Charles Koechin: Bassoon Sonata, Op. 71 (1918/1919)

00:00 - I. Andante moderato - Allegretto Scherzando 02:48 - II. Nocturne: Presque adagio 05:48 - III. Final: Allegro, vigoureusement et rudement rythmé _____ Bassoon: Julien Hardy Piano: Simon Zaoui Year of Recording: 2020 _____ “Charles Louis Eugene Koechlin (1867-1950) was born in Paris, France, in November of 1867. The first performance of Op. 71 was in 1938 by Monsieur Gustav Dherin, bassoon, and J. Guieysse, piano. Shockingly, the first printed edition of the work wasn’t until 1990, 71 years after the completion of the work and 50 years after the composer’s death. The bassoon sonata, however, follows neither of the three-movement tempo structures: fast-slow-fast or slow-slow-fast. Koechlin was influenced by two great composers while writing the accompaniment for Op. 71. In the first movement, the accompaniment at the very beginning is the arpeggiated chords often associated with music of Faure. Koechlin studied with this great master and it is no surprise that Faure influenced Koechlin’s compositional style. The second great composer influencing Op. 71 is Chopin. The second movement accompaniment has an ostinato bass pattern that is a cross between Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op. 60 and Nocturne, Op. 72 no. 1. Koechlin takes the two-ostinato patterns from Chopin and combines them; giving it a modem feel and his own influence. The bassoon sonata was originally to have four movements; however, Koechlin cut the fourth movement from the sonata and instead used the material in his Silhouettes de comedic, Op. 193 (1943), for bassoon and orchestra. Luckily, the Sonate pour basson et piano has become a staple to the bassoon repertoire.“ (Gabrielle Hsu & Rittika Gambhir) ____ © COPYRIGHT Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. Allowance is made for “fair use“ for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.