Jérémie Conus - Swiss Piano Music by Arthur Honegger & Frank Martin (2022)

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Jérémie Conus - Swiss Piano Music by Arthur Honegger & Frank Martin (2022)

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The 20 th century was indeed a very fascinating time. Musically, this century offered an incomparable variety of movements. From post-romanticism, neo-classicism, im pres sionism, jazz to the most diverse developments in the field of atonal and serial music, at the same time, people were composing in a vast variety of styles. Therefore, it is difficult to assign a single style to a composer, especially since the boundaries between them were very fluid and influences from the most diverse fields can be recognized in the works of many composers. In Arthur Honegger’s case, the French influences are unmistakable. Honegger, who grew up in Zurich, spent a large part of his life in France. He there was a member of the Groupe des Six, a group of six composers, whose members included Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. Their common interest lay in contemporary forms of light music, which is reflected in Honegger’s piano works as he did not tend to write large, hard-to-digest compositions. Instead, his piano works are defined by smaller character pieces, which, in a rather modern language, always contain a hint of French lightness and elegance. Moreover, Honegger turned out to be an extremely ingenious melodist. He had the gift of composing charming little melodies that remained in your ears for the rest of the day. Listen, for example, to the fourth piece from the Sept pièces brèves. Simply delightful, isn’t it?

Frank Martin’s music is more difficult to assign a certain style to. For me, Martin has his very own, incomparable style. There is this archaic foundation of his harmony, con sisting of major and minor chords, often underpinning the melody like a chorale. French influences are recognizable here and there, also the use of the twelve-tone technique or the melody of the sixth Prélude, which jumps strangely in large intervals, evoke associations with the Second Viennese School around Arnold Schönberg. The Flamenco Fantasy, on the other hand, is based on Latin American rhythms. Processed in his own language, all these characteristics, and many more, lead to the incredibly rich, intense music that Frank Martin has left us.