Jean Françaix’s Dixtuor exemplifies his ambition to entertain, with sparkling writing for 10 instruments. Tzigane – written by his avid supporter Ravel – is the springboard for Valerie Coleman’s brilliant wind quintet of the same name, while Alex Turley’s Syntax Error turns communication breakdowns between composer and performer into musical play. Written to commemorate young French lives lost in World War I, Debussy’s 1915 Cello Sonata brings restrained intensity to a program that is rounded out by Mozart’s Piano Quartet.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Praised as a child by Ravel, Françaix became one of the most prolific composers of the twentieth century. His aim was ‘to give pleasure… to be jolly most of the time – even comical.’ His Dixtuor is a sparkling showpiece for ten instruments.
American composer Valerie Coleman often pays homage to earlier music, in this case the virtuosic Tzigane by Ravel, which Coleman – an accomplished flautist – uses as a starting point for coruscating woodwind writing that echoes Françaix’s. Australian composer Alex Turley harnesses similar joie-de-vivre in Syntax Error, a work that makes play with the occasional breakdowns in communication between composer and players.

Ravel’s colleague Debussy wrote his exquisitely poised Cello Sonata during World War I as part of a projected series of chamber works to secretly honour the youth of France mown down in war. Restrained, yet deeply moving, it pairs perfectly with Mozart’s Piano Quartet, where seriousness, contrapuntal elegance and popular manners join to create an unforgettable piece.