Search - Maurice Dela, James Gayfer, Walter Buczynski :: Petite Suite Maritime

Canadian Wind Quintet Music

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 04/17/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Living, as I do, only a short distance from Montréal, I am always interested to follow what is going on musically in my neighbor to the north. The Estria Quintet, a woodwind quintet based in Montréal (and named for the eastern Québec district called 'L'Estrie') has now released their second CD of Canadian music.



Maurice Dela (1919-1978) wrote his 'Petite Suite Maritime' in 1946 while still attending the Montréal Conservatoire. In four movements -- 'Skiff', 'Gulls', 'The Enchanted Isle', and 'Coquillages' ('Shell Works') -- it is impressionistic both in intent and in style. It is completely tonal and descriptive of the titles of its movements. Particularly impressive are the imitations of the calls of gulls, the lapping of water on the sides of the skiff, the childlike wonder of the Isle, and the sea-chanty quality of the last movement.



James MacDonald Gayfer (1916-1997) was a Torontonian who spent much of his career as a clarinetist and bandleader of military bands. His 'Suite for Woodwind Quintet' (1947) has five movements -- Overture, Waltz, Dirge, Interlude, and March -- that are skillfully written and must be great fun to play. The music itself partakes of both early twentieth-century English and French wind music styles.



The three-movement 'Suite for Woodwind Quintet' (1955) of another Toronto composer, Walter Buczynski (1933-) was written while the composer was studying under Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival Music School. The latter's style is readily apparent in Buczynski's use of polytonality and creative combinations of the five available instruments. Harmonic surprises abound. There is an underlying melancholy, as in much of Milhaud's ostensibly insouciant music.



Jean Papineau-Couture (1916-2000) was born in Québec but studied primarily in the United States under Quincy Porter. He also studied briefly with Nadia Boulanger. He later became dean of music at the University of Montreal. His 'Fantasy for Wind Quintet' (1963) is in a single movement and was commissioned by the CBC. This is, for me, the least ingratiating work presented here, although one can easily admire the craft and the clever construction of the piece.



Jacques Hétu (1938-) is probably the best-known composer on this disc and he is represented by two works, 'Four Miniatures for Reed Trio' and 'Woodwind Quintet, Op. 13'. The Miniatures (1967), written for clarinet, oboe and bassoon, are Overture, Waltz, Impromptu and Finale. There are passages in the first two movements for various combinations of the three instruments; the final two movements are for all three instruments together, all of which makes for continuously varying timbres. Musically the work is characterized by lightness of texture, mercurial changes of mood and harmonic piquancy. The Woodwind Quintet (1967) is reasonably well-known and has been recorded before. In four movements -- Adagio - (Sonata) Allegro molto, (Scherzo) Vivace, (Song) Adagio, (Rondo) Lento - Allegro con brio -- the work is serial in part but manages nonetheless to be surprisingly lyrical. There are also technically breathtaking passages for all the instruments. The work finishes with a brilliant flourish of virtuosity.



The performances of the Quintette à Vent Estria are all one could ask. The various members -- Kate Herzberg, flute; Étienne de Médicis, oboe; Pauline Farrugia, clarinet; Michel Bettez, bassoon; and Nadia Labelle, horn -- are all active performing and teaching musicians in Montréal and other Québec cities. The group has been in existence since 1997.



Recommended for wind quintet fanciers.



Scott Morrison









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