Le Merle Noir for Flute and Piano

This new edition of the Olivier Messiaen's fabulous Le Merle Noir is sparkling. The reprinting makes everything much easier to read and the Introduction, which has a great deal of background detail and useful notes on interpretation, will be welcomed by everyone looking to add research their performance. A must have purchase!

These are the latest offerings in Leduc's reissue of some of the great French flute repertoire, with notes on interpretation by Bruno Jouard. This project is an enormous undertaking, which has seen many important works appear in new editions, with mistakes corrected and clearer typesetting than the earlier versions.

It is exciting, therefore, that these seminal works are now available as part of the new series. The score layout has been kept quite similar to the original versions, which is a great benefit in terms of maintaining familiarity, but the pieces have been re-typeset and beautifully spaced, so that the printing is clear and easier to read.

Jouard's notes provide a wonderful level of context into the pieces, including some helpful quotes from Messiaen in the preface to Le Merle Noir. The notes on interpretation provide an excellent way into the piece, ideal for adult students without regular access to a teacher, for example, or to provide ideas for further discussion. Jouard makes some excellent points, for example not confusing fantaisie with rubato and explaining how to make sense of the additive rhythms. His commentary discusses the piece on an almost bar-by-bar level, pointing out important features and traps to avoid. This is particularly helpful in 'contemporary' repertoire (even if it's now over 70 years old!), where some of the concepts may not be immediately familiar.

The notes on the Dutilleux are extensive, providing context about the Paris Conservatoire commissions, Dutilleux's own compositional life at the time of the Sonatine's composition, and the piece's dedicatee, Gaston Crunelle, who taught Rampal, Galway, Eddie Beckett and many others. The information is well researched, with references provided for anyone interested in following up on the sources. There's a lovely quote from the letterof engagement asking Durilleux to compose the piece, which is well worth reading! Once again we have almost bar-by-bar suggestions on interpretation, and the emphasis that this is tryly chamber music with equal parts.

These are wonderfully useful reissues which help to preserve the music, and the traditions behind it, for the next generation of players. For those of us lucky enough to be familiar with the older editions, it's lovely to have the two side by side and to see what additional insights Jouard has to offer. Highly recommended.