Ensemble Initium, a wind octet, was founded in 2005 at the Paris Conservatory and has won several awards, including a First Prize for Chamber Music at the Conservatory in 2009.
Composer Biography
Caplet was a close friend and collaborator of Claude Debussy, who entrusted him with numerous orchestration and piano reduction tasks.
Performer Biography
Laurent Wagschal, the pianist, is passionate about French music and has dedicated a significant part of his career to rediscovering rarely played composers.
Historical Context
Caplet served on the front lines during the First World War, where he was gassed, which permanently affected his health.
Composer Biography
André Caplet, the composer, won the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome in 1901 with his cantata Myrrha, surpassing even Maurice Ravel.
Composition History
The Légende for saxophone and small orchestra was commissioned by Elise Hall, a wealthy French music lover in Boston who took up the saxophone to recover her hearing after typhoid fever.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Despite his early interest in instrumental combinations, Caplet considered his two masterpieces, Épiphanie and Le Miroir de Jésus, written after 1918, to be his "first works."
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