Paul Ladmirault, born in 1877, was a French composer who started writing
music at any early age.  He wrote a violin sonata at 11 and started
composing opera at age 15.  He later spent seven years studying composition
under Gabriel Faure.  Ladmirault's works, prior to WWI, were earning him
increased esteem from his compatriots and the public; the sole criticism
seemed to be that he was far too modest a man.  The War greatly curtailed
Ladmirault's writing, as he was a soldier who spent time in the trenches.
After the War, he wanted privacy and calm.  He moved out of Paris and
became a professor at the Conservatory of Nantes in 1920.  He remained in
that area for the remainder of the life, dying in 1944.  Ladmirault's
departure from Paris definitely hurt his public musical career and
contributed to the relatively obscure reputation he now holds.

Ladmirault's music has the indelible stamp of Faure and Celtic folk
music.  His compositions are derivative, displaying little of the angst
and modernistic trends of the time.  Ladmirault was excellent at his craft,
quite tuneful with some melodies to remember, and always tasteful and
tonal.

The French record company, Skarbo, has now devoted three discs to
Ladmirault:  one solo piano cd, and two chamber discs.  The one under
consideration in this review is Skarbo 4001; its title is "Quartuors,
Trios, Fantasie".  The contents are a string quartet, piano trio, romance
for string quartet, fantaisie for piano trio, and fantaisie for violin and
piano.  The performing artists are the Quatuor Liger with Louis-Claude
Thirion on piano.  This Quartet was formed in 1995 and is named, in Latin,
for the longest river in France.  Thirion was a pupil of Yves Nat and
Olivier Messiaen, and he's the man who does the honors on the Skarbo disc
devoted to Ladmirault's solo piano compositions.

Ladmirault's only string quartet is a generally sunny work with significant
bitter/sweet elements.  Of its four movements, three are folk-inspired;
the second movement was written years earlier as a tribute to Faure.  The
first movement Allegro begins with a lyrical and energetic theme which I
think would be a great opening for a John Wayne western movie.  It has a
folk-like flavor with an element of the heroic attached.  The second theme
is much slower and quite tender and lovely.  A very effective "stretti"
transition takes the music back to the initial theme.  Thereafter, the
music continues to switch from one theme to another.  The ending of the
movement comes suddenly and effectively in a quick and rousing manner.
Overall, although there is nothing earth-shattering, this movement is a
complete delight.

The second movement Andante possesses no folk characteristics and is
similar to the second theme from the first movement in terms of pacing,
style, and mood.  Although fine music, I would have much preferred a
greater degree of differentiation from that first movement theme.  I end
up feeling that the second movement is not very fresh; knowing that it
was written years before the first movement doesn't change the feeling.

The third movement is a short and happy Scherzo of about 3 1/2 minutes.
It begins with a simple Celtic tune; unfortunately, Ladmirault does not
do much with it other than add a little late-romantic lyricism and an
attractive lush quality.  This movement, although pleasant enough, is
*very* light and thin.

The last movement of the string quartet, concerning tempo, is marked
"Finale"; that's a tempo I've always been fond of.  Actually, the tempo
is quick and vibrant.  The movement starts off very promisingly with a folk
tune where the first violin is quite agitated.  Matters go downhill as the
music takes on a very sappy and happy veneer.  Ah, but then there's some
more pathos and agitation, then more sappy stuff, etc.  This could have
been a dynamite movement, but I feel no affinity between the music's angst
and its insipid humor.  Overall, this string quartet has much to offer, but
only in the first two movements.

The Fantaisie for Violin & Piano is lovely and poignant music with some
impressionism thrown in for effect.  It begins with a piano solo which
gives me the image of a warrior getting geared up for the big battle.
He stops as his wife hugs him; he likes the affection and decides to delay
battle for some love-making which might be the last time for him.  The
scene changes to the warrior and his army sneaking up on their foes in the
clearing behind the forest.  All of a sudden, our warrior sees his lovely
wife in his mind, calls off the battle, and goes home for more affection.
I'll stop the story at this point, since the music keeps alternating
between agitation and beauty/poignancy.  All kidding aside, the agitated
music is irresistable, and the tender music is very beautiful and not to
be forgotten.

The Fantaisie for Piano Trio, Chevauchee, presents another folk tune to
which Ladmirault adds lyricism.  Unlike the Scherzo of the String Quartet,
this piece has some bite to it - that's good.  The Fantaisie lasts just a
little over two minutes.

The Romance for String Quartet, another short piece, has Faure's imprint on
it.  This is an absolutely gorgeous composition which demands to be heard;
the subtlety and wealth of emotions expressed are stunning.

The last work on the disc, the Piano Trio, consists of an introduction
followed by a series of linked passages conveying the feeling of a river's
waters flowing from its source to the ocean.  This comes from a composer
who hated to take any trips.  Regardless, it is another lovely and
heart-felt piece.

I should mention the amount of music on the disc.  The disc cover provides
no total time, and I'm not surprised given that there's only 42 minutes of
music.

I have mixed feelings about Ladmirault and this recording.  The man clearly
is an expert at his craft, but his range is very small, at least from the
works on the disc.  There is little distinctiveness, and each piece seems
to be a part of the whole; it is quite a repetitive process as well.
Further, two movements of the String Quartet are disposable and lead me to
question Ladmirault's consistency and judgement.  Recording standards are
high, and the artists acquit themselves well; I don't believe that today's
"stars" would be able to improve much on the Quatuor Liger.  The amount of
music is rather paltry, but I'm skeptical that "more of the same" would be
an improvement.

Don's Conclusion:  I'd pass on this one unless money and storage space are
not an issue.  There are better composers of chamber music from that time
period to discover.  I've reviewed some of them over the past few months
such as the Hahn disc on Timpani which is much more rewarding than this
Ladmirault release.  If you do get the Ladmirault, it's probably best to
listen in small doses so that the repetition won't be obvious.

Don Satz
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