A Celebration of Henri Dutilleux
The Continuum Ensemble celebrated the music and life of one of the finest composers of our time, Henri Dutilleux in his 90th year. The program collects together all his important ensemble and chamber music for the first time.
Henri Dutilleux travelled from his home in Paris to attend the concert in the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London and spoke at a pre-concert talk reflecting on his life and music, in conversation with Kenneth Hesketh (program repeated at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge),
April and May 2005.
Program
Figures de Résonances;
Prelude I: D’ombre et de Silence, Prelude II: Sur un même accord,
Prelude III: Le jeu des contraires;
Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher;
Deux Sonnets de Jean Cassou; San Francisco Night(only recently rediscovered and made available to perform);
Les Citations
Included were two world premieres by British composers who studied with Dutilleux, Kenneth Hesketh and Andrew McBirnie and the rarely heard Trois Poemes de Mallarmé by Maurice Ravel, who was still active when Dutilleux was a student at the Paris Conservatoire in the 1930s.’
Simon Blendis violin Jerome Pernoo cello Garry Magee baritone
Douglas Finch piano Marie Vassiliou soprano Julian West oboe
The Continuum Ensemble, Philip Headlam conductor