His name has been mentioned a few times in some threads. But he surely deserves his own thread, because IMHO he is a genius. But who has heard his name? Who is familiar with the music of this Belgian master? His few magnificent works, available on CD? Ever heard anything being broadcast?
Besides appealing melodies his music presents the listener a very rich variety of sound colours. In his fast movements he can be furious, full of passion. But the slow movements are most subtle. I'm thinking of his Symphony in D minor, the 3rd movement of his marvellous Cello Sonata in F Sharp minor (on a CD coupled with the Piano Quintet in B minor) and the Andantino of his thrilling Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra. Maybe in the 12 parts of Contes d'Orient (a Suite for Orchestra) Biarent shows his skills how to use all musical instruments at its best. It's brilliant.
How does his music sound like? I would say that it balances between Wagner and Debussy, but in fact Biarent has a real voice of his own.
Any other enthusiasts?
Yes, I'm one. You've made his case very well, Peter, and I'm not going to try to improve upon it..
Biarent truly is a wonderful composer. Thanks for bringing him to our attention, Peter, as he has been mentioned surprisingly little on this forum. But at the moment I'm having a bit of trouble finding a reasonably priced copy of the CD with his symphony. The last time I checked, sellers on Amazon wanted $50 and it used to be available on ArkivMusic, but not anymore.Can somebody please help me ????
Unfortunately the CD with the Symphony appears to be deleted.
Wait a second... I just remembered that those two Biarent orchestral CDs are available in that Liege Philharmonic box set mentioned in the New Recordings board. I think ;D ;D... Can someone please verify this for me?
Another thing I just remembered: we have a member named Biarent ;D!
Greetings, young Peter! It is always instructive to read your posts.
But Biarent a "genius"? Isn't that rather too enthusiastic? I was alerted to Biarent a few years ago (if I remember correctly by a very positive review on MusicWeb by Rob Barrett). I've since grabbed hold of every recording of Biarent, including that now apparently sadly deleted Symphony. Works that made a particular impression on me have been the marvellous Piano Quintet of 1913-14 (and performed on that CD by the Quatuor Danel who, to my mind, have now gone on to establish themselves in recording history with a complete set of the Weinberg quartets - staggering works, but that is another story!) and the Rapsodie Wallonne of 1910 (virtually a full blooded piano concerto in all but name).
Superbly crafted music to be sure. A little derivate perhaps (but no crime since Biarent has a distinctive voice, is very much the master of his own compositions, and there is no slavishly following others). But not a genius surely? A genius is one who stops you in your tracks, knocks the wind out of your sails, and makes you gasp wondering how such a creation is possible. If you want to call Biarent a genius, then you're going to be quite lost for words when it comes to Beethoven!
And this, of course, is no adverse criticism of Biarent - our world would be impoverished to some extent if there was no Biarent. One reason for my 'caution' here is that Biarent - who died very young in his mid 40s and who, in addition to composition, was also busy with performance and teaching - left only a small corpus of works, and there is just not enough of them to secure him a place up there in the pantheon. But you're utterly right of course to direct the attention of those who might not have encountered Biarent to that small but gifted corpus of music.
It's okay to disagree, petershott, but you shouldn't discourage Peter the younger ;D from thinking Biarent is a genius. After all, here at UC, we emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats. IMO, Biarent is what I call a "derivative master": a composer who isn't stylistically unique but makes masterful use of the style the composer is deriving from. Sorry if this is rather clumsily worded, but I was just making the point that we shouldn't expect unsungs to be great and that it is okay if people think they are.
Quotewe emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats
That's not so, as far as I'm concerned anyway. Composers are not all equal in stature and quite a few unsungs, whilst being interesting, are unsung for a reason just as the "greats" deserve their greatness. If we refrain from making value judgements on the work of all unsung composers then we destroy the case for promoting the truly great but currently neglected works from the truly great composers in their midst.
Quote from: kyjo on Thursday 09 August 2012, 02:13
After all, here at UC, we emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats.
No "we" don't! We try to exercise as much discernment concerning the merits or otherwise of music that happens to be unsung as we do in respect of music that is currently in the repertoire.
I must have typed my last post in a hurry :-[. What I meant to say is that we don't try to COMPARE unsungs to the greats, because, of course, there aren't any unsungs on the level of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, etc. Unsungs have their own merits, but if a particular unsung isn't to our liking, we don't automatically judge all unsungs to be second- or third-rate. I'm just trying to say that we should stick up for the unsungs. Back to Biarent, please...
Quote from: kyjo on Thursday 09 August 2012, 17:55
I must have typed my last post in a hurry :-[. What I meant to say is that we don't try to COMPARE unsungs to the greats, because, of course, there aren't any unsungs on the level of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, etc.
Why not? I don't agree at all: one of the great pleasures of life has been the discovery of music every bit as good as that of the established masters. Provided one exercises discernment and objectivity in the matter, I would encourage members to make precisely the sort of comparisons you seem to rule out
a priori.
I give up, Alan :(. You're at 3333! Back in Belgium with Biarent...
Quote from: kyjo on Thursday 09 August 2012, 18:09
I give up, Alan :(. You're at 3333! Back in Belgium with Biarent...
It's the moderator's job to look at what members are posting - and to move the topic on...
Gosh, I am making you more upset with every single post, Alan :(! Use your special moderator powers, then, to set this thread in the right direction, please (and to shut me up if necessary ;D)!
Thanks all for your posts. But indeed, back to Biarent. Peter Senior, I think you made a point. Maybe 'genius' is too much of an honour, but... at least excellent. More than excellent. The fact is that we only know so few of what Biarent has created, but I think the works available on disc are his most impressive compositions. To my ears and IMHO not one of these works is a bit disappointing. They all show his great skills how to create changes of moods, different atmospheres, passion, tenderness. His music really speaks. It's a language, which is more than just fine music to listen to.
At this very moment I'm listening to his Symphonic Poem Trenmor. If there was a thread like 'My favourite Symphonic Poem' Biarent's Trenmor could very well be my choice. Simply a fantastic piece of music, with the constant flow of overwhelming melodies a Symphonic Poem can give us. Hardly possible to forget the main theme of this almost 16 minutes lasting masterpiece.
I love the music of Belgian composers such as Benoit, DeBoeck, Lekeu, Ryelandt and Tinel, but Biarent has surpassed these fine composers with his well-crafted music of exceptional quality... again, in my opinion. Yes, I'm very impressed.
Thanks for getting back to Biarent, Peter. I find the late-romantic period in Belgium to be fascinating and Biarent (along with Meulemanans, Ryelandt, Van Hoof, Benoit, De Boeck, and Lekeu) was one its prime exponents.
Quote from: kyjo on Thursday 09 August 2012, 18:49
I find the late-romantic period in Belgium to be fascinating and Biarent...was one its prime exponents.
Perhaps you could expand on your statement and tell us
why...
Sorry if this isn't good enough, but the late-romantic period in Belgium is fascinating to me because there are so many composers, all unsung, which (as much as I have heard) wrote music that deserves to be played more often. Biarent was a prime exponent of this time and place because he wrote music of great substance and emotion, like Peter1953 points out.
For those who are interested, here are some of its catalog with regard to orchestral music and chamber music
Œuvres
Musique d'orchestre
Fingal, ouverture 1894
Impressions du soir 1897
Œdipe à Colone, cantate pour soli, chœurs et orchestre 1901
Trenmor, poème symphonique 1905
Symphonie en ré mineur 1908
Sonnet pour violon et orchestre : Le Réveil d'un Dieu (d'après José-Maria de Heredia) 1909
Sonnet pour violoncelle et orchestre : Floridum Mare, d'après José-Maria de Heredia 1910
La Légende de l'amour et de la mort 1910
Marche triomphale 1910
Trois mélodies pour chant et orchestre : Au long de la Sambre - Coin de terre - La Fête au bois 1911
Poème héroïque, d'après Hjalmar de Leconte de Lisle 1911
Contes d'Orient, suite symphonique 1911
Rhapsodie wallonne, pour piano et orchestre 1911
Musique de chambre
Sonnet, pour piano 1904
Sérénade, pour piano 1904
Esquisses, trois pièces pour piano
Nocturne, pour piano 1905
Feuille d'Album et Nocturne pour piano 1905
Nocturne, pour chant, harmonium, piano, harpe et cor 1905
Quintette, en ré mineur, pour piano et cordes 1912
Douze préludes Moyen-Age, pour piano 1913
Sonate, pour violoncelle et piano 1914
Huit mélodies, pour mezzo-soprano et piano
As the member with the same name as the subject of this thread, perhaps I should weigh in with a comment. To me, Biarent's music reminds me most of the music of Franck, Dukas, and most especially, d'Indy. I would say that his d minor symphony is my favorite French symphony, except that he is Belgian, leaving d'Indy's second in Bb major as my favorite French symphony. I personally like his cello sonata more than any other that I have heard (including Barber's and the two by Faure).
I don't think there is anything wrong with having a style that shows influence from the styles of other composers. Few would argue against the opinion that Brahms is a genius. Yet, Brahms owes his style to others as well, particularly to Schumann (who, incidentally, is indebted to Schubert as his inspiration for much of his Lieder output).
It is too bad to hear that the CD with his symphony is out of print. I wish his music would be performed and recorded more often as it is certainly a delight to hear. I obviously love it.
I would like to say that I too am an admirer of Adolphe Biarent. I have had the CD of Contes D'Orient (coupled with Poème héroïque and Rapsodie wallonne) for quite some time and frequently listen to Contes D'Orient, which I really like - I have a particular liking for classical music works with an oriental(or exotic) flavour and this work certainly delivers in this respect. The work, a suite in 12 parts lasting some 37 minutes, is full of colourful ,rhythmic melodies of inspired invention and is a real joy. Members have already stated that Biarent was influenced by Franck, D'Indy, Wagner and Debussy amongst others, but it is interesting to note that he was also influenced by Berlioz and Richard Strauss. I also like the other main work on this CD, Rapsodie Wallonne, (a PC in all but name, as has already been stated on the forum) and draws its inspiration from a number of Walloon melodies and is structured along the lines of D'Indy's Symphonie sur un chant montagnard. A very impressive work it is too! I have since tried to obtain the CD of his symphony but sadly the single CD is no longer available - I do not want to buy the Liège Philharmonique box set of 50 CDs. Perhaps it will be re-issued? Could members of the forum who know this symphony give me some idea of what it is like. Thank you.
Quote from: DennisS on Sunday 28 October 2012, 17:25
Could members of the forum who know this symphony give me some idea of what it is like. Thank you.
Dennis,
The symphony is very well balanced and economical in a manner similar to Parry's fifth symphony. The first movement is dark and foreboding, and the chorale theme is heard in the minor. The middle two movements are very short, and the third movement is orchestrated particularly colorfully. The finale is almost half the length of the whole symphony, and starts off with a menacing theme similar to Night on Bare Mountain. During the course of the movement, the skies gradually clear. After several episodes with the chorale theme, we are finally brought into D major and, but not before hearing a few Straussian flourishes, are rewarded with a very grand and handsome conclusion.
I hope you can get your hands on this as you will probably enjoy the piece. It is one of my favorites.
Brian
Many thanks Brian for your very informative description of the symphony. It has whetted my appetite! I am very pleased to say that I am getting a copy of the symphony and am eagerly awaiting its arrival.
Hi everyone!
I'm curious about both the symphony and Trenmor. Can someone share a copy in MP3 of those works?
Many thanks in advance!!!
Hi, and welcome to UC. I can't help but sound plonking in saying this, but we don't share commercial recordings here, even if they are long deleted. If there are non-commercial recordings of these works (radio broadcasts, say), then that's fine, but piracy is off the agenda.
Was wondering about the publication status: it seems his cello sonata was (first?) published in 1979, and other works on these recordings may still be in manuscript...
(That's a tangent. I've heard several of the recordings- or one several times?- going back to college days, iirc- not often though. Good memories.)
Quote from: Mark Thomas on Tuesday 08 August 2017, 07:49
Hi, and welcome to UC. I can't help but sound plonking in saying this, but we don't share commercial recordings here, even if they are long deleted. If there are non-commercial recordings of these works (radio broadcasts, say), then that's fine, but piracy is off the agenda.
Not problem, I understand :) . So, does anyone have broadcasts of these works that can be shared? Thanks again!