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PHILIPPE CASSARD 29
To round off this most attractive programme, Philippe Cassard has chosen three
nocturnes.
The Nocturne no.2 in B major, op.33 no.2 (composed around 1881), opens
cantando
in the style of a song without words, as carefree as one might wish. This is swiftly
interrupted by a splendid toccata in B minor calling for the resources of high-
flying virtuosity. This section is soon traversed by a superb lyrical phrase (
dolce
espressivo
) ending on a tintinnabulation that reintroduces the initial ‘song without
words’, while the toccata makes a brief reappearance to end the piece on a note of
tranquillity (
ppp
).
The Fourth Nocturne in E flat major, op.36 (1884), has all the charm of the young
Fauré, mingling with feigned nonchalance a singing theme, soon accompanied
by bells pealing in alternation (E flat minor), with a lovely
cantando
episode that
reaches the heights of lyrical expression (G flat,
fortissimo
); then all grows calm
again with the return of the first two motifs of this irresistible piece.
The Nocturne no.11 in F sharp minor, op.104 no.1 (1913), is among the loftiest
inspirations of late Fauré: the charm of his youthful pieces gives way here to music
of subtle polyphony, perfectly dissonant: the dialogue between the two hands
superimposes over a tolling motif, in the left hand, a line bristling with minor
seconds, leading to a new section marked
cantando
; the
fortissimo
reprise of the
initial motifs attains supreme eloquence before ushering in a shimmering, pacified
coda. The explanation for the mournful character of this piece, among Fauré’s
finest and most audacious, is to be found in its dedication: ‘à la memoire de Noémi
Lalo’, who was the wife of the critic Pierre Lalo, son of the composer Édouard and
one of the most faithful supporters of that great artist Gabriel Fauré.