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Release Date: 07 February 2025
Label: Odradek Records
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 0810042704541
Genres: Classical Solo Instrumental
Description
French saxophonist Pierre-Stephane Meuge presents Monodies, a mesmerising musical journey through a century of monologues in a variety of styles, punctuated by the universal reference to JS Bach and played on various saxophones.
We hear adaptations of seminal flute works such as Varese's Density 21.5 and Debussy's Syrinx (the fingerings of saxophone and flute are remarkably similar), and two Messiaen rarities: theMonodie in quarter tones for ondes Martenot and Monodie for organ. There is a Sonata by John Cage and the Three Pieces originally for solo clarinet by Stravinsky, alongside two works by Paul Mefano, a composer who has long wished for Meuge to record his music. Sigfrid Karg-Elert's 25 Caprices allude to Baroque precedents, in keeping with the Bach pieces threaded through the whole programme, as does Tom Johnson's Tilework, which, like Bach, gives the impression of polyphony on a single instrument.
Pierre-Stephane Meuge is an artist with an unconventional and refreshing background: after studying piano, saxophone, double bass, viola, harmony, counterpoint, analysis and conducting, he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg at the age of 20, but he soon moved on to a more fluid form of education, meeting and collaborating with an array of artists. In 1988, the 'Internationales Musikinstitut' commissioned him to occupy the very first saxophone chair at the 'Ferienkurse' in Darmstadt, where for several years he met many composers and performers from a variety of backgrounds, and his career since has reflected this versatility.
As Pierre-Stephane Meuge puts it in the album booklet, a feature of Odradek releases: 'Monody concentrates the expression of music in its simplest form; it is an apparently modest genre that reveals the intimate completeness of a musical language.'
Tracklisting
Nuno Côrte-Real, Ensemble Darcos & Coro Ricercare
Artur Pizarro, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, Julia Jones
Ingibjorg Azima
Jenaer Philharmonie, Simon Gaudenz
Carion Wind Quintet
Johannes Fleischmann
Tony Addison Sextet
Vasco Pimentel Trio
Anthony de Mare; Conrad Tao
Pierre-Stephane Meuge
Jonas Seeberg
Yonghuan Zhong
Szymon Nehring
Slava Guerchovitch
Nora von Marschall
Lea Suter
