TJASHA GAFNER

At the heart of this programme is a legendary rivalry: that of Marcel Tournier and Henriette Renié, both pupils of the great Hasselmans, father of the modern harp school, and which culminated in Tournier’s appointment to the chair of his former teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, it being unthinkable at the time to entrust such prestige to a woman. Yet Henriette Renié’s compositions transport us into a world of sound of rare intensity, from Impressionist mists to post-Wagnerian chromaticism, while Tournier gives his works a symphonic dimension. 

The concert’s other major diptych takes us in the footsteps of Bach, whose Suite in C minor has long been a classic for the acoustic guitar. Although Bach’s music lends itself to transformation, this suite was actually composed for a specially made keyboard lute, at Bach’s own request! The Sonata for piano in A flat major, on the other hand, harks back to Mozart’s facetious spirit, to which Haydn seems to be paying a heartfelt tribute here. The Suite Around the clock by the inventive Pearl Chertok completes the programme, drawing inspiration from musical traditions as varied as jazz and swing.