Var - Emile Goue: Chamber Music 3

Son of a family of teachers, Emile Goué (1904-1946) was attracted both by his love for the sciences and for music. We do not know what his musical beginnings were, save for a brief stay at the Music Conservatory in Toulouse where he took the advice of masters like Canteloube and Crocé-Spinelli to immerse himself in the study of music theory. From his seemingly superficial youthful beginnings emerged slowly an existential quest. As a young professor agrégé, Emile Goué was named to teach the Special Mathematics class at the Michel Montaigne Lyceum in Bordeaux in 1930. From this period we mention particularly two piano triptychs: Pénombres (1931) and Ambiances (1935), a Trio with clavier in F minor (1933), a Poème symphonique (1933) and the dramatic piece Wanda (1934). Little by little, he created an original collection of compositions. After promotion to the Buffon Lyceum in Paris in 1935, Emile Goué took the counsel of Albert Roussel and took classes with Charles Koechlin on the subject of the fugue. He was discovered by artistic circles thanks to his Sonate pour piano (1936) and his Trois pièces pour trio d'anches (1937). In 1934, the composition 'Fleurs mortes' [Dead Flowers] seems to be a nostalgic depiction of childhood memories; with a title contrasting with their rustic character, these flowers tend toward the classicism of Saint-Saëns. The first presents a caressing phrase, followed in the central part by voluptuous arpeggios. In the second, a popular nursery rhyme is heard. Reworked in 1942, they mutated into 'Deux Aubades' [Two Serenades], Opus 10, for flute and piano, the new title more evocative of open air and the dawning day. The Trio à cordes, composed in Paris between January and March 1939, is witness to a happy period, with it's controlled and levelheaded language and perfectly refined counterpoint, which place it among his most successful compositions. 1-The Presto comes out right away as a burst of laughter. The vigor of the first melody, very much in the style of Rousseau, unfolds with confidence in the warm tonality of B flat minor before being interrupted by a crude and insistent four-measure call. During the development, the two themes babble with spontaneous charm and a grace unusual for him. 2-The Adagio meditates with a thoughtful solemnity in D flat major. The violin expounds, on the fourth string, a cantilena in ten measures with a softened shape on a trochaic rhythm from which the tragic is absent. It's complaint wanders through different soundscapes of moving beauty. An ecstatic passage with harmonic resonances precedes a coda which concludes serenely. 3-The Cello opens the Allegro with a bouncy aria full of pure joy. A few months later it's energy will animate "Plein air sur un plateau Creusois" [Fresh air on a plateau in the Creuse region]. This final in the shape of a tarantella shows us a Goué fond of the gaiety of popular songs whose echoes are sprinkled throughout the concluding movements of many of his works, in the fashion of Jean Françaix. Goué's intense production was interrupted by the war. Becoming a prisoner of war in June 1940, he remained in captivity for five years at the Oflag XB of Nienburg an der Weser in northern Germany. Just like the "Petite suite facile" [Easy little suite] Opus 28 from 1940, the Sextuor shows proof of an attempt to simplify his language in the direction of his fellow prisoners. Later the composer will consider this as a sort of numbness of his faculties. Conditioned by general despondency, and aiming for an instant hedonism, Goué gives up the innovations which distinguished him; only a few added notes attempt to spice the harmony. 1- A slow introduction establishes dominant of G minor. It seems that the rhythm of dotted eighths and sixteenth notes, associated with death as of opus 2, here perhaps reflects the despair and the imminence of giving up the combat. A passage "Très vif" [very quick] presents a march whose rhythm is expressed by pizzicatis surmounted by pressing violin runs, with gypsy accents. 2- Beginning in C sharp, the "Très animé" [very lively] returns to C major at the second appearance of the motif. Repeated spirals of eighth notes in triplets characterize the motif, mirroring the interminable wait of the captives as well as an extraordinary premonition of the music of a Philip Glass! A more lyrical phrase constitutes the heart of this movement, without however attaining the goal of elevating this debate. 3- The two following numbers seem more inspired. Completed March 18, the slow movement in G minor reveals a touching gentleness; it's theme paraphrases the "Poème symphonique", but in an ethereal mode. "The Adagio of the Sextuor expresses my love for you", he confided to his wife. 4- "I am starting the final movement of the Sextuor", he announced on May 27. With the coming of spring, he recovered his dynamism and drive. The orchestra sections take turns with the motif and it's modal shapes and sudden contrasts of nuances. "My Sextuor was played two days ago [October 19, 1942]. "Delicious tone, magical, landscape of dreams" ; surprising self-satisfaction for this less-than-audacious composition. Fallen into an occasional conformism, his inspiration revived nonetheless and recovered it's cheerfulness with his Duo for violin and cello, a pairing often found before him: Ravel (1922), Schulhoff (1925), Martinu (1927), Honegger (1932). "With this work without pretentions and philosophical bearing - as Philippe Gardien wrote - Emile Goué wanted to prove that despite the dismal environment of the barbed wires, the deprivation of liberty and often humiliating servitudes of life amid other prisoners, he was still capable of overcoming all these obstacles and keep up his spirits and joke, while maintainng an outwardly child-like humor". First step toward retaking control of himself, the Animé [Animated] in D combines a motif structured on a succession of ascending fourths with a second theme overflowing with sweetness. The beginning of the central Trés lent [Very slow] in G introduces variations on a sleepy meditation and concludes with series of thirds showing the characteristic signature of the composer. The third movement begins with a violin cadenza serving as a transition. It reveals Goué's attraction for the style 'alla zingarese', which permeated already the final movement of the first Quatuor, especially perceptible in the median motif. Dany Brunschwig and Jean Brizard performed the Duo, in which Goué managed to create a singular osmosis between instruments in Paris at the Triptyque on February 24, 1943. Emile Goué composed twenty-seven works during his captivity, among which the Psaume CXXIII, the Concerto for Piano and the monumental Deuxième Symphonie [Second symphony] for principal violin. Early in August 1943, Dany Brunschwig, who had just formed his quartet, commissioned art songs with string accompaniment from him for an upcoming concert. Goué transcribed Toi qui te connais mal [You who knows not well yourself], by Jean de La Ville de Mirmont, which he had originally composed for voice and piano the preceding December. "I no longer have a study, my bedroom now holds five inmates instead of three; it is difficult to work. As for the piano, it is more and more tired! And it is always impossible to have any silence!" . Nevertheless, full of modalities, the work was completed by the end of October. 1- Novembres pluvieux [Rainy Novembers] (by de La Ville de Mirmont) takes on a formidable resonance when seen in the context of it's conception: "Must our exile under your cold lights retain only the small hope left to us by trains whistling their distress in the night?" Batteries of triplets underline the languishing and abated song. 2. Jour d'Automne [Autumn day] (by Rilke) expresses the prayer of a "homeless being", with an insipid life "reading and lenthening his letters and idle vigils". The balance is perfect between words and his feelings at the time: "He will w