Late Romantic Swiss Flute Sounds
Othmar Schoeck - Joseph Lauber
Tommaso Maria Maggiolini, flute
Nicolas Mottini, piano
This recording explores the late-Romantic flute repertoire through works by two Swiss composers: Joseph Lauber (1864–1952) and Othmar Schoeck (1886–1957). Lauber, born in Ruswil and trained in Zurich, Munich, and Paris, combined the influences of German Romanticism and French Impressionism, while remaining faithful to tonal music. A professor and conductor in Geneva, he composed several works for flute inspired by his friend, amateur flutist Paul Hagemann, known for his technical skill.
Among these works, the Dance Suite in the Old Style (ca. 1930) recalls Baroque forms (Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Gavotte, Bourrée) with personal flair and refinement. The Partita op. 51 (ca. 1949) for solo flute pays homage to Bach, alternating dances such as Pastorale, Sarabande, Minuet, and Saltarello, blending dynamic contrasts with Baroque style. The Grande Sonate op. 53 (1937) is considered his chamber music masterpiece: structured in three movements (Patetico, Pastorale, Burlesco), it merges lyricism, rich harmonies, and Debussy-like influences with technical virtuosity.
Schoeck, born in Brunnen and a student of Max Reger in Leipzig, was active in Zurich as a composer, conductor, and accompanist. He is best known for his vocal works and operas, such as Penthesilea. His Sonata op. 16 (1908/09), originally written for violin and dedicated to violinist Stefi Geyer, is performed here on the flute. The lyrical writing, rubato indications, and references to Bach make it an expressive and dynamic piece.
The program also includes the Albumblatt WoO 70, a short, tender piece composed for Geyer in 1908, revealing a more intimate side of Schoeck. Both composers, with distinct styles, enriched the flute repertoire by combining expressive depth with technical sophistication.
Franco Margola: Chamber Sonatas with Guitar
Ensemble Counterpoint
Piergiacomo Buso, guitar
Marco Longhi, guitar
Andrea Rinaudo, guitar
Alberto Lauro, guitar
Tommaso Maria Maggiolini, flute
Marcella Mammone, violin
Franco Margola (1908–1992) was an Italian composer who was active throughout the 20th century. During his lifetime, he dedicated himself to composing pieces for musicians in the academic sector, where he found fertile ground and was widely commissioned for both pedagogical and non-educational purposes. His career included various teaching and leadership posts at several Italian conservatoires, not least the Conservatorio di Musica ‘Arrigo Boito’ in Parma, where he taught composition from 1963 to 1975. Here, thanks to a collaboration with the guitar teacher Renzo Cabassi, he began to compose numerous works for guitar (approximately 250 opus numbers).
Margola maintained a close relationship with the historic roots of his art form, and although he experimented with the avant-garde in his youth, he abandoned such tendencies in his more mature compositions. His works are characterised by a ‘rhythmic vitality, a “classical” phrase structure, clear diatonicism, and a frequent use of fourths and fifths that recall the elements of his early compositions.’
The aim of this recording is to offer listeners a selection of colourful soundscapes that vary according to the different ensembles. The guitar is the star of this album and takes on new colours in combination with the flute and violin, as well as in guitar duos and trios. Margola’s sonatas often provide opening movements that are diatonic and atonal, followed by lyrical cantabile second movements that culminate in sparkling third movements evoking a medieval or baroque feel.
Trio Torrello - Une flûte Enchantée
Valentina Londino, mezzosoprano
Tommaso Maria Maggiolini, flute
Nicolas Mottini, piano
Melody might be seen as a succession of sounds, with a harmonious mellifluence of their own, that we perceive above an interweaving of voices. The tracks on this album are a celebration of melody in its many forms, and are thus the outcome of different places and times.
The journey starts with Neapolitan folk music, bringing out the essence of Italian culture, taste and wit: here we have Me voglio fa ’na casa, a chamber-music piece by the famous composer of operas Gaetano Donizetti. Initially for voice and piano, it is recorded here in an original version with the addition of a flute.
Remaining in Italy during the same period, we pay tribute to the melodies of Vincenzo Bellini, a composer who filled the lyricism of his creations with gentleness. The three melodies in this collection (Il fervido desiderio – Dolente immagine – Vaga luna, che inargenti) illustrate the operatic tastes of his age but they do so in the more intimate context of chamber music.
The journey then continues towards the sounds of the French language: here the lead role is played by the flute, a favourite instrument in France during the age of Impressionism and the Belle Époque.
Based on the same enchanting poem by Victor Hugo (Viens! Une flûte invisible soupire…) both Camille Saint-Saëns and André Caplet compose a song in which voices, flute and piano converse with each other, showing how two different artistic sensibilities can convey the harmony of nature. Between these two melodies is Gabriel Fauré’s Fantaisie, Op.79 for flute and piano. Dedicated to the famous flautist Paul Taffanel, the Fantaisie was composed in 1898 as a morceau de concours for the Conservatoire de Paris.
Maurice Ravel’s La flûte enchantée, here in the chamber version with piano, comes from the symphonic poem Shéhérazade. The flute alternates its songs in languorous, sad, and joyful melodies, illustrating the lure of the exotic world of the Orient in early-twentieth-century French art.
The foray into French culture ends with the melancholy pastoral atmosphere of Pierre-Octave Ferroud’s Bergère Captive, the first of three pieces for solo flute that he composed in 1921 and 1922.
We are brought towards Switzerland by the sounds of German in the extract from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Die Obrigkeit ist Gottes Gabe (Cantata BWV 119), with its counterpoint themes and the typical equilibrium of Baroque music. Here we find the relatively unknown melodies of Volkmar Andreae, a Swiss composer and friend of Hermann Hesse who put to music the Vier Gedichte, Op. 23, conveying the poet’s impressions of his travels in Italy. Staying in Switzerland, but with a change of language, we have a tribute to Frank Martin, with Les Cadeaux, from his Trois chants de Noël: here we are in the grotto with the Baby Jesus, who ignores the precious gifts from the Three Kings and proffers his first smile to a poor shepherd boy.
A journey through the world of melody could not pass by the popular music of the last century, and a tribute is paid to the sublime Edith Piaf who, with her poignant notes, is still today one of the greatest icons of the chanson française.
Our journey comes to an end in the cradle of modern music: a cotton plantation. Summertime, one of the most popular of all jazz pieces, originally came from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. A heart-wrenching lullaby that bears the musical hallmarks that would pave the way for the music of the twentieth century.