‘His music tastes good’: this was Debussy’s tribute to the art of Déodat de Séverac (1872-1921). Goodness and love are words that recur frequently when speaking of Séverac, so much so that the pianist Blanche Selva - his teacher and biographer - wrote: 'The soul of Séverac's music is love, because true love, in reality, is an aspiration, a cry, a caress of goodness.’
Born in Apulia, a graduate of the conservatoire in Bari, Serena Valluzzi now gives recitals across Europe, while engaged as professor of piano at the conservatoire in Foggia. This album of Déodat de Séverac marks her debut on Piano Classics, and is distinguished with the sensitive musicianship which won her prizes at the Busoni International Piano Competition and elsewhere.
Descended from an ancient Languedoc family, related on his mother's side to the Aragons of Spain, Séverac received his first music lessons from his painter father. He studied and worked further afield, becoming a friend and assistant to Isaac Albeniz, but his heart and his musical language remained rooted in his native Languedoc. Thus he was inspired to write En Languedoc, premiered by his friend (and Ravel’s) Riccardo Vines in 1905.
Impressionism meets folkloric colour and melody in the five movements of En Languedoc, evoking a lakeside reverie, a horseback gallop, a village feast and a profound elegy. This ‘Coin de cimetière au printemps’ (Cemetery Corner in Spring) is one of his most inspired works: his friend Alfred Cortot admired its ‘resignation and ardour, tenderness and bitterness’, with ‘a long, slow melody that expands in all its religious fervour and inconsolable melancholy.’
Cerdaña is another vividly picturesque five-movement suite, cousin to the likes of Albeniz’s Iberia and Granados’ Goyescas, deserving recognition alongside them as a major cycle of Franco-Spanish impressionism from the early 20th century. Serena Valluzzi completes this illuminating introduction to the art of Déodat de Séverac with a teasingly allusive portrait in sound of bathers in the sun, ‘Baigneuses au soleil’, from 1908.
Déodat de Séverac was a French composer whose work represents a bridge between the impressionist styles of Debussy and Ravel and the traditional music of southern France. Born in the Languedoc region, Séverac's music is deeply rooted in the cultural and musical heritage of the French countryside, particularly the Occitan tradition. His piano music, while often categorized alongside the impressionists, is distinguished by its rich evocation of regional landscapes and folk elements, making it uniquely vibrant and evocative.
This new recording presents the beautiful Baigneuses au Soleil, the suite En Languedoc, and the suite Cerdana. These compositions are marked by a lyrical sensitivity and a deep connection to nature, often eschewing the complex harmonic language of his contemporaries in favor of a more direct, folk-inspired style.
Despite his relatively small output, Séverac's piano music is celebrated for its warmth and ability to transport listeners to the idyllic landscapes that inspired him. His work remains an important, if somewhat underappreciated, contribution to early 20th-century French music, offering a refreshing contrast to the urban-centric themes prevalent in much of the music of his time.
Played with great sensitivity and feeling for colors by young Italian pianist Serena Valluzzi, winner of the Premio Alkan and prize winner of the Busoni and Casagrande competitions.
