Pierné: Sonata da Camera; Loeffler: Two Rhapsodies, Five Songs; Duruflé: Prélude, Récitatif et Variations – William Dazeley, London Conchord Ensemble

The London Conchord Ensemble are joined on this disc by the baritone William Dazeley, presenting a seductive collection of fascinating chamber works and songs written by three major twentieth-century chamber music composers. Sensual and intimate, these works epitomise the music of early twentieth-century France, with their fluid lines and unusual textures, sensitively captured here by Conchord.

Though born in Berlin, Charles Martin Loeffler claimed to hail from Alsace, so strongly did he identify with the French aesthetic. His Five Songs set poetry by the French poets Baudelaire and Verlaine, and his musical style recalls Franck, Chausson, and Debussy. Add to this a Russian sense of instrumental colour, and the result is an appealing concoction of expressive and evocative musical elements.

Pierné’s Sonata da Camera is reminiscent of Debussy’s seminal Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp in its poignant colours and intricate textures, while, in writing that recalls Ravel, Duruflé’s Prélude, Récitatif et Variations reveals a different style from that of his famous Requiem.

Throughout this disc, Conchord plays with an effortless grace and flair, a finesse that perfectly communicates this exquisite selection of music.