Félicien César David (1810-1876): "Le Désert"

[adriano]

Le Désert (the Desert) is a very interesting, somehow pioneering sort of cantata ("symphonic ode") for narrator, solo tenor, male choir and orchestra. David wrote it in 1844 - at the time Orientalism in the arts was en vogue. It deals about a caravan's journey through the desert during various times of a day, ending into a hymn, glorifying Allah. David had travelled to Constantinople, Jaffa and Beirut.
There is a version of "Le Désert" on the Naive/accentus label, which seems to be the complete (taking 2 CDs).
The Capriccio/Deutschlandfunk recording (abridged, on one CD) is very well done too, and also recommendable. If anybody wants a spare (gift) copy of this CD, I have it in double...
Of David's 5 operas, all have exotic inspirations. His "Herculanum" has been excellently recorded by the Palazzetto Brun Zane label and "Lalla Roukh" by Naxos.
Some of David's chamber music is also available on other "special" labels: his "Four Seasons" for String Quintet are very interesting.
His piano works, the cycles "Les Berises d'Orient" and "Les Minarets", have been recorded by Daniel Blumenthal for Naxos and there are also two CDs with songs by David.

[lasm2000]

Apparently, it was "The Desert" that influenced several french composers into "exotic" music like Bizet/Spain or Saint-Saens/Egypt. It was of course mostly a french reintrepretation of eastern music but quite interesting by its own self. And yes, some of his chamber music is amongst the most enjoyable by any composer, sung or unsung.