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22 13WALTZES
Nevertheless, it’s French music that dominates your programme, with
eight composers. In addition to Pierné and Fauré, you include Chabrier,
Satie, Séverac, Massenet, Debussy, and Tailleferre.
A.C.
: French music is my drug. Take Debussy’s
La plus que lente
, for example; that
piece does not age. And that’s another memory for me. I remember Marguerite
Long playing it at my request one day when I visited her. I was all the more touched
because I was aware that she had known Debussy, she had exchanged words and
ideaswithhim.
Laplusquelente
givesthefullmeasurenotonlyofhiswonderfulpiano
writing, but also of his sensibility; it’s a melancholy waltz, and how sensual it is!
Equally irresistible is the charmof Chabrier’s
Feuillet d’album
, a piece of extraordinary
simplicity and economy of resources, with an utterly delightful melody. And
‘charm’ is also the right word for Massenet’s
Valse très lente
; it’s probably a charm
of a more popular variety than Debussy’s
La plus que lente
, but just as pervasive.
And how marvellously it’s written for the instrument, as is the case with all
Massenet’s pianomusic! Indeed, he showed his Concerto to Liszt, who liked it a lot.
As for the
Valse romantique
of Déodat de Séverac, I obviously couldn’t leave himout.
For me, this composer from the Lauraguais region represents rural France; he
moves me.