Paul Ladmirault - Le Chemin Creux (4 Esquisses pour Piano, No.1)

Le Chemin Creux, "sunken path/road", is a short and quite interesting piece to me, as I had almost no association at all to this music. I really had to listen to this 10 times to get a sense of his language. But this is all because I don't know late romanticism at all and for some of you this might be totally mahler or reger or wagner or I don't know!
there just seem to be a lot of alterations of common harmonic progressions, some harmonic surprises and a very "lié" language. His Valse melancolique (next piece) is really on the edge of my comprehension, also quite difficult. Let's see.
Paul Émile Ladmirault (8 December 1877 - 30 October 1944) was a French composer and music critic whose music expressed his devotion to Brittany. Claude Debussy wrote that his work possessed a "fine dreamy musicality", commenting on its characteristically hesitant character by suggesting that it sounded as if it was "afraid of expressing itself too much". (Wow doesnt this fit perfectly?!)
Florent Schmitt said of him: "Of all the musicians of his generation, he was perhaps the most talented, most original, but also the most modest". He was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire to study under Gabriel Fauré. Like his fellow students - Maurice Ravel, Florent Schmitt, Louis Aubert, Jean Roger-Ducasse, Georges Enesco - he had become well known before he left the Conservatory.

[@jubila]

Wow~~~~~~~ Great music. . . . And amazing playing!!!!!!!

[@PianoScoreVids]

Thank you!

[@alessandropelizzoli6613]

I think this piece is a sort of exercise in linear counterpoint, in the context of modal- retrò language, the result is similar, without the ironical aspect, to some pieces by Satie ( Ogives, Sarabandes...) Neat performance, but with the tenderness required! Good work and Thanks for the discovery!

[@PianoScoreVids]

Thanks for this revealing comment! I would have expected counterpoints in more fugue-related pieces, but this term also seems to apply to the linear development of a theme. I would have to analyse this in detail to find out where he starts a theme and its corresponding counterpoint. Thanks again!

[@alessandropelizzoli6613]

Thanks to you. But attention... in linear conterpoint we sometimes don't have imitations in a strict way, we can also have only a polyphonic writing in the ancient sense of "punctus contra punctus".( nota contro nota).

[@PianoScoreVids]

Alessandro Pelizzoli alright!:)

[@alessandropelizzoli6613]

ah ah ah