Chant de Linos

André Jolivet’s Chant de Linos, for Saxophone and Piano (arrangement: Carmen Lefrançois).

Captivated by the magical and religious dimension of music, André Jolivet (1905-1971) couldn’t help but have a predilection for the Flute, a “deep expression of humankind (…) that charges sounds with what, in us, is both visceral and cosmic”. Eight years after the famous Incantations for solo Flute in 1936, he wrote the Chant de Linos for Flute and Piano. Its pedagogical purpose – as an examination piece for national Conservatoire students - does not mask itsgravity: in Ancient Greece, it was a funeral lamento originally sung in memory of the poet Linos, who lost his life to Apollo’s jealousy. In 1945, the composer transformed this piece into a powerfully charming quintet for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello and Harp. The Editions Leduc are publishing a transcription for Soprano Saxophone and Piano written by Carmen Lefrançois and approved by Christine Jolivet, the composer’s daughter. Lefrançois beautifully avoids smothering the delicacy of the music with the Saxophone's dynamics, which could prove excessive in this context. The threnody interspersed with ritual dances retains its strange beauty, touching the hearts of a new generation of musicians.