Byron Adams
Le Jardin Provençal
Suite française for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord
- Level: intermediate / advanced
- Duration: 18'30
- Genre: contemporary
- Composed: 2006
Score and parts
CHF39.00
- Publisher: Editions Bim
- Movements:
- I. Ouverture (4’15)
- II. Romance sans paroles (5’10)
- III. Farandole avec musette (2’50)
- IV. Fêtes galantes (6’15)
- I. Ouverture (4’15)
Byron Adams (*1955)
About Le Jardin Provençal
Flavours from Provence
Subtitled “Suite Française,” Le Jardin Provençal consists of four movements, none of which describe a particular garden in Provence. The first movement is a brisk Ouverture in sonata form followed by a Romance sans paroles – a “song without words.” The third movement is a farandole, a Provençal dance used most famously by Georges Bizet (1838-1875), which is characterized by a skipping step and a regular pulse. Thus the Farandole avec musette is based on a Provençal folksong with a contrasting musette that is my own invention. Borrowing a title from a poem by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), the final movement is entitled Fêtes galantes; this music evokes the moonlit landscapes that were perfected in the elegant canvases of Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721).
Byron Adams, November 2011, Santa Monica, CA, USA
Première: Brentwood, California, USA, 25 March, 2006 by the ensemble Pacific Serenades: Mark Carlson, flute; Allan Vogel, oboe; David Speltz, violoncello; Patricia Mabee, harpsichord.