The Trois morceaux suisses are the revisions of the three Paraphrases which formed the third book of the original Album d’un voyageur. The first piece, based on Swiss composer Ferdinand Huber's version of the cowherds’ traditional Ranz de vaches (there is simply no cognate for ‘ranz’ in English: it is the generic title of the melodies improvised by Swiss herdsmen-whether of cows, as in this piece, or of goats, as in the third-played on the alpenhorn or sung), is a series of free variations on the theme heard at the beginning. The second paraphrase, with the title Un soir dans la montagne (An Evening on the Mountain) uses a yodelling song melody by the Swiss cellist, composer and publisher Ernest Knop, and includes a dramatic storm, as alpine weather deteriorates. The third of the set, an exciting Rondeau, is based on Huber’s version of the goatherds’ Ranz de chèvres. By turns turbulent, delightful, playful and unabashedly virtuosic, it strongly concludes the set.
00:00 -- Ranz de vaches
10:09 -- Un soir dans la montagne
18:31 -- Ranz de chèvres
27 июн 2024
