• Tracks

Flex Ensemble writes: "Our second album highlights three different genres of French music: A youthful work by Faure, written in the late romantic piano quartet tradition, character pieces by Ravel in a new arrangement for piano quartet and an eclectic mix of contemporary interpretations of French Chansons from Claude Le Jeune up to Georges Brassens. It all began with Faure... his C minor Piano Quartet is one of the earliest works that we learned as an ensemble. We immediately formed a personal connection to the quartet, perhaps one of Faure's most popular chamber music works. With it's emotional core, instrumental color, flowing but clear form, and the fascinating story behind it's creation, we embraced the challenge of exploring our sound and furthering our comprehension of French musical literature. Some years later we received an unexpected gift: The first movement of Ravel's Ma Mere l'Oye arranged for piano quartet by our friend Shintaro Sakabe. 'Try it,' he said, 'I think it might work'..."