Fervaal is an opera by the French composer Vincent d’Indy, after the poem Axel by Esaias Tegner. A true forgotten masterpiece, Fervaal was premiered in 1897 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Though French, it is utterly Wagnerian-like – powerful and, in places, seductive in its interpretation. A short movement taken from Act II uses four saxophones (one soprano, two altos, one tenor), which was unusual at the time considering the saxophone had only been around for four decades.
Interestingly, this piece is typically performed with a choir, with each saxophone placed next to the section of which it would be doubling. In addition, mysterious female voices called ‘Les Nuées’, create vague harmonies with the four saxophones.
In this piano adaptation, which features the original saxophone parts, the piano plays melodic fragments from the orchestra as well as from Kaito's aria.
The piano reduction provides clarity that the choir version, in my opinion, somewhat muddies the polyphonic texture rather than injecting it with life. It gives the saxophones space to breathe and really explore the textures intended in the composition.
It's a piece that provides moments for every saxophone, rather than concentrating on the upper voices. As a player who has always naturally favoured tenor, my ears draw to the tenor line in particular, which is pitched at the perfect range to let the instrument really sing. The piano underpins the entire composition without ever completely drowning everyone else out. I've never been a huge fan of atonality myself, but there is a lot to be liked here.
This piece is a real challenge – the first eight bars even sparked a debate with an old quartet compadre during the writing of this review! It's is the perfect next step for any college-level quartet looking to strengthen their quality of ensemble. The compound-time and polyphonic texture really require good listening skills while maintaining equal tenacity over independent internal metronome and trust that colleagues are doing the same! It would be an impressive showcase of brilliant quartet playing.
The piece is only six minutes long and is intended to be performed as a sole item in a concert, but I feel that it would be necessary to mix it up with something a little more lighthearted to balance out the intensity. As a result, I would expect to see this piece as part of an offering in a recital, or in competitions such as Royal Overseas League or the latter end of Music for Youth.
Frankly, it makes me want to start a quartet all over again.
