While not yet a household name, Jean-Michel Damase may become better known to fans of modern piano music through this critically praised release from Somm. Very much in accord with French composers of the early twentieth century, Damase comes off as a latter-day Impressionist or a beneficiary of Les Six, though he is gifted with enough invention and individuality not to sound wholly derivative of his predecessors. His engaging music offers flashes of Debussy's evanescent colors, Ravel's piquant harmonies, and Poulenc's ...
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While not yet a household name, Jean-Michel Damase may become better known to fans of modern piano music through this critically praised release from Somm. Very much in accord with French composers of the early twentieth century, Damase comes off as a latter-day Impressionist or a beneficiary of Les Six, though he is gifted with enough invention and individuality not to sound wholly derivative of his predecessors. His engaging music offers flashes of Debussy's evanescent colors, Ravel's piquant harmonies, and Poulenc's buoyant wit; but Damase's piano works are sufficiently up-to-date in their stylistic allusions, additive rhythms, jazz harmonies, and pop moods to sound like products of our time. But if these descriptions are not adequate, Damase's music is eminently likeable for its liveliness, and his melodies are surprisingly catchy on a first hearing, quite rare in contemporary keyboard music. Works like the joyous Thème et Variations (1956) and the flashy Sonate (1953) have an insouciance that...
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