A review of Points Cardinaux
Flute and piano
Pierre Csillag
Points Cardinaux
Falls House Press $12.00
For those whose knowledge of sailing is confined to the occasional booze cruise to Cherbourg, and capsizing a dinghy in front of the Club House on the local Marina, the cardinal points on the compass are the four 'main' directions, North, South East and West. The titles of the four movements of this work are not only French poetic names for these cardinal points, but also represent times of the day. This concept does not provide a framework for this piece, but rather more a point of musical departure, and the resonances created are felt much more strongly for the admirable economy of the writing.
Levant, or East, is the direction we associate with sunrise and therefore morning. The fortissimo fanfare on the piano seems to suggest a rather abrupt awakening, and the melody, starting on top F sharp seems to register a protest. The movement is brief, a mere 14 bars, but ends in a more restful senza rigore style. I can sympathise - I am also a man of few words in the morning.
Midi, or the South, opens with flute and piano right hand performing a sort of brilliant mirrored ballet. The melodic style is very much of this century, but the movement flows well, and the sparse piano texture allows the flute to shine.
The character of Couchant, or West, is pensive and brooding, marked sonoro, and moves in double-dotted rhythm against a background of soft piano chords.
As night is a time of reflection or dreaming about the events of the day, the more extended Septentrion contains fragments of the other three movements. The flute performs a Waltz in staccato quavers, and thewhole concludes in an energetic and up-beat fashion.
Pierre Csillag was born in Budapest in 1938 and studied at the Bartók Conservatory and at the Paris Conservatoire as well as Electronic Engineering at Toulouse. He follows a uniquely double career as a musician and as a lecturer in Digital Electronics. This suite was written for his wife, the flautist Véronique Csillag. The parts, printed on rather unpleasant yellowish paper are not of the clearest, and rather suffer from bumpy slurs, but the piece as a whole is interesting, and would make a good recital piece for an advanced flautist.
Leslie Sheills
Back to the list of my pieces.
Retour ŕ la liste de mes oeuvres.
Vissza műveim listájára.
Torna alla lista delle mie opere