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The world premiere recording of Durey's L'Offrande lyrique (Op. 4), six songs set to texts by Rabindranath Tagore (recipient of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature) in French translation by Andre Gide, is a highlight of this collection. Musically inspired by the atonality of Arnold Schoenberg's The Book of Hanging Gardens, and often credited as the first piece of free twelve-note technique in French music, L'Offrande lyrique navigates a harmonic language which can hold clarity and vivid colour in Lumiere ! ma lumiere !, or blur into dark heavy clouded gesture in Les nuages s'entassent, effectively supporting Tagore's language. At times, the words seem to muse over seemingly unconnected piano motifs, before meeting- sometimes harmonically, sometimes not-sometimes walking the same path, other times meandering separately again. For Paris 1913 to include a world premiere recording of such important music, written over a century ago, is thrilling, and places Durey firmly alongside his contemporaries in the cafes and salons of pre-war Paris. Far from being overshadowed by the better-known composers in this anthology, these songs stand as a testament to the strength of French melodies of the era. © Andrew Matthews-Owen & Claire Booth Album Tracks 1. En regardant ces belles fleurs 2. innocence 3. À Chloris 4. Trois poèmes de Mallarmé~Soupir 5. Trois poèmes de Mallarmé~Placet futile 6. Trois poèmes de Mallarmé~Surgi de la croupe et du bond 7. Interludes~Le Pouf 8. Route 9. Offrande lyrique~Le jour n'est plus 10. Offrande lyrique~Au petit matin 11. Offrande lyrique~Les nuages s'entassent 12. Offrande lyrique~Tu es le ciel 13. Offrande lyrique~Cueille cette frêle fleur 14. Offrande lyrique~Lumière! Ma lumière! 15. Petite main 16. Il m'est cher, Amour, le bandeau 17. Je voudrais être une fleur 18. Trois poèmes de Mallarmé~Soupir 19. Trois
