大象传媒

Donald Macleod and Anastasia Belina consider how Augusta Holm猫s and Henri Duparc鈥檚 contrasting musical trajectories led them to study with C茅sar Franck, including the story behind Duparc鈥檚 rescued cello sonata.

Imagine creating a grand spectacle that demands 1,200 performers, along with the most lavish sets and costumes. You might think that the figure behind such an extraordinary achievement would have staked a claim on immortality, yet despite achieving considerable fame in her own lifetime, this is not the fate that befell Augusta Holm猫s. Over the passage of time her name has disappeared into obscurity, whilst that of her direct contemporary, Henri Duparc has grown and prospered. These days he鈥檚 regarded as one of the leading figures of French song, yet it鈥檚 still the case that relatively little is known about his life.
In Duparc鈥檚 case his is a reputation built on the slenderest of musical means, some seventeen m茅lodies. By contrast, Holm猫s鈥� l鈥橭de Triomphale, which was written to mark the centenary of France鈥檚 1789 revolution, is the largest of a generous collection of large-scale orchestral works, to which you can add four operas, the last of which was mounted at the Paris Opera in 1895, as well as considerable catalogue of songs.

To shed light on Holm猫s' music, several of her works, including one of her symphonies, have been specially recorded by the 大象传媒 Performing Groups, as part of the Forgotten Women Composers project, which was developed by the 大象传媒 in association with the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Helping Donald Macleod uncover more about the little-known Augusta Holm猫s and Henri Duparc, is Anastasia Belina, a researcher with a particular interest in nineteenth century music and women composers.

Duparc was a perfectionist, who was often driven to destroy his compositions. Today, a chance to hear his only surviving chamber work, a cello sonata.

Holm猫s: Molto lento
Luigi Magistrelli, clarinet
Claudia Bracco, piano

Duparc: 厂茅谤茅苍补诲别
Le manoir de Rosemonde
Soupir
Wolfgang Holzmair, baritone
G茅rard Wyss, piano

Holm猫s: 脌 Trianon
Katherine Eberle, mezzo soprano
Robin Guy, piano
Holm猫s: La chanson du chamelier
Eva Csap贸, soprano
Alicja Masan, piano
Holm猫s: Reverie Tsigane (piano solo)
Anthony Goldstone, piano

Duparc: Sonata in A minor for cello and piano
Alain Meunier, cello
Anne le Bozec, piano

Holm猫s: Ouverture pour une com猫die
Rheinland-Pfalz Philharmonic
Samuel Friedman, conductor