Coming Soon
Radio DAMASE
Born on 27 January 1928, Jean-Michel Damase composes in a style often compared to Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, Serge Prokofiev, Albert Roussel, and Stravinsky; incorporating many of the rhythmic and harmonic complexities associated with twentieth-century French music. Throughout his career, Damase has remained a traditionalist, "continuing the post-tonal line of Debussy and Ravel without the modish interest in their deeper-seated implications."* Or, in the composers own words, "I prefer sincerity to forced innovation." His music is accessible without being lightweight; unabashedly melodic, with a distinct delight in "obsessive" motifs; tonal, though, paradoxically, harmonically complex; rhythmically surprising; playful; respectful of tradition and form; and always superbly crafted. In spite of his works’ obvious and readily appreciated merits, too few are familiar with Jean-Michel Damase. Because very little information is available about the composer and his works, I created this site to assemble as much of it as possible and share it with others. My goal is to encourage those who are not yet
familiar with Damase to seek out his very rewarding music. If you are
fortunate enough to have enjoyed hearing or performing Damase’s works, I
hope I can provide some useful information about discovering more. Last updated on 23 December 2006
|
|
| Chez DAMASE is now reviewed and approved by M.Damase. Contributions are now directly submitted by the composer. Look forward to significant additions to the website. |
|
||||||||||||||
 | News |
| Future Performances & Events |
| Recent Recordings |
| Notable Event Coverage |
| Submissions |
| Acknowledgements |
RECOMMENDED RECORDINGS
![Jean-Michel Damase: Music for Flute, Harp & Strings [ASV 898]](../images/asv989_cover.jpg)
Gramophone Magazine
Critic's Choice &
Good CD Guide selection
BBC Music Magazine
«««««
Highest Rating
Please help support Chez DAMASE.
Purchase more than 150 works by
Jean-Michel Damase using this
Sheet Music Plus Search
Duo concertantes for harp;
Ballade for harp & strings
Rachel Talitman, harp
Music for Winds & Piano
Jean-Michel Damase, piano
NewsImportant new recording! Complete duo
concertante works for harp released Recent Compositions We are delighted to announce the publication and performance of several recent compositions. Works and details of their premiere performances are listed below. Click on linked titles to purchase at Sheet Music Plus.
Japanese World Premiere Tour (7,
8, 11 November 2005) Competitions and Exams
Jean-Michel Damase Interview |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Future Performances & Events7 December 2006, 8:00PM
|
Recent Recordings
|
Jean-Michel
Damase: Ballade; Duo concertante for flute and harp; Double Concerto
for viola and harp; Double Concerto for bassoon and harp (World
Premiere Recordings) | Rachel Talitman, harp; Luc Loubry,
bassoon; Benoît Fromanger, flute; Pierre-Henry Xuereb, viola |
Harp&Co Another very important addition to the recorded repertoire. Here the complete concertante works for harp en duo with flute, viola, and bassoon (all world premiere recordings), along with the Ballade for harp and string orchestra, are performed by harpist Rachel Talitman. Winner of several international harp competitions, Talitman is also co-founder of the Harpeggio Ensemble, dedicated to "playing, recording and promoting the unknown repertoire of the harp". The complete program: Ballade for harp and string orchestra Duo concertante for flute, harp, and string orchestra Double Concerto for viola, harp, and string orchestra Double Concerto for bassoon, harp, and string orchestra Click here to purchase this disc |
||
 |
Mouvance:
French Music for Harp and Voice | Chantal Mathieu,
harp & Sakuya Koda, soprano | Doron [FR] Exact work(s) unknown. Also includes songs by Bernard Andrès, André Caplet, Henri Duparc, Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc, Marcel Tournier |
||
 |
Ravel:
Valses nobles et sentimentales; Fauré: Nocturnes №7-№13 |
Jean-Michel Damase, piano | Accord [FR] The second disc in the series Collection musique française featuring remastered recordings by Damase, the pianist. It is often overlooked that M. Damase is an extremely accomplished concert pianist. With the critical praise that followed the re-release of the his interpretations of Fauré's Nocturnes and Barcarolles, this oversight is finally being rectified. In addition to the works featured in the title are Fauré's Valse-Caprice N°3, Impromptu N°3 and Ravel's lovely miniatures, Prélude and Menuet sur le nom de Haydn. |
||
 |
Piano
Music by Jean-Michel Damase | Nicholas Unwin, piano Introduction et Allegro | Thème et Variations | Sonate | Apparition | Huit Études | Sonatine Somm / SOMMCD 034 The most important addition to Damase's recorded repertoire in over a decade. Nicholas Unwin has received universal praise for his brilliant performances of works previously unavailable on any format. In their May 2004 issue, BBC Music Magazine has awarded this recording «««««, its highest rating, in all categories. Mr Unwin and Somm Recordings are to be congratulated for their tremendous achievement! Here is an excerpt of the review:
For those unfamiliar with the music of Damase, the recording
serves as an excellent introduction. Covering works from many
periods in the composer's career, it also presents a wonderful
variety of compositional forms that showcase his unique voice. Please support the gifted composer, the incredibly talented performer and brave record label, Somm Recordings, and purchase this CD. |
||
 |
Poésie
| Eva-Christina Schönweiß, violin;
Kirsten Ecke, harp Sonatine for Violin & Harp GENUIN / GMP 04504 The musical partnership of Ms Schönweiß and Ms Ecke began in the Winter of 1995 and has continued in spite of the growing demands of their solo careers; Ms Schönweiß is assistant concertmaster of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Ms Ecke, solo harpist of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. Not only is this the duo's première recording, but it is the first recording of the Sonatine for Vioin & Harp to be available commercially. Also on the recording are works by Boieldieu, Aubuert, Bochsa and the duo's signature work, the Fastasie, Op 24 of Saint-Saëns. |
||
 |
Ecoensemble
Trio | Ecoensemble Trio
Trio for Flute, Oboe & Piano EurArte / EA 0024 Founded in 1991, the award-winning ensemble (Morena Mestieri, flute; Paola Fundarò, oboe; Anna Bellagamba, piano) include many rare and neglected works in their repertoire. Their CD, with additional works by Eugène Goossens, Gordon Jacob, Franco Margola and Giordano Tunioli, can be purchased directly from EurArte. |
||
 |
Gabriel
Fauré |
Jean-Michel Damase, piano Les treize Barcarolles; Trois Nocturnes Universal/Musicdisc 472 302 A French 24-bit digital reissue of recordings made for DECCA in 1956 and 1958 (released in 1957 and 1958, respectively). The program consists of Thirteen Barcarolles and Nocturnes №4, 5 & 6. Liner notes in French and English discuss Fauré and his works. No biographical information or photos of Damase are included. |
||
 |
Amy
Porter, flute; Nancy-Ambrose King, oboe; Phillip Bush,
piano Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano Boston Records Included in the program are works by Holst, Ginastera, Bozza, Dring and an arrangement of the ever-popular aria "Viens, Mallika...sous le dome épais", better known as the "Flower Duet" from Lakmé by Delibes. |
||
 |
White
Peacock | Harris-Coates
Duo (Debora Harris, flute and Mike Coates, guitar) Quatre facettes for Flute and Guitar (World Première Recording) Barking Dog Records. For more information, click here. |
Notable Event Coverage
Past performances may be viewed at the Archives
page
|
||||||||||||
Submissions
|
||||||||||||
Acknowledgements
|
