L'arbre Des Songes
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''L'Arbre des songes'' (''The Tree of Dreams'') is a violin concerto written by Henri Dutilleux between 1983 and 1985. It is dedicated to Isaac Stern. This concerto is the result of the composer's efforts in unifying large-scale works. The process of unification appears on two interrelated levels: form and thematic development. According to the composer, it is based on a process of continual growth and renewal (hence the title): "All in all the piece grows somewhat like a tree, for the constant multiplication and renewal of its branches is the lyrical essence of the tree. This symbolic image, as well as the notion of a seasonal cycle, inspired my choice of 'L'Arbre des songes' as the title of the piece."


Composition

The concerto was commissioned by Radio France for Isaac Stern to whom it is dedicated. Stern played the concerto at the premiere on November 5, 1985, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Lorin Maazel.


Instrumentation

The concerto is scored for piccolo, two flutes, three
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s (third doubling oboe d'amore), piccolo clarinet in E-flat, two clarinets in A, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, three horns, three trumpets in C (with normal and Robinson mutes), three trombones (with normal and Robinson mutes), tuba, five
timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...
, two suspended cymbals (high and medium), two tam-tams (medium and low), crotales, tubular bells, glockenspiel, vibraphone, three bongos, three tom-toms, snare drum, cymbalum,
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, celesta, harp, solo
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
, sixteen first violins, fourteen second violins, twelve violas, ten
cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s and eight
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
es.


Form

As in other of his works, notably the cello concerto '' Tout un monde lointain...'' and the string quartet ''
Ainsi la nuit ''Ainsi la nuit'' (''Thus the Night'') is a string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. Th ...
'', Dutilleux uses an unusual structure of several movements (four in this case) without any break between each movements. He develops this continuity here with three interludes linking the movements, each in a very different style. A typical performance runs approximately 25 to 30 minutes.


Discography

* Isaac Stern (violin), Orchestre National de France, Lorin Maazel (cond.). Recorded November 6–7, 1985 (Paris). Columbia Records. * Pierre Amoyal (violin), Orchestre National de France, Charles Dutoit (cond.). Recorded 1995. Decca Records. * Olivier Charlier (violin), BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier (cond.). Recorded March 26–27, 1996. Chandos Records. * Isabelle van Keulen (violin), Bamberger Symphoniker, Marc Soustrot (cond.). Recorded 1998. Koch Schwann Records. * Renaud Capuçon (violin), Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-Whun Chung (cond.). Recorded February 8–11, 2001 (Paris). EMI Records/Virgin Classics. * Olivier Charlier (violin), Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Hans Graf (cond). Recorded 2005. Arte Nova Classics. * Dmitry Sitkovetsky (violin), Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mariss Jansons (cond.). Recorded June 7–8, 2007. RCO Live. * Augustin Hadelich (violin), Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Ludovic Morlot (cond.). Recorded November 4 and 7, 2014. Seattle Symphony Media. Won the 2015 Grammy award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.


References


External links

* , Augustin Hadelich (violin), Ludovic Morlot (conductor), Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra {{DEFAULTSORT:L'Arbre des songes, L' Concertos by Henri Dutilleux 1985 compositions
Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer of late 20th-century classical music. Among the leading French composers of his time, his work was rooted in the Impressionism in music, Impressionistic ...
Music commissioned by Radio France Music dedicated to ensembles or performers