Andre Jolivet (1905-1974)
       Solo Piano Works

Piano Sonata No. 1 (1945)
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1957)
Cinq Danses rituelles (1939)

Philip Adamson, piano
Recorded July 2001
Released March 2004
Centaur CRC 2641 [67:07]

This is highly dissonant French piano music that most listeners
would find hard to fathom and enjoy.  Yet, it has many of the features
found in tonal music: introductions, identifiable themes, thematic
development/variation, development sections, codas, and strong rhythmic
patterns.  What it doesn't possess is our traditional sense of lyricism.
If that hurdle is overcome, the music gains in its clarity of purpose
and architecture.

Jolivet was most influenced by his teachers Paul Le Flem and
Edgar Varese.  Le Flem taught Jolivet all the existing musical forms,
while Varese imparted his knowledge and sense of rhythm and acoustics.
Essentially, Jolivet's music sounds like a mix of Varese, Bartok, and
the mysticism of the late Scriabin works.  There are also jazz influences
and serialist techniques interspersed throughout his works.  The programmed
music on the disc tends to take two directions; one is the tough-as-nails
variety, the other is mysterious and confusing as to intentions.

Philip Adamson is a sure guide through Jolivet's music.  He captures the
indecision of the mystical elements as well as the hard severity elsewhere
encountered.  Perhaps most important, he has the rhythmic patterns well
in hand including the jazz and Latino influenced rhythms.

The sound quality of the disc is outstanding - crystal clear with wonderful
depth and detail emanating from the lower voices.  The booklet notes are
in English and French with ample information and insight concerning
Jolivet's sound world and the programmed works on the disc.

Don's Conclusions: For those familiar with and appreciative of musical
dissonance, the Centaur recording should offer many rewards.  Others of
an adventurous nature might want to seek out the disc for the goal of
new discoveries.  Listeners who know they do not want to dabble in any
music out the ordinary would be best advised to keep their distance.

Don Satz