Description

Suite orientale op. 48/2 (8’) for orchestra
ed. by Christine Géliot
Scoring: 2.2.2.2.-4.2.3.0, Timp, Perc, Harp, Str
Furore Edition 2616
ISMN 979-0-50182-308-6
ed. by Christine Géliot
In 1900, Durand published a three-movement ‘Suite Orientale’ for violin, violoncello and piano – program music in an oriental sound of the Belle Epoque. The first performance of an orchestral version of the suite has been in 1906 in the Concerts Berlioz. It corresponds quite well to the trio, but the undated manuscript contains only two of the three movements: a somewhat dark and eerie prelude, and a Danse d’Almées, an oriental dance whose mysterious middle section seems to anticipate Maurice Ravel’s famous “bolero”.