Adolphe Biarent (1871-1916)

[Peter1953]

His name has been mentioned a few times in some threads. But he surely deserves his own thread, because IMHO he is a genius. But who has heard his name? Who is familiar with the music of this Belgian master? His few magnificent works, available on CD? Ever heard anything being broadcast?

Besides appealing melodies his music presents the listener a very rich variety of sound colours. In his fast movements he can be furious, full of passion. But the slow movements are most subtle. I'm thinking of his Symphony in D minor, the 3rd movement of his marvellous Cello Sonata in F Sharp minor (on a CD coupled with the Piano Quintet in B minor) and the Andantino of his thrilling Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra. Maybe in the 12 parts of Contes d'Orient (a Suite for Orchestra) Biarent shows his skills how to use all musical instruments at its best. It's brilliant.
How does his music sound like? I would say that it balances between Wagner and Debussy, but in fact Biarent has a real voice of his own.

Any other enthusiasts?

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I'm one. You've made his case very well, Peter, and I'm not going to try to improve upon it..

[kyjo]

Biarent truly is a wonderful composer. Thanks for bringing him to our attention, Peter, as he has been mentioned surprisingly little on this forum. But at the moment I'm having a bit of trouble finding a reasonably priced copy of the CD with his symphony. The last time I checked, sellers on Amazon wanted $50 and it used to be available on ArkivMusic, but not anymore.Can somebody please help me ?

[Alan Howe]

Unfortunately the CD with the Symphony appears to be deleted.

[kyjo]

Wait a second... I just remembered that those two Biarent orchestral CDs are available in that Liege Philharmonic box set mentioned in the New Recordings board. I think ... Can someone please verify this for me?

[kyjo]

Another thing I just remembered: we have a member named Biarent !

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Greetings, young Peter! It is always instructive to read your posts.

But Biarent a "genius"? Isn't that rather too enthusiastic? I was alerted to Biarent a few years ago (if I remember correctly by a very positive review on MusicWeb by Rob Barrett). I've since grabbed hold of every recording of Biarent, including that now apparently sadly deleted Symphony. Works that made a particular impression on me have been the marvellous Piano Quintet of 1913-14 (and performed on that CD by the Quatuor Danel who, to my mind, have now gone on to establish themselves in recording history with a complete set of the Weinberg quartets - staggering works, but that is another story!) and the Rapsodie Wallonne of 1910 (virtually a full blooded piano concerto in all but name).

Superbly crafted music to be sure. A little derivate perhaps (but no crime since Biarent has a distinctive voice, is very much the master of his own compositions, and there is no slavishly following others). But not a genius surely? A genius is one who stops you in your tracks, knocks the wind out of your sails, and makes you gasp wondering how such a creation is possible. If you want to call Biarent a genius, then you're going to be quite lost for words when it comes to Beethoven!

And this, of course, is no adverse criticism of Biarent - our world would be impoverished to some extent if there was no Biarent. One reason for my 'caution' here is that Biarent - who died very young in his mid 40s and who, in addition to composition, was also busy with performance and teaching - left only a small corpus of works, and there is just not enough of them to secure him a place up there in the pantheon. But you're utterly right of course to direct the attention of those who might not have encountered Biarent to that small but gifted corpus of music.

[kyjo]

It's okay to disagree, petershott, but you shouldn't discourage Peter the younger from thinking Biarent is a genius. After all, here at UC, we emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats. IMO, Biarent is what I call a "derivative master": a composer who isn't stylistically unique but makes masterful use of the style the composer is deriving from. Sorry if this is rather clumsily worded, but I was just making the point that we shouldn't expect unsungs to be great and that it is okay if people think they are.

[Mark Thomas]

we emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats

That's not so, as far as I'm concerned anyway. Composers are not all equal in stature and quite a few unsungs, whilst being interesting, are unsung for a reason just as the "greats" deserve their greatness. If we refrain from making value judgements on the work of all unsung composers then we destroy the case for promoting the truly great but currently neglected works from the truly great composers in their midst.

[Alan Howe]

After all, here at UC, we emphasize that the unsungs are in no ways inferior to the greats.

No "we" don't! We try to exercise as much discernment concerning the merits or otherwise of music that happens to be unsung as we do in respect of music that is currently in the repertoire.

[kyjo]

I must have typed my last post in a hurry . What I meant to say is that we don't try to COMPARE unsungs to the greats, because, of course, there aren't any unsungs on the level of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, etc. Unsungs have their own merits, but if a particular unsung isn't to our liking, we don't automatically judge all unsungs to be second- or third-rate. I'm just trying to say that we should stick up for the unsungs. Back to Biarent, please...

[Alan Howe]

I must have typed my last post in a hurry . What I meant to say is that we don't try to COMPARE unsungs to the greats, because, of course, there aren't any unsungs on the level of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, etc.

Why not? I don't agree at all: one of the great pleasures of life has been the discovery of music every bit as good as that of the established masters. Provided one exercises discernment and objectivity in the matter, I would encourage members to make precisely the sort of comparisons you seem to rule out a priori.

[kyjo]

I give up, Alan . You're at 3333! Back in Belgium with Biarent...

[Alan Howe]

I give up, Alan . You're at 3333! Back in Belgium with Biarent...

It's the moderator's job to look at what members are posting - and to move the topic on...

[kyjo]

Gosh, I am making you more upset with every single post, Alan ! Use your special moderator powers, then, to set this thread in the right direction, please (and to shut me up if necessary )!