Anick Lessard - Works for Flute & Other Instruments

Ladislas de Rohozinski (1886-1938) Little is known about the life of Ladislas de Rohozinski apart from what remains from his body of musical work, which was preserved and some titles which are still unpublished... and what the musical critics of the time said. Had it not been for the efforts over the last ten years by his grandson, Olivier de Rohozinski, to trace, restore and promote the work of his grandfather, Ladislas de Rohozinski might well have been among the ranks of quality musicians whose name and work are unfortunately lost in the shadows of time. We know that Ladislas de Rohozinski was born in 1886 in St. Petersburgh of parents of Polish nationality. He lived his early childhood on the family property in Cyboulow, in Ukraine and his family moved to Nice at the beginning of the 20th century. He received his musical training in Paris under the direction of Vincent d'Indy and Eugène Gigout. He was the friend and occasional student of Albert Roussel and his circle of friends included the musicians of the Schola Cantorum. He was also part of the literary crowd and the music critics of Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. It was in 1916, during the First World War that he burst onto the musical scene thanks to a first orchestra work - the overture and the stage music for Omphale, a lyric tragedy by the poet and art critic from Provence, Joachim Gasquet. The work, of which the manuscript today is lost, was played at the Concerts classiques de Monte-Carlo, under the baton of Léon Jehin. The public was immediately conquered and the work enjoyed great success. As the war raged on, Rohozinski left to become a volunteer for the duration of the conflict, serving on the French front. He was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, a form of military knighthood. In 1919, he resurfaced as a music critic for major dailies and magazines including L'Événement and the new publication L'Amour de l'art. In the beginning of the 20s, he directed music in cinema halls (Cirque d'hiver, Montrouge-Palace, Ba-Ta-Clan). In addition to his own musical activities, Ladislas de Rohozinski also worked as a critic. In 1925 and 1926, there appeared in the musical publications of the Librairie de France, under the direction of Ladislas de Rohozinski, two volumes entitled Cinquante ans de musique française (1874-1925), that painted the complete portrait of the French music of this era. Later, between 1926 and 1928, he became orchestra conductor at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where he directed with complete mastery the Orchestre Pasdeloup for the concert and ballet seasons. Despite these diverse efforts, Rohozinski continued to write. Many pieces of chamber music saw the light of day and were also greeted with enthusiasm by the general public. In the Revue de France (1924?), Florent Schmidt, a composer contemporary of Rohozinski, wrote: "In the work by L. de ROHOZINSKI we must note the always fine musicality and the harmonious ease with which the instruments move as much when treated individually as in their polite neighbourly relationship, where each knows where it's place is, to efface itself when needed, but, also when needed, to employ all the technical resources to attain maximum soft and soothing musical expression without aggressive jerkiness, without seducing the vulgar and worthless which leaves a charming expression." In his work on contemporary music in France (1930), the music critic and musicographer René Dumesnil wrote: "I have already signalled the influence of Debussy on some of his most distinguished disciples of the Schola Cantorum. L. de Rohozinski, who was a student of Vincent d'Indy, was subject to the bewitching style of the magician of the Nocturnes, but being Polish in origin, albeit steeped in French culture, he found some very personal accents, both in his vocal music as in the refined instrumentation where he excels; there are none better than he for combining the tones." The music of Ladislas de Rohozinski was frequently played by major performers (Lily Laskine, René Le Roy, Jane Bathori, to name a few) between the two wars. His sudden death at the age of 51 on September 4, 1938 on the eve of the Second World War interrupted the playing of his work. Many manuscripts were played at the time, but not having been printed, are currently the subject of research by his grandson, Olivier de Rohozinski, who is seeking to have them played again. The musical work of Rohozinski Despite his many works and his numerous engagements, notably as a critic, cinema hall musician and orchestra conductor, Ladislas de Rohozinski never ceased to compose music, so he therefore left behind a rich and abundant legacy of work, even though it is virtually unknown. While he wrote little for full orchestra - although we are aware of a Conte fantasque, created in Monte-Carlo in 1918, and an overture and the stage music for the drama Omphale by Joachim Gasquet, also presented in Monte-Carlo in 1916 (manuscript not found) -, Ladislas de Rohozinski certainly made up for it in his works for chamber music where his catalogue is abundant: compositions for voice with piano accompaniment or for voice and instrumental ensemble; three choirs in a cappella; several works for the piano; compositions for stringed instruments; strings and piano; strings, winds and piano; a quintet for wind instruments. To this is added an opera - Les Princesses de la mer - written in 1920, for which the manuscript is incomplete, as well as the adaptations of diverse pieces, notably the music for the film Les Aventures du Prince Ahmad by V. Zeller, presented at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in 1926. His works were generally well received by the public and they generated some praise from the critics. On the subject of the Conte fantasque, the newspaper Le Petit Monégasque wrote the day after it's first performance: "We have to recognize in him, a remarkable symphonist, a harmonist who displays a tendency for happy audacity. His orchestral palette is very rich; he even manages to produce new nuances, sometime displaying an amazing delicacy, sometime a marvelous éclat of brilliance. The public warmly responded to this lovely and well executed overture and gave the composer who was presented in the audience, an enthusiastic and well earned ovation." In a talk given over the Paris radio waves in January, 1938, the year of Rohozinski's death, the critic and musicographer René Dumesnil said of his chamber music: "[Rohozinski] was a researcher, a pioneer, who dared to try tone combinations that none before him had tried and others, less talented, imitated without succeeding. But this man who was so well endowed, this born musician, knowledgeable critic to whom we owe the birth of the remarkable work Cinquante ans de musique française, and who for many years wrote with competence and an equally laudable sense of justice the musical column L'Évènement, this orchestra conductor who replaced Albert WOLFF at the Pasdeloup concerts, had a fault, and a terrible one, at that which is critical at a time where one is not reluctant to publicize his own merits: it was his self effacement and his discretion." And to conclude this brief portrait of a work where we gain something from knowing it, the French composer and musicologist Roland-Manuel once wrote: "The ART of M. de ROHOZINSKI offers the charms of discreet tenderness." Works for flute and other instruments The flute occupies a relatively important place in the chamber music written by Ladislas de Rohozinski. Well served by a high level of performers - whether we refer to René Le Roy and Louis Fleury playing the flute, Lily Laskine the harp and Jeanne Gautier the violin - Rohozinski was able to easily exploit all the possibilities, the colours and the subtleties of the instruments for which scores he wrote. In this way, the flute is associated sometime with the harp, or the violin and the harp, or even the viola d'amore (or viola) and the harp, sometime with