Paul Juon: Chamber Music for Viola

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Catalogue No: TOCC0389
EAN/UPC: 5060113443892
Release Date: 2022-06-03
Composer: Paul Juon
Artists: Basil Vendryes, Igor Pikayzen, William David

Paul Juon was born in Moscow, of Swiss parents, in 1872, studying there with Arensky and Taneyev; Rachmaninov, a fellow student at the Moscow Conservatoire, dubbed him ‘the Russian Brahms’. Woldemar Bargiel, Clara Schumann’s half-brother, was his main teacher at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin before Juon himself became a member of the staff. There are indeed echoes of Brahms in Juon’s early music but there is also a fondness for Russian folksong and a mastery of counterpoint, which all feed into his urgent, late-Romantic lyricism.

Basil Vendryes, viola
Igor Pikayzen, violin (Tracks 8–18)
William David, piano

Listen To This Recording:

    Sonata for Viola and Piano in D major, Op. 15 (publ. 1901)

  1. I Moderato
  2. II Adagio assai e molto cantabile
  3. III Allegro moderato
  4. Sonata for Viola and Piano in F minor, Op. 82a (publ. 1924)

  5. Moderato assai –
  6. Adagio –
  7. Tempo primo
  8. Romanze for Viola and Piano, Op. 7b (1898)

  9. Romanze, Op. 7b, for Viola and Piano, Op. 7b
  10. Silhouettes, 2ème série, Op. 43, for violin, viola and piano (publ. 1909)*

  11. No. 1 Prélude
  12. No. 2 Chant d’amour
  13. No. 3a Intermezzo 1
  14. No. 3b Intermezzo 2
  15. No. 3c Intermezzo 3
  16. No. 4 Mélancholie
  17. No. 5 Danse grotesque
  18. Trio-Miniaturen for violin, viola and piano (publ. 1920)

  19. No. 1 Rêverie: Molto adagio
  20. No. 2 Humoreske: Allegro ma non troppo
  21. No. 3 Elegie: Andante cantabile
  22. No. 4 Danse fantastique: Quasi valse lente
  23. * FIRST RECORDING OF THIS VERSIOn

3 reviews for Paul Juon: Chamber Music for Viola

  1. :

    ‘The musicians play right to your heart.’

    —Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

  2. :

    ‘His music provides an intriguing mix of Russian-inspired melodic material given a thorough formal work-out in the Germanic manner. […]

    Basil Vendryes, long-time principal of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, draws a well-focused, attractive tone from his 1887 Ceruti viola and is an engaging advocate of this music. In complete musical accord with pianist William David, his clear-headed readings gently underline this composer’s special qualities. The duo is joined by the stylish Igor Pikayzen for two series of vignettes redolent of the salons from pre-revolutionary Russia, making a lovely conclusion to this well-recorded recital.’

    —Carlos Maria Solare, Strad

  3. :

    ‘He was a late-Romantic par excellence and the viola works allow one to eavesdrop on his rich, ripe and appealing compositions. […]

    The distinctive modality of the [viola sonata’s] finale comes with a real ease of execution, vividly conveyed by the performers on this recording. […]

    Toccata is well-known for its extensively annotated booklets and this is no exception. Derek Katz writes with precision and clear historical knowledge and he has delved into the early recorded history of Juon on 78s and into the Julius Block cylinders, in which one can hear Juon playing .’

    —Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International

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