MUSIC FOR AND PIANO Saint-Saëns · Dutilleux · Boutry

Carmen Mainer Martín Enrique Escartín Ara Music for Bassoon and Piano There has been far more music written for the bassoon than the general public, music- lovers or even professional musicians might imagine. It is common to associate the Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013) Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) instrument with playing a secondary role, merely providing harmonic support, given 1. Sarabande et Cortège pour 16 Valsas para fagote solo its low range and “less than virtuosic” character. In fact, however, we bassoonists basson et piano, 1942 7’27 9. Aquela Modinha que o Villa are lucky enough to have a repertoire that includes some of the finest works in the não Escreveu, 1981 1’46 History of Music, by composers from Antonio Vivaldi to Isang Yun. Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) 10. Mistério, 1981 2’06 This album is the latest step in a journey that began almost twenty years ago, when Sonate pour basson avec 11. Valsa Improvisada, 1981 3’07 I held a bassoon in my hands for the very first time. I wanted to record a selection of accompagnement de piano, 1921 some of the most important works written for the instrument during the twentieth 2. I. Allegretto moderato 2’54 Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) century – pieces whose characteristics reflect the rapid changes in artistic expression 3. II. Allegro scherzando 4’01 Sonate für Fagott und Klavier, 1938 that occurred as this short, exciting century unfolded. The album can, therefore, 4. III. Adagio. 12. I. Leicht bewegt 2’01 be seen as an overview of the music that defined that period, but my own personal Allegro moderato 6’36 13. II. Langsam. Marsch. Beschluß, preferences also came into play as I chose the repertoire heard here. Pastorale-Ruhig 6’15 I decided to include Saint-Saëns’s for bassoon and piano not only because of Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986) its undoubted significance in the history of music for bassoon, but also because it was Sonatine pour basson et piano, 1952 Alex Nante (1992-) a work I was particularly keen to revisit. This, the composer’s swan-song, opened up 5. I. Allegro con moto 2’23 14. Ocho variaciones sobre la a new path in bassoon music in the early part of the century, challenging Stravinsky’s 6. II. Aria (Largo cantabile) 3’05 imagen de un sueño, 2017* 12’37 audacious treatment of the bassoon in Le Sacre du printemps and the technical 7. III. Scherzo (Molto vivace) 2’53 Imagen (Austero) capacity of the instrument – the sonata makes use of its full range – while still owing Var. I. Nervoso something to Romanticism at its purest. Roger Boutry (1932-) Var. II. Surreale Hindemith’s Bassoon Sonata, an often undervalued work, is in fact one of the 8. Interférences I pour basson Var. III. Mercuriale gems of our repertoire. Its dark, sombre sonorities, flecked with moments of timid et piano, 1972 9’40 Var. IV. Enigmatico poco rubato luminosity with recognisably “tonal” chords, reflect the troubled times through which Var. V. Evocativo Europe was living in 1938 and seem to anticipate the disaster then hovering over the Var. VI. Sognante perturbato world. Var. VII. Fantastico, rubato Dutilleux’s Sarabande et Cortège is an intimate piece that explores two key Var. VIII. Devoto characteristics of the bassoon’s sound: mournfulness – as heard in the long phrases of This piece is dedicated to Ana and the Sarabande – and humour – as heard in the contrasting articulations that define the Carmen Mainer Martín

Carmen Mainer Martín bassoon Enrique Escartín Ara piano Ana Mainer Martín flute *World premiere recording Cortège. Written a few years later, Tansman’s develops the same ideas, with La música escrita para fagot es mucho más abundante que lo que el público general, its songlike melody for bassoon in the second movement and a sense of mischief in melómano o incluso profesional, puede llegar a imaginar. Comúnmente se suele the Scherzo finale. asociar al fagot un papel secundario, de mero sustento armónico, dados su tesitura The works I’ve chosen by Roger Boutry and Francisco Mignone were composed grave y su carácter “poco virtuoso”. No obstante, los fagotistas tenemos la inmensa barely a decade apart, towards the end of the century, but differ hugely in idiom. suerte de contar con algunas de las más bellas obras de la Historia de la Música, Boutry explores a variety of rhythmical and melodic combinations as he creates an desde Antonio Vivaldi a Isang Yun. uninterrupted dialogue between bassoon and piano, generating his soundworld by Este disco es un escalón más en una etapa que comenzó hace casi veinte años, means of these “interferences”. Mignone, meanwhile, brings together his two main cuando tuve por primera vez un fagot en las manos. En él he querido recopilar sources of inspiration – European Romanticism and the music of his native Brazil – in algunas de las que constituyen las obras clave escritas para fagot durante el siglo the waltzes he composed for solo bassoon towards the end of his life. XX y que reflejan, por sus características, la rapidez con que cambian y se suceden The album ends with Alex Nante’s Variations for flute, bassoon and piano, a rare las manifestaciones artísticas en este siglo corto y apasionante. Así, este disco puede addition to the very limited repertoire written for this formation (an earlier example escucharse como un recorrido por la música que definió el siglo pasado. No obstante, being the Trio written by Beethoven in his youth). I chose this work for two reasons: en la elección de la música interpretada – que abarca un espectro de casi cien años firstly because Alex and I have been friends since our paths first crossed in Paris, – han primado no sólo su importancia en el repertorio fagotístico, sino también la and secondly because I am fascinated by his musical language and his way of seeing preferencia de estas obras sobre otras que responde a un criterio muy personal. the world, both of which are encapsulated in this work, whose premiere I had the La decisión de incluir la sonata para fagot y piano de Saint-Saëns no responde pleasure of giving. únicamente a su indudable relevancia en la historia del repertorio para fagot, sino © written by Carmen Mainer Martín también al deseo de abordar una vez más esta obra que constituye el canto de cisne Translation by Susannah Howe del compositor e inaugura con una luz especial una nueva vía en la música para fagot en los albores del siglo XX, desafiando las osadías de Stravinsky enLe Sacre du Printemps y la técnica del instrumento, abarcando la totalidad del registro, sin por ello dejar de ser deudora del más puro Romanticismo. La sonata para fagot y piano de Paul Hindemith es una pequeña joya en nuestro repertorio, a menudo minusvalorada en beneficio de otras. Su sonoridad sombría, oscura, jalonada de momentos de tímida luminosidad con acordes reconocibles como “tonales”, refleja el momento convulso que vivía Europa en 1938 y parece preludiar la debacle que se cernía sobre el planeta. La Sarabande et Cortège de Dutilleux es una pieza intimista, que explora dos de las características principales del sonido del fagot: la melancolía – a través de las largas frases de la zarabanda – y el sentido del humor – en los juegos de articulación que Carmen Mainer Martín graduated definen el cortejo. Unos años más tarde, la sonatina de Tansman desarrolla las mismas in bassoon from the Conservatorio ideas, destacando el canto del fagot en el segundo movimiento y el carácter malicioso Superior de Música de Aragón (CSMA), del Scherzo final. where she studied with Juan Sapiña. Acercándonos al fin de siglo, las obras que he escogido de Boutry y Mignone se She has also had the opportunity to hallan separadas entre sí por un intervalo de apenas diez años, pero son exponentes learn from bassoonists such as Sergio de dos lenguajes opuestos: mientras Boutry se adentra en las diferentes combinaciones Azzolini, Gustavo Núñez, Amrei rítmicas y melódicas en un diálogo constante entre el fagot y el piano, generando el Liebold, Enrique Abargues, Stefano ambiente sonoro a través de estas “interferencias”, Mignone, en el ocaso de su vida, Canuti, Josep Borrás and Fany Maselli, sintetiza en sus valsas para fagot solo el romanticismo europeo y la música brasileña, in Spain, Italy and France. In Spain she sus dos fuentes de inspiración principales. has worked with orchestras including Finalmente, las variaciones de Alex Nante para flauta, fagot y piano cierran el disco the Joven Orquesta de Euskal Herria y constituyen una aportación al repertorio escrito para esta formación, poco habitual (EGO), Joven Orquesta Internacional a excepción del trío escrito por Beethoven en su juventud. La elección de esta obra Oviedo Filarmonía (JOIOF) and se debe a dos razones: la amistad que me une a Alex desde que nuestros caminos se Orquesta de Cámara del Maestrazgo, cruzaron en París y el profundo interés que despiertan su lenguaje musical y su forma and in France with ensembles such de entender el mundo, que quedan perfectamente resumidos en la obra que he tenido as the wind quintet Le Concert el placer de estrenar. Impromptu. In 2015 she won the Performance Prize awarded annually by the Colegio © written by Carmen Mainer Martín de España in Paris in cooperation with Spain’s National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM – part of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport). She has a master’s degree in Music and Musicology from the Sorbonne University in Paris and a degree in History of Art from the University of Zaragoza. As well as performing with contemporary music ensemble Écoute and the Gavarnie Ensemble, she is involved with the Paris Philharmonie’s DÉMOS outreach project and teaches bassoon at the Ville-d’Avray Conservatory and Georges Bizet Conservatory in Paris. In Autumn 2017, she was granted the Formación Artística Scholarship by the Provincial Delegation of Zaragoza, receiving tuition from David Tomàs-Realp in the first semester 2018. Enrique Escartín Ara Ana Mainer Martín graduated in flute from began his musical the Conservatorio Superior de Música de education at Huesca’s Aragón and has a Master’s Degree in Music Miguel Fleta Music and Musicology from the Sorbonne University. School, with its director She has also studied with flautists Peter-Lukas Conrado Betrán, before Graf, Vicens Prats, Claude Lefèbvre, Magdalena moving on to study Martínez, Jaime Martín, Javier Castiblanque, piano with Concepción Juana Guillem and Juan Carlos Chornet, Garralda at the same city’s among others, and regularly gives concerts in Conservatorio Profesional. both Spain and France. She plays with groups He then won a place at the such as contemporary music ensemble Écoute Conservatorio Superior de and the Gavarnie Ensemble, of which she is a Música de Aragón, where founder member, and has a special interest in he specialised in piano contemporary music, often performing pieces with Iván Cítera and with the Cuarteto Casals. During this period he from the solo repertoire in concert. She received also attended advanced courses in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria. Later the jury’s Special Mention for the 2016 Colegio he undertook postgraduate studies with pianist Josep Colom. Since 2007 he has de España/INAEM Performance Prize. Part taught piano accompaniment at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, of the Paris Philharmonie’s DÉMOS outreach participating in masterclasses and recitals with musicians such as trombonists Gilles project, she is continuing her studies with Emily Millière, Joe Alessi, Stefan Schulz, Jorgen van Rijen and Michel Becquet, bassoonists Beynon and with Carlos Bruneel, under whose Gustavo Núñez, Guillaume Santana, Sergio Azzolini and Stefano Canuti, and flautists guidance she is currently working towards a János Bálint, Clara Andrada, Emily Beynon, Juliette Hurel and Davide Formisano, master’s degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB). among others. During 2014 he taught at Berlin’s University of the Arts, as part of the In Autumn 2017, she was granted the Formación Artística Scholarship by the Erasmus programme. He also has a degree in Physical Activity and Sport Science from Provincial Delegation of Zaragoza. the University of Zaragoza. Actividad subvencionada por el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.

I’d like to thank my family; my teachers; the Colegio de España (Paris); the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Huesca; the Conservatorio Profesional de Música, Zaragoza; and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón.

Recording: 28-31 August 2017, Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain. Recording Engineer and Editing: Gonzalo Noqué (Eudora Productions). Equipment: Neumann U89i (Rens Heijnis modified) and Schoeps microphones, Horus preamplifier and converter, Pyramix DAW. Executive Producer: Davidsbuendler, with the kind support of the Colegio de España in Paris and the INAEM (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport) Artists’ photos: Carmen by Alberto Pérez Puyal, Ana by Marién Martín Valdunciel, Enrique by Marcos Serrate Cover: Alberto Pérez Puyal p & © 2018 Brilliant Classics