André Jolivet: Chant De Linos: Flute: Instrumental Work

André Jolivet (1905-1974) composed Chant de Linos for the Solo de Concours at the Paris Conservatoire in 1944. Written for Flute Harp and String Trio this version contains the full score. This piece is quite difficult to execute but will stand out in a competition or a recital. Inspired from what is called a Chant de Linos a threnody (or lament to the dead) in the Greek antiquity this piece is also about Linos son of Apollo. A brilliant musician Linos taught Orpheus the Lyre and got killed by Heracles for excessive criticism. André Jolivet is a French composer whowas greatly inspired by the Antiquity and had a strong interest for atonality. He also wrote many chamber music pieces eleven concertos some orchestral and some vocal music.

Pour Saxophone Soprano et Piano / for Solo Saxophone and Piano-André Jolivet’s Chant de Linos for Saxophone and Piano (arrangement: Carmen Lefrançois). Captivated by the magical and religious dimension of music André Jolivet (1905-1971) couldn’t help but have a predilection for the Flute a “deep expression of humankind (…) that charges sounds with what in us is both visceral and cosmic”. Eight years after the famous Incantations for solo Flute in 1936 he wrote the Chant de Linos for Flute and Piano. Its pedagogical purpose – as an examination piece for national Conservatoire students - does not mask itsgravity: in Ancient Greece it was a funeral lamento originally sung in memory of the poet Linos who lost his life to Apollo’s jealousy. In 1945 the composer transformed this piece into a powerfully charming quintet for Flute Violin Viola Cello and Harp. The Editions Leduc are publishing a transcription for Soprano Saxophone and Piano written by Carmen Lefrançois and approved by Christine Jolivet the composer’s daughter. Lefrançois beautifully avoids smothering the delicacy of the music with the Saxophone's dynamics which could prove excessive in this context. The threnody interspersed with ritual dances retains its strange beauty touching the hearts of a new generation of musicians.