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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nI<\/em>ntimate Impressions<\/em> (for 2 guitars)<\/em><\/a> It’s difficult to express what is so special about this music. Most of these pieces have their origins in piano works (though there is a harp sonata by the lone woman composer on the disc, Germaine Tailleferre, and Andr\u00e9 Jolivet’s S\u00e9r\u00e9nade<\/em> was penned for two guitars), so the sonic palette is broad and deep and better suited to a duo than solo guitar. (That said, there are two marvelous solo showcases\u2014one for each guitarist\u2014of popular pieces in the guitar repertoire: Debussy’s Arabesque, no. 1<\/em> and Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante d\u00e9funte<\/em>.) The melodies are rich without being over-bearing, the harmonies sometimes unconventional and unpredictable (this is all way<\/em> past post-Romantic), the textures lush but still tasteful. It’s not, strictly speaking, an album of French impressionist pieces; rather, the informative accompanying booklet (in English and French) notes, they are “20th century works written in Paris, for two guitars.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cowan and Cicchillitti have worked together enough now that they have developed the necessary “duo telepathy” that allows them to gracefully and effortlessly pass musical ideas back and forth, sometimes completing each other’s thoughts, it seems, other times “answering” with bold new statements and ideas. The arrangements are universally brilliant; kudos to both and for developing fresh repertoire for the guitar! Their previous album, the excellent Focus<\/a><\/em>, was dominated by contemporary works by Canadian composers and was an unabashedly modern affair, loaded with dissonant moments, abrupt rhythmic shifts; all in all a challenging musical landscape (but a fascinating one to explore). Here, Jolivet’s S\u00e9r\u00e9nade<\/em> is the only piece with what I would call late 20th century sensibilities (it was written in the ’50s), yet it somehow fits in well amidst the more melodic fare. And, in truth, Ravel and Debussy were “modern” for their time: you can hear their influence on composers as diverse as Gershwin, Stravinsky, a number of early jazz and pop songwriters, and even on later minimalists such as Steve Reich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All in all, it’s a uniformly strong, compelling, and deeply affecting album by two virtuosos clearly at the top of their game. By the way, you’ll hear Adam on the left and Steve on the right in the splendid recording by the always reliable Drew Henderson. (The photo at the top was taken by Brent Calis.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sonatine: I. Mod\u00e9<\/em>r\u00e9, II. Mouvement de Menuet, III. Anim\u00e9<\/em> (M. Ravel); Musica Callada: I. Angelico, no. 1; II. Legato metalico, no. 5; III. Allegretto, no. 11; IV. Calme, no. 16<\/em> (F. Mompou); Sonate pour harpe: I. Allegretto, II. Lento, III. Perpetuum Mobile<\/em> (G. Tailleferre); Pr\u00e9ludes, livre 2, no. 5 Bruy\u00e9res<\/em> (C. Debussy); Arabesque, no. 1<\/em> (C. Debussy); Pr\u00e9ludes. livre 1, no. 8, La fille aux cheveux de lin<\/em> (C. Debussy); S\u00e9<\/em>r\u00e9<\/em>nade: I. Praeludio e Canzone, II. Allegro Trepidante, III. Andante Malinconico, IV. Con Allegria<\/em> (A. Jolivet); Pavane pour une infante d\u00e9funte<\/em> (M. Ravel); Le tombeau de Couperin<\/em> (M. Ravel); Pr\u00e9lude<\/em> (M. Ravel)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The album can be purchased and\/or streamed through Amazon<\/a> and iTunes\/Apple Music<\/a> and streamed on Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recently asked Messrs. Cowan and Cicchillitti a few questions about this fabulous project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a huge fan of your fellow Canadians ChromaDuo and their Ravel, Debussy: Music for Two Guitars<\/em> album from a few years ago. Are they friends\/acquaintances of yours? Did what they did influence your choices at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam Cicchillitti:<\/strong> ChromaDuo is one of the great guitar duos to ever come out of Canada. We are both friends with Tracy Smith and Rob MacDonald and very familiar with their Naxos recordings, including their beautiful Ravel\/Debussy album. We wanted to make sure when we set about picking our repertoire for this album that there wasn\u2019t any overlap with their French album. In general, we always set out to make our own arrangements. ChromaDuo is not the first duo to arrange Ravel and Debussy for the guitar, and our Intimate Impressions<\/em> will not be the last guitar album you hear of that repertoire. The intimacy of the music and the richness of the harmonic language suits the guitar perfectly, and even more so when two guitars are involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was also very important for us to fit the project into a more specific theme, which is why the album includes five different composers, all of whom spent the bulk of their careers in Paris. With that theme in mind, we wanted to explore the music of lesser-known composers like Tailleferre and Jolivet, and Mompou has long been our favorite composer as a duo. Finally, rather than focusing on the composers themselves, we wanted to paint a picture of different compositional and aesthetic styles in their music that were influenced by the Parisian milieu\u2014from impressionism to neoclassicism to avant-garde, Paris was a hotbed of stylistic influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What sort of factors went into the choice of pieces? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Cowan:<\/strong> There were many \u201cseeds\u201d planted for this idea in the past in the form of arrangements of singular movements, and when an album project presented itself, we needed to expand so that each composer had a more substantial presence on the album. Adam arranged the first movement of Ravel\u2019s Sonatine<\/em> many years ago, and I arranged Secreto<\/em> by Mompou and Bruy\u00e8res<\/em> by Debussy years ago as well. They all worked well, so we just kept the ball rolling\u2014the
Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan<\/strong>
(Analekta)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
full Sonatine<\/em>, more Mompou miniatures, and more Debussy preludes.
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