The harmonium, patented in 1842 by Alexandre François Debain, is a keyboard instrument with bellows that produces sound using free reeds, allowing the musician to modulate sound expressively.
Performer Biography
Jean-Pierre Ferey, a prizewinner of the Zaragoza International Piano Competition, has an extensive discography and has served as artistic director for over a hundred recordings, including for the Skarbo label since 1990.
Composer Biography
Samuel Barber, born in 1910, studied organ at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1924 and briefly worked as an organist for a local parish, despite composing little for the instrument until his Toccata Festiva.
Compositional Technique
The term 'toccata', used since the 16th century, denotes a brilliant instrumental composition for keyboard, often intended to showcase the performer's virtuosity.
Composition History
Samuel Barber's Toccata Festiva was commissioned in 1960 by American philanthropist Mary Curtis Bok Zimbalist for the inauguration of a new organ she donated to the Philadelphia Academy of Music.
Interpretation
For this recording, a baby grand piano was used for the harmonium and piano duos to match the sound aesthetic of late 19th-century drawing-room pianos, which would have been dynamically closer to the harmonium.
Historical Context
Léon Boëllmann's Scènes du Moyen Âge reflects a late 19th-century artistic trend that saw a return to the Gothic and Early Middle Ages, similar to works by Charles-Marie Widor and the architectural restorations of Viollet-le-Duc.
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