Delightful music, off the beaten track.
Your Tatler, who claims fair knowledge of the classical repertoire, confesses he had never heard these charming pieces, nor any others by their estimable composer, until today. While Emile Jaques-Dalcroze has a decent biographical entry in Wikipedia (which is usually reliable so long as the subject cannot possibly support a left-wing interpretation), but it covers only one aspect of Dalcroze: his pioneering efforts in eurhythmics, which later influenced composer Carl Orff, of Carmina Burana fame.* There is no mention of the fairly large body of music he composed.
This recording, just released, is a worthy addition to the relatively meager discography of Jaques-Dalcroze and consists solely of music for the ‘cello and piano. There is no need to go into detailed description of the music, just listen and be charmed. If there were Les belles-lettres of music, these little pieces would certainly qualify. An example can be heard here.
Jaques-Dalcroze: Music for Violincello & Piano
Pi-Chin Chien, ‘Cello
Bernhard Parz, Piano
TYXart (C) 2022
*Your Tatler’s esteem for Carl Orff lessened considerably upon learning he accepted a commission from the mayor of Frankfurt to compose new incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream; this after the incomparable version by Mendelssohn, as close to perfection to be found in music, was banned by the Nazis because he was a Jew.
The Taos Tatler 