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Caplet: Conte fantastique; Setuor; Prières

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A remarkable disc of very rare material by the short-lived Frenchman André Caplet (1878-1925).

Caplet was from Normandy; won the Prix de Rome (1901); and from 1907, worked closely with Debussy--(himself influenced by Satie)--from whom he learned orchestration and an appreciation of Poe. Caplet was also deeply moved by Ralliement esthetique--the resurgence of interest in Romish mysticial aestheticism of the Fin de Siècle.

Caplet died prematurely due to lung damage from chemical warfare in WW1.

Disc features:

1) Caplet's tone poem for chamber ensemble [string quartet & harp] based on Poe's short story "The Masque of the Red Death," :17mins;

2) "Prayers"--"Lord's Prayer," "Ave Maria," and "Apostles' Creed" for vocalist and SQ w/harp;

3) Divertissements--a la française and a l'espagnole for harp--(strings plucked with nails like a guitar);

4) Two Sonnets by French Renaissance poets Joachim du Bellay and Pierre de Ronsard, for vocalist and harp;

5) Septet for female vocalise and string quartet, :14mins.

TT:55mins.

Wonderful Monet Rouen façade cover-art.

See too:
Debussy: String Quartet; Fauré: String Quartet; Caplet: Conte Fantastique
Les Angélus: French Sacred Music for Soprano and Organ
Caplet: Miroir De Jesus
Caplet: Mélodies
Caplet/Magnard: Wind Quintets
André Caplet: Chamber Music

Also see Pater's purple prose-poetry on du Bellay in The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry (Oxford World's Classics) .
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