especially for HHH......Alexandre Edouard Goria (1823-1860) French pianist and composer. Studnt at the Paris Conservatoire from 1830 to 1839 under Dourlen and Zimmerman. He took first piano prize in 1835, and had a successful career as a teacher and composer of popular salon pieces and opera transcriptions.

And this...

Goria - Op.98 Verdi La Traviata, Fantaisie brillante.pdf

Regards
Fred

[4candles]

If anyone is interested, there is a selection of intriguing piano pieces by Jehan Alain posted on YouTube (by yours truly!) under the playlist 'Jehan Alain - selected piano works'.
I'd be interested in people's opinions. I think he is an underrated composer for the piano and it's as much of interest to organists as it is to pianists by the way!

Many thanks for uploading these files (lots of fascinating stuff to wade through there!). Of the pieces I've heard so far, the Suite Monodique (all three movements) and the Lumière qui tombe d'un vasistas are particularly appealing, and it seems clear that Alain was a composer of real stature for the piano, with a quite original soundworld,fascinating in its consistantly dark, gnarly, slightly mystical character.
It's great to be introduced to unfamiliar music through the sheet music, but also by hearing it played by someone who's really knows the music and can state a good case for it. Unfortunately each day, after practicing the current repertoire and going to work, I find there's rarely time (or energy) to sightread through the vast majority of the tempting music that appears in these pages, so many fine pieces slip through the net. Therefore thanks very much once again for the audio files! Alain, it seems, is another French composer of little-known but very distinctive and strangely beautiful piano music. I'm filing him after Tournemire and Vierne and will be sure to try to learn a piece or two.

Thanks for your response Richard.

Tournemire is another of my favourite French composers and Vierne's piano music is more idiomatic than I thought it would be, considering he is perhaps most famous for his organ music.

Another composer I am really becoming interested in now is Charles Koechlin, who wrote some fascinating music in many different genres. I was first drawn in by his 'Chansons Bretonnes' for cello and piano and hope to purchase some more of his music soon.

Best,
4c

[oren segev]

If anyone is interested, there is a selection of intriguing piano pieces by Jehan Alain posted on YouTube (by yours truly!) under the playlist 'Jehan Alain - selected piano works'.
I'd be interested in people's opinions. I think he is an underrated composer for the piano and it's as much of interest to organists as it is to pianists by the way!

Many thanks for uploading these files (lots of fascinating stuff to wade through there!). Of the pieces I've heard so far, the Suite Monodique (all three movements) and the Lumière qui tombe d'un vasistas are particularly appealing, and it seems clear that Alain was a composer of real stature for the piano, with a quite original soundworld,fascinating in its consistantly dark, gnarly, slightly mystical character.
It's great to be introduced to unfamiliar music through the sheet music, but also by hearing it played by someone who's really knows the music and can state a good case for it. Unfortunately each day, after practicing the current repertoire and going to work, I find there's rarely time (or energy) to sightread through the vast majority of the tempting music that appears in these pages, so many fine pieces slip through the net. Therefore thanks very much once again for the audio files! Alain, it seems, is another French composer of little-known but very distinctive and strangely beautiful piano music. I'm filing him after Tournemire and Vierne and will be sure to try to learn a piece or two.

Thanks for your response Richard.

Tournemire is another of my favourite French composers and Vierne's piano music is more idiomatic than I thought it would be, considering he is perhaps most famous for his organ music.

Another composer I am really becoming interested in now is Charles Koechlin, who wrote some fascinating music in many different genres. I was first drawn in by his 'Chansons Bretonnes' for cello and piano and hope to purchase some more of his music soon.

Best,
4c

Here are some koechlin pieces
There are some more on Imslp for those which ineresting
Oren

Koechlin - Les Heures persanes Op.65.pdf

Koechlin - 10 Little Easy Pieces Op.62.pdf

Koechlin - Dances for Ginger.pdf

Koechlin - Hommage a Faure.pdf

[oren segev]

...And some by Tournemire
Little more for piano on Imslp

Tournemire - Etudes de chaque jour Op. 70.pdf

Tournemire - Op.62, Cloches de Châteauneuf-du-Faou.pdf

Oren

[Richard0428]

If anyone is interested, there is a selection of intriguing piano pieces by Jehan Alain posted on YouTube (by yours truly!) under the playlist 'Jehan Alain - selected piano works'.
I'd be interested in people's opinions. I think he is an underrated composer for the piano and it's as much of interest to organists as it is to pianists by the way!

Thanks for your response Richard.

Tournemire is another of my favourite French composers and Vierne's piano music is more idiomatic than I thought it would be, considering he is perhaps most famous for his organ music.

Another composer I am really becoming interested in now is Charles Koechlin, who wrote some fascinating music in many different genres. I was first drawn in by his 'Chansons Bretonnes' for cello and piano and hope to purchase some more of his music soon.

Best,
4c

I like your taste in music! I'm slowly wading through the Vierne piano music (there's an excellent 2CD set on Timpani of the complete piano works, and most of it is on PDF, thanks to some very kind contributors); there's some wonderful stuff there. The most immediately captivating is the magical third nocturne, which in a fair world would be a popular favorite, but the Suite Bourguinonne is also a lovely earlyish suite in an easily accessible style. The other suite, Solitude is much more profound stuff, and delves into some extraordinary harmonic territory, although the last movement strikes me as a little conventionally Lisztian in its demonic Danse Macabre (although this might be just waht the composer intended).
My introduction to Tournemire was through his eight symphonies (the last six are enchanting examples of the French symphony) but as you say he wrote some marvellous piano music! My favorite piece to date is the twelve Preludes-poemes (again thanks to a contributor on Pianophilia for the pdf score; you can hear a couple of them played on Youtube, and they've been recorded complete on CD). The pieces very clearly anticipate Messiaen. It's a crime that a few of them at least aren't at least a bit better known.
I know less of Koechlin's piano music than of his orchestral music, some of which is quite extraordinary, but Heures Persennes and Paysages et Marines do have some wonderfully evocotive music. Any ideas for further listening/playing would be much appreciated.

[4candles]

Here are some koechlin pieces
There are some more on Imslp for those which ineresting
Oren

Koechlin - Les Heures persanes Op.65.pdf

Thanks for these Oren! I have also checked IMSLP. There's just SO much stuff out there!

[4candles]

...And some by Tournemire
Little more for piano on Imslp
Oren

Great to have these too, thanks so much!
4c