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Léon Delcroix: La maison blanche, Op. 49 No. 1

319 views · Published 10 January 2018 · 3:08 · Indexed 26 September 2026

Channel: PSearPianist · 2018 · Music

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Phillip Sear plays the first piece - 'The white house' (not Donald Trump's residence!) - from a set of 'Cinq Epitaphes' from 1917 by the Belgian composer Léon Delcroix (1880-1938).
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Per the Jeanne Inc. website ( https://goo.gl/5P2Sno ) "Leon Delcroix (1880–1938) was a Belgian conductor and composer. He studied piano with Joseph Wieniawski and composition with both Ysaye and d’Indy. He conducted theatre orchestras in Belgium from 1909-1927, after which he devoted all of his time to composition. His works range from theatrical and symphonic works to chamber ensembles, including several works for string ensembles and a clarinet quartet."  A writer in the 'Musical Quarterly' commented in 1921 that "M. Leon Delcroix exhibits in his chamber music qualities of elegant lightness, whose pleasing superficiality one accepts without objection, owing to the taste and discretion with which his music is informed.".  This piece is headed by a quotation from the poem 'La Maison Blanche' by the Belgian poet José Perrée (1872-1934): "Au pied du vert coteau, sourit la maison blanche" (At the foot of the green hillside smiles the white house).  I have not been able to see the entire poem (which I think is the title poem of a collection), but a contemporary reviewer wrote that "Et, dans sa douceur fraîche, dans la blanche lumière de sa gracilité ce petit poème est un spécimen significatif de ceux qui composent le joli recueil de M. José Perrée. J'ai gardé de la lecture de ces brèves pièces dont la facture un peu voilée rappelle le flou des blonds et mauves pastels, un souvenir charmant. Il ressemble à celui que nous laisse l'agrément paisible de contempler un beau soir de silence, de parfums doux, de tiédeur et de lumière rose." (And in its fresh sweetness, in the white light of its gracefulness, this little poem is a significant specimen of those composing the handsome collection of M. Perrée. I kept reading these brief pieces whose subtle craftsmanship is reminiscent of the blur of blond and mauve pastels, a charming memory. It resembles the one that leaves us the peaceful pleasure of contemplating a beautiful evening of silence, sweet perfumes, warmth and pink light.).  My thumbnail shows a detail from 'Spring in the Valley' by the American painter Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Played by Phillip Sear
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