The repertoire of Reynaldo Hahn’s chamber music is enriched with a new volume thanks to the insight of the musicians from the Tchalik family and the expertise of musicologist Philippe Blay. Featuring a variety of known and unpublished pieces.

Gradually, the richness of Reynaldo Hahn’s chamber music is being realized. Following their album dedicated to the two String Quartets and the Piano Quintet, the Tchalik Quartet and their brother Dania present a second volume, the result of their research and concerts, which includes “certain unpublished works specially reconstructed with the help of musicologist Philippe Blay”. This reveals a multitude of pieces written in different eras, between 1889 and 1944, and for various instrumental combinations. Testament to the author’s inspiration from not only refined and distinctly French art, but also solidly structured compositions. The “Unfinished Trio in F major (1895-1897)” is the result of the musician’s brief and difficult romantic relationship with Marcel Proust. Hahn stuck to the first movement Allegro con moto, which alone conveys the ambivalence of feelings through its three sections, illustrating “two souls originally harmonious turning discordant”, then “memories of what their love was, but marred”, and finally “everything ending in indifference”. The violin and cello clearly represent the two protagonists.

“Four Portraits of Painters based on Marcel Proust’s poems” (1895) are, according to Hahn, “musical stars” for piano inspired by poems that Marcel admired in 1891 from painters exhibited at the Louvre. The music attempts to echo the visual impressions, particularly in van Dyck, with a blend of Debussy-esque tones and homage to past masters, or for Watteau, thanks to refined elegance of flowing arpeggios. From the same period belongs Erik Satie’s “Carnival of Old Hens” for piano quintet (1890), a pungent caricature of a colleague that Hahn did not much appreciate, portraying a whimsical version of the original man from Arcueil through dissonances as a form of jest. From 1906, a more ambitious piece, “Nocturne for Violin and Piano”, filled with intense lyrical melody distributed between the violin’s arabesques and the piano’s gentle accompaniment.

“Soliloquy and Forlane for viola and piano” (1937), designed for the exit competition of Maurice Vieux’s class at the Paris Conservatoire, are demonstrations of the instrument’s diverse possibilities. Soliloquy flatters its entire range with a well-rhythmed lyrical chant, while Forlane recalls the Italian origins of this lively dance. “Andante and Allegro for cello and piano”, from the 1940s, is a piece described as “romantic and playful”, with the cello’s sinuous cantilena over the piano’s arpeggiated accompaniment leading to a vanishing end, followed by a lively allegro rondo, reminiscent of a theme from the “Piano Quintet” of 1922, lively in the piano’s part embedding the cello’s melody.

Finally, the “Quartet for violin, viola, cello, and piano” in G major, which the composer refers to as his “third quartet”, after the two previous ones for strings only, dates back to 1944. According to Blay, “the work, which embraces multiple yet always contained sentiments in a balanced form, is characteristic of Hahn’s style”. The Allegro moderato shows few contrasts, with the three strings often playing in unison and the piano providing a sensible accompaniment. Only the dynamics add the necessary relief. The Allegro assai, a “sort of melancholic scherzando”, sees the strings engaging in dialogue. The heart of the piece, the Andante, is a dark barcarolle. The low strings weave a dreamlike tale over a piano echoing their sentiments. The flow intensifies and seems to clarify before falling back into obscurity. With its charming momentum, the final Allegro introduces a striking change in atmosphere, reflecting Reynaldo Hahn’s deep admiration for Mozart.

It is an understatement to say that the musicians of the Tchalik family defend these pieces with conviction, strength, and tenderness: the members of the Quartet, Gabriel, Louise (violins), Sarah (viola), and Marc (cello), also perform in duos, with their brother Dania providing both powerful and delicate piano. They were recorded at the Studio RIFFX 1 at Seine Musicale with a better perspective than the previous volume.
Text by Jean-Pierre Robert

Reynaldo Hahn, Dania Tchalik, Quatuor Tchalik