Lionel Andrey & Flore Merlin - Color Gradient (2023)

Since our meeting during our studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2010 and a few years of concerts and exploration, we are happy to be able to concretize a project that has been close to our hearts for a long time: the recording of our first disc. We designed the Color Gradient program together, featuring works composed between the end of the 19th century and the present day. The program is a journey from France to America and from so-called classical music to almost improvised music. Color Gradient can be seen as a tribute to the incredible stylistic and aesthetic evolutions of music during the 20th century in terms of harmony, form and melodic freedom.

Here are the composers appearing on the CD: Widor, Debussy, Poulenc, Bernstein, Schnyder, Templeton and finally the young French composer Fabien Touchard, who wrote his piece “Envol (un smile)” for us on the occasion of this recording.

Tracklist
01. Widor: Introduction et rondo, Op. 72
02. Debussy: Première Rhapsodie
03. Poulenc: Sonate pour clarinette et piano, FP 184: I. Allegro tristamente
04. Poulenc: Sonate pour clarinette et piano, FP 184: II. Romanza
05. Poulenc: Sonate pour clarinette et piano, FP 184: III. Allegro con fuoco
06. Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano: I. Grazioso
07. Bernstein: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano: II. Andantino - Vivace e leggiero
08. Schnyder: Sonata für Sopransaxophon und Piano: I. Quarter = 112
09. Schnyder: Sonata für Sopransaxophon und Piano: II. Langsam tempo rubato
10. Schnyder: Sonata für Sopransaxophon und Piano: III. Schnell
11. Schnyder: Sonata für Sopransaxophon und Piano: IV. Sehr schnell
12. Templeton: Pocket Size Sonata No.1: I. Improvisation
13. Templeton: Pocket Size Sonata No.1: II. Modal Blues
14. Templeton: Pocket Size Sonata No.1: III. In Rhythm
15. Touchard: Envol (un sourire)