Charles Koechlin - The Persian Hours (Heinz Holliger)

Information

Composer: Charles Koechlin

1. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 1. Sieste, avant le départ
2. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 2. La caravane (rêve pendant la seste)
3. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 3. L'escalade obscure
4. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 4. Matin frais, dans la haute vallée
5. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 5. En vue de la ville
6. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 6. À travers les rues
7. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 7. Chant du soir
8. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 8. Clair de lune sur les terrasses
9. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 9. Aubade
10. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 10. Roses au soleil de midi
11. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 11. À l'ombre, près de la fontaine de marbre
12. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 12. Arabesques
13. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 13. Les collines, au coucher du soleil
14. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 14. Le conteur
15. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 15. La paix du soir, au cimetière
16. Les heures persanes, Op. 65bis: 16. Derviches dans la nuit - Clair de lune sur la place deserte

Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Heinz Holliger, conductor
Date: 2006
Label: Hänssler

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

The Persian Hours is a suite of 16 short movements that exists both as a piano cycle and in this orchestral guise. It's a very special, atmospheric work, mostly very slow and dreamy, and except for three or four movements (À travers les rues; the mini-tone-poem Le Conteur; and the final Dervishes dans la nuit) is often extremely quiet. The orchestration is incredibly delicate and subtle, and it's entirely typical of Koechlin that although the piece is harmonically extremely audacious for its time (1913-19), the music is so subdued that you might not be aware of its frequent polytonal or atonal basis. In short, this is a very remarkable piece, but not one for casual listening.

It's also a terribly difficult work to record, and on the whole Heinz Holliger does a much better job than Leif Segerstam for Marco Polo. In the first place, Holliger has the better orchestra, but more importantly he knocks about 10 minutes off the timing of the entire cycle. Segerstam is entirely too static; Holliger manages to convey stillness without stasis, and that is the key that makes listening to the whole thing at a sitting possible (should you be so inclined). Pity the engineers, though. The dynamic range here is almost too wide, with soft bits incredibly quiet, making the few loud outbursts a bit too noisy. It's very good sound, as might be expected from the SWR team, but not quite ideal for the work. Still, if you're in the market for The Persian Hours, this is the way to go.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Apr06/Koechlin_heures_93125.htm

http://www.classical-music.com/review/koechlin-8 

http://www.allmusic.com/album/charles-koechlin-les-heures-persanes-mw0001428642 

http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Koechlin-Les-Heures-persanes/dp/B000EQICCI 

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Charles Koechlin (27 November 1867 – 31 December 1950) was a French composer, teacher and writer on music. He was a political radical all his life and a passionate enthusiast for such diverse things as medieval music, The Jungle Book of Rudyard Kipling, Johann Sebastian Bach, film stars (especially Lilian Harvey and Ginger Rogers), traveling, stereoscopic photography and socialism. Koechlin was enormously prolific. Despite his lack of worldly success, Koechlin was apparently a loved and venerated figure in French music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Koechlin

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Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 in Langenthal, Switzerland) is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor. Holliger began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez. He is one of the world's most celebrated oboists, and many composers have written works for him. Holliger has also composed many works in a variety of media. Many of his works have been recorded for the ECM label.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Holliger

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