KOECHLIN, Emmanuel: Chamber Music with flute [CD de audio] Markus Brünnimann and Koechlin

Paris was awash with musical talent at the turn of the 20th century, and yet the works of composers Charles Koechlin and Maurice Emmanuel have, rather unjustly, been overlooked in the years since, in favour of the

big three: Fauré, Debussy and Ravel.

Emmanuel a contemporary of Debussy and greatly influenced by him often experimented with older styles of composition, such as free rhythm and modes, to the consternation of Delibes, his teacher at the time. His Sonata Op.11 is a true exponent of Emmanuels style, and boasts a delightful second movement in which the flute and clarinet, unusually, provide accompaniment for the piano.

As eclectic with his music as he was with his hobbies, Koechlin was often very ahead of the game with his compositions, experimenting with polytonality and atonality long before many of his contemporaries, despite his thorough grounding in the Classical tradition. Among his works in this collection are the Sonatine modale Op.155a, which demonstrates Koechlins love of modes, the neoBaroque Clarinet Sonatas Opp. 85 and 86

and the Flute Sonata Op.52, a series of complex Mediterranean impressions.

The works are performed by three eminent musicians: Markus Brönnimann, principal flute of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg since 1998, prizewinning clarinettist JeanPhilippe Vivier and acclaimed

pianist Michael Kleiser.