Austin de Croze organized two concerts in 1896 dedicated to poetry and folk songs from Corsica. He based this on his own study "La chansononer de Corse". This book, which was very remarkable for that time, was based on the collection of songs that De Croze had collected when he was stationed as a conscript in Corsica. The mentioned concerts were not only important because of the ethnomusicological
… pioneering work, but also because of the orchestrations made for these concerts by Maurice Ravel, among others. For the 20-year-old Ravel, this was the first time that he had made himself heard as an orchestrator: an area in which he would later excel. Van Ravel's arrangements have been recorded on a CD conducted by Jean Michel Giannelli. Fortunately, for this performance they used singing voices that are not classically trained. This gives these songs an 'authentic' color, partly thanks to subtle decorations. A downside is perhaps that the balance between singers and ensemble seems a bit strange for those who are used to classical CDs. Without prior knowledge, no one will probably guess that this is music by Ravel. Yet the CD derives so much charm from the 'folk' character of the singing voices, that this performance is nevertheless worthwhile. (HJ) _ Without prior knowledge, no one will probably guess that this is music by Ravel. Yet the CD derives so much charm from the 'folk' character of the singing voices, that this performance is nevertheless worthwhile. (HJ) _ Without prior knowledge, no one will probably guess that this is music by Ravel. Yet the CD derives so much charm from the 'folk' character of the singing voices, that this performance is nevertheless worthwhile. (HJ) _more
