Purcell: Sonata for Trumpet and Strings Z850

The words "eclectic" and "virtuosic" describe not only the works selected for this CD, but also the artists who perform them: trumpeter Stéphane Beaulac and organist Vincent Boucher. The works recorded here are those they have selected to perform in their Concerts Desjardins series of touring concerts, which is organized by Jeunesses musicales du Canada, and which will continue to be presented in various parts of Quebec until summer 2006. The selection on this CD recalls the legendary pairs of musicians who first made this repertoire so celebrated: Maurice André and Marie-Claire Alain, or Roger Delmotte and Pierre Cochereau (it was to the latter that Georges Delerue dedicated his Sonate.)

The art of transcription, the adaptation of a composition for an instrument other than that for which it was originally written, has always existed. One need only think of the countless Renaissance songs adapted for keyboard or of the transcriptions made by composers such as Liszt and Busoni, or, more recently, by Gould and Godowsky. And of course, there are the Vivaldi concertos that Bach arranged for organ. When making a transcription, it is often difficult to be completely true to the original composition. Indeed, as Liszt’s transcriptions of Schubert’s lieder so eloquently prove, some transcriptions go so far as to actually transform the composer’s ideas. The following examples, taken from this recording, illustrate the range of a transcription’s faithfulness.