Ricardo Viñes, a pianist, was the first performer of several works by Ravel and Debussy in Princess Winnaretta Singer-Polignac's salons.
Historical Context
Nadia Boulanger, a composer and conductor, had a close friendship with Princess Winnaretta Singer-Polignac, taught her, and served as her music director.
Composition History
The Quatuor Zahir commissioned two contemporary composers, Graciane Finzi and Fabien Waksman, for this album, continuing the patronage tradition of Princess Singer-Polignac.
Historical Context
Princess Winnaretta Singer-Polignac, a patron of the arts and musician, commissioned works from composers and hosted their first private performances in her mansion.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded at the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris, a historic mansion that once belonged to Princess Winnaretta Singer-Polignac, a patron of the arts.
Compositional Technique
Fabien Waksman's Les Lunes galantes was composed as a fifth movement for Debussy's Petite Suite, which the Quatuor Zahir discovered Debussy originally intended to have five pieces.
Instruments
The saxophone quartet, though invented in the 1840s, only gained a dedicated repertoire with professional ensembles forming in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
