The chamber music of Florent Schmitt is quite interesting and varied. Among them are wonderfully intimate pieces such as the Sonatine en Trio from 1934 which have a flavor somewhat similar to the chamber works of Schmitt’s compatriots Debussy and Ravel.
But there are numerous other Schmitt compositions for chamber players that inhabit a different sound-world – more full-bodied and containing surprising musical touches.
One of these pieces is Hasards, Op. 96. The title of this four-movement suite, which Schmitt described as a “petit concert” for piano, violin, viola and cello, translates roughly to mean “Chances” in English.
And the “chances” Schmitt takes gives us music that’s wonderfully rhythmic and colorful, but that also possesses a certain “irony” that comes through in wry statements punctuated by chords that push harmonic boundaries while seeming completely apt for the music.
Schmitt’s score, which was dedicated to his fellow French composer Guy Ropartz, was first performed in 1943 by the Pasquier Trio and the American-born French pianist Aline von Barentzen. The suite, which is less than 15 minutes in duration, is a highly engaging work that keeps the listener’s interest from beginning to end.
In characteristic Schmitt style, the four movements of the suite bear highly descriptive and alliterative titles:
I: Exorde – D’une allure rapide: a fast movement with a light rhythm
II: Zélie-au-pied-leger: a lively number in 6/8 time and an indeterminate key signature
III: Demi-soupir – Un peu lent: slow and mysterious with a clear stylistic debt to Gabriel Fauré, one of Schmitt’s composition instructors at the Paris Conservatoire
IV: Bourrée-bourrasque – Impétueux: liberally translated meaning “brusque bourree”, with definitive rhythms punctuated by striking chords on the piano
Musicologist and Schmitt biographer Yves Hucher had this to say about Hasards:
“The whole work is so youthful and so lithe, which explains its charm: ironical and facetious at the beginning, dreamy in the middle, bolder and more intoxicating at the end. One could search in vain for a flaw or a moment of boredom in this work.
In its desire to please, its only pretense is that of being real music.”
I am aware of four commercial recordings of Hasards. Two of them in particular are very similar in approach – and are quite good. One is a Gallo recording of a 1990 live performance performed by Elizabeth Herbin (piano), Alexis Galpérine (violin), Bruno Pasquier (viola) and Mark Drobinsky (cello).
There is also a 1993 Valois studio recording made by the “newest generation” of Pasquier family members: Bruno Pasquier (again) on the viola, Régis Pasquier on violin, Roland Pidoux on cello, and Haridas Greif on the piano.
If you are unfamiliar with the chamber music of Florent Schmitt, I think Hasards a good place to start your discovery. Yves Hucher is correct: It is highly accessible music that gives witness to some of the more individualistic aspects of Schmitt’s music for small forces – and that also allows ample opportunity for each of the instrumentalists to shine.
For those interested in sampling this music, a recent live performance of Hasards by a Japanese chamber ensemble — the Tarihere Quartet — has been uploaded on YouTube.
