Pierre Sancan - Sonatine for flute and piano (audio + sheet music)

Pierre Sancan (24 October 1916 – 20 October 2008) was a French composer, pianist, teacher and conductor. Along with Olivier Messiaen and Henri Dutilleux, he was a major figure among French musicians in the mid-twentieth-century transition between modern and contemporary eras; but outside France his name is almost unknown. Born in Mazamet in the south of France, Sancan began in musical studies in Morocco and Toulouse before entering the Conservatoire de Paris where he studied with Jean Gallon, and where he took conducting with Charles Munch and Roger Désormière, piano with Yves Nat, and composition with Henri Busser. In 1943, he won the Conservatoire's Prix de Rome for composition, with his cantata La Légende de Icare, but did not assume a regular teaching post there until 1956 when his former master Yves Nat retired. As a piano teacher, Sancan helped to train such luminaries as Olivier Cazal, Michel Béroff, Selman Ada, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Emile Naoumoff, Géry Moutier, Jean-Bernard Pommier, Daniel Varsano, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Jacques Rouvier, Kristin Merscher, Eric Larsen, Jean-Marc Savelli, and Jean-Philippe Collard. Sancan held this job until his own retirement in 1985. He lived another 23 years, to the age of 92, but his later years were compromised by Alzheimer's disease.

In 1946, Sancan wrote his Sonatine for flute and piano as a test piece for flute students at the Paris Conservatoire. It was dedicated to his colleague, distinguished flautist Gaston Crunelle, whose distinguished pupils included Jean-Pierre Rampal and James Galway. The form of the work is more or less traditional, consisting of three brief, contrasting sections. The first of these opens in a flowing triplet rhythm with Debussyan harmonies. Dramatic arpeggios and gestures from the pianist introduce the second section, the mood then changing to a gently romantic feeling like that typically depicting woodland imagery. A flute cadenza is then followed by the final triplet rhythm movement, with its reminiscence of the opening of the work, before the flute resumes the rapid figuration of the last movement, bringing the sonatina to a brilliant conclusion.

(Wikipedia, AllMusic, Naxos Music Library)

Please take note that the audio AND sheet music ARE NOT mine. Feel free to change the video quality to a minimum of 480p for the best watching experience.

Performer: Claude Regimbald, accompanied by Claude Webster (ATMA Classique, 1999)

[MatthewDovetail]

If this was by Ravel it would be internationally acclaimed. Not enough attention towards this masterpiece!

[lightbreathermusic]

Underrated for sure, it needs so much more attention. I'm in love with this piece.

[robertcohn]

Bravo! What a charmingly beautiful and complicated piece.

[xyz]

Instant like for such a beautiful piece. It's already on my to-do list for sure 😍 thanks for the upload

[niinaranta]

Love this piece, it's great to have the score here! But I want to suggest one thing: I would list both players as equal performers, and not as a soloist and accompanist. Only mentioning the flutist as a "performer" gives the impression (at least to me) that the piano part is some kind of irrelevant background that might as well be played by a computer in place of an actual pianist. Despite being of course very virtuosic and brilliant for the flute, this piece is real chamber music, and also the piano part is extremely complex and difficult at times. Just something to think about :-)

[오오유-qg]

0:25, 1:08, 2:00, 3:00, 7:00, 8:20

[dadomilosevic]

Nice work, nice interpretation too. Congratulations!

[rag]

Lot of the Debussy Flute Viola and Harp sonata in this one

[bernardparret]

In the presentation of Pierre Sancan I wish you hadn't forgotten to mention André Jolivet as a major French musician in the mid-twentieth century. Let's not overlook this major figure the French music-lovers can be proud of.

[bomentmusic-yzhd]

omg sancan died the day before i was born, idk what to think of this since i'm a flutist and I would like to one day enter the paris conservatory

[Gonzalo_Chalo_Luthier]

I didn't knew Pierre Sancan before but this beautiful piece reminds me of Hermeto Pascoal, which pieces i have studied a lot, maybe he got some inspiration from this!

[mimu]

Really inspired Poulenc's sonate for Oboe, I'd say

[MegaCirse]

Nous sommes dans une période covidienne où les égarés asymptomatiques de l'art sonore et de la poésie passent à côté de ça pour écouter de clinquants rappeux dont les travaux délétères, d’une pauvreté verbale dont rien n’approche et réservés à une élite restreinte, déroulent comme des confettis torsadés de pénibles architectures bruitistes et vulgaires sans éclairs ni ambition artistique.. Quelle pitié¯\_(ツ)_/¯