This CD is notable for its Sonate en ré pour violoncelle et piano by the wrongly forgotten Pierre Onfroy de Bréville (1861-1949). He belonged to César Franck's first generation of composition students, putting him in class with Duparc, Chausson, Lekeu, Ropartz and D'Indy. De Bréville composed three works for the combination of cello and piano: the Poème Dramatique, the Fantaisie appassionata
… and the present sonata, which was premiered by Gérard Hekking in 1931 at the Salle Pleyel. Charles-Marie Widor is best known for a series of masterly symphonies for organ, but he composed much more than that. His second Piano Quintet was created in 1896, one year after the Symphonie Gothique for organ (No. 9 in a row). Gabriel Pierné, finally, succeeded César Franck as organist of the St. Clotilde. Pierné's compositional work is in the shadow of his zeal to bring other people's work to the fore. For example, he conducted Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë and premiered Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu. His Trois Pièces and Trio pour violon, alto et violoncelle were dedicated to the famous Trio Pasquier. (HJ)more
