François Devienne: Quartet in A minor, opus 66 #1

Описание: The Four Nations Ensemble:
Charles Brink, flute
Olivier Brault, violin
Nicole Divall, viola
Loretta O'Sullivan, cello

Quartet for flute, violin, viola & cello in A minor, opus 66 #1 Francois Devienne
Allegro Amabile (0:00) (1759-1803)
Adagio (9:28)
Presto (13:37)

Recorded by David Walters
With thanks to the bequest of Eiji Miki

"I prefer the bizarre to the insipid."
The painter Anne-Louis Girodet

The French rejection of the past is evident in the music of the later 18th century, in the music by composers who would live through the reign of terror and become the mentors in a newly formed conservatory of music, headed by the Italian Cherubini and staffed with a new generation of players. Devienne is the most remarkable of these younger composers who wrote in an international style, hardly recognized as French and preferring a music of dynamism and surprise to the poetic music of Couperin and his contemporaries.

Compare Couperin to Bach and we must see that the French simplicity of materials and its ability to touch our hearts is incomparable. Compare Devienne to Mozart and Devienne may come up short. There are similarities that force comparison. But this new French music represents a great break from the past. In so dynamic a new world we need to enjoy Devienne’s “progress” and the notion that in rejecting the past as insipid, he has moved his culture into the new century of romantic volatility.