As one of the leading exponents of musical Impressionism, Debussy’s music represents an extraordinarily beautiful palette of colour and harmonic innovation. Commissioned by the Paris Conservatoire the Premiere Rhapsodie was originally a ‘Solo de Concours’ (competition solo) written to test the virtuosic abilities of students at the Conservatoire.

Laden with emotional melodies and rich textures, Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quintet No. 1 is an expressive work that highlights a groundbreaking change in French chamber music.

A rising star in both her native Australia and current home in Paris, Alice Chance’s Échappsodie (a made-up word using the French verb échapper — ‘to escape’) takes fragments of Debussy’s Premiere Rhapsodie and constructs them into a colourful masterclass of virtuosity for clarinet and ensemble.