Debussy & Tann: Ag... - Aglica Trio - Audio CD (Arrives in 50 days)

Aglica Trio The Aglica Trio brings together three musicians from distinct musical backgrounds: flautist Carys Gittins, violist Agnieszka yniewicz and harpist Lise Vandersmissen. Formed in 2017 at the Guildhall School of Music &; Drama in London, the trio has since performed widely across the UK and Europe. In January 2024, the Aglica Trio won the Belgian Supernova Chamber Music Competition. This resulted in a Belgian concert tour, radio interviews on Klara Radio, and a live broadcast recital at BOZAR Concert Hall in Brussels: the concert on this album! Drawing on their Welsh, Polish and Belgian influences, the trio explores both lesser-known composers from across the centuries and the core repertoire for flute, viola and harp. A central part of their artistic vision is the expansion of the trio repertoire through commissioning new works, collaborating closely with composers throughout the creative process. The Aglica Trio are Sofar Sounds Artists and have performed in intimate and unconventional spaces across London. In the summer of 2026, they will perform their newest commissions at the World Harp Congress in Toronto, Canada. Through their performances, the trio seeks to create a direct and meaningful connection with audiences. Francisco Fontes Francisco Fontes finds his greatest creative motivations at the intersection of music and literature, exploring transmediation and intertextuality as key impulses for his artistic work. His music has been performed at Portugal’s major venues, including the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, CCB - Lisbon, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, as well as internationally in cities such as London, Chicago, Amsterdam, and Brussels. He has been awarded the SPA/Antena 2 Composition Prize and the António Fragoso Composition Prize and has collaborated with projects such as Traction – Opera co-creation for social transformation, and the FIO – Festival Informal de Ópera. His portfolio includes operas, symphonic works, chamber music, songs, solo instrumental pieces, and electronic music. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and a master’s in opera composition from the Guildhall School of Music &; Drama, where he is currently pursuing his doctorate. Hilary Tann (1947-2023) - From the Song of Amergin (1998) From the Song of Amergin is written in five continuous sections and is inspired by three lines from Robert Graves’ modern restoration of the ancient Celtic text known as the “Song of Amergin”: “I am a wind: on a deep lake, I am a tear: the sun lets fall, I am a hawk: above the cliff.” The three inner sections of the work are shaped by these poetic images, with the harp featured in “wind / lake,” the viola in “tear / sun,” and the flute in “hawk / cliff.” The piece opens and closes with an evocation of the words “I am,” framing the work as a whole. Hilary Tann’s music is often deeply connected to landscape and the natural world, reflecting her Welsh origins and lifelong engagement with nature and poetry. Her compositions are known for their lyrical and expressive character, and for evoking the sense-based, synaesthetic responses she experienced in both the natural environment and in literature. Francisco Fontes (1993) – Slices of Life (2024): II. Scherzo – Nocturne III. The Journey Slices of Life was written in 2024 for the Aglica Trio, for narrator, flute, viola and harp. The music is intertwined with Portuguese texts from Fernando Pessoa’s Book of Disquiet. At the heart of the work is the tension between dreaming and action, introduced by the narrator: “I have to choose what I detest – either dreaming, which my intelligence hates, or action, which my sensibility loathes (…) Detesting both, I choose neither;; but since I must on occasion either dream or act, I mix the two things together.” This conflict shapes the entire piece, moving between restless energy and dreamlike reflection. In Scherzo – Nocturne, frantic activity gradually gives way to lyrical, low-register textures as the narrator longs for rest: “Sleep! To fall asleep! To have peace! … a dead sea of emotion reflecting an absence of stars!” In The Journey, a train trip between Lisbon and Cascais inspires music that evokes the shimmering river and estuary. Yet the narrator finds himself lost in contemplation, seeing but not seeing, and the music responds with agitated gestures that mirror his doubts: “What I got out of it are these pages, the fruit of contradiction and forgetting. I don’t know if this is better or worse than the contrary, nor do I know what the contrary is.” Claude Debussy (1862-1918) - Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, L. 137 (1915) Pastorale. Lento, dolce rubato Interlude. Tempo di minuetto Final. Allegro moderato ma risoluto French composer Claude Debussy entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of ten, where he began composing many of his most famous works. At twenty-two, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome for composition and went on to become one of the most important figures in Impressionist music. Debussy’s Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe was one of the last pieces he completed. He had planned a series of six sonatas, each exploring a different combination of instruments, with the final sonata uniting all five groups. He completed only three before his death at fifty-five, with this work being the last. The sonata is experimental in style, highlighting the distinct sound worlds of each instrument. The first movement, Pastorale, is free and improvisatory, with fragmented melodies shared among all three instruments, showcasing their individual qualities. The Interlude is more flowing and dance-like: its opening section is inspired by a 17th-century minuet, poised and elegant, while the middle section introduces an innocent, wandering melody in 4/4 time. In the Final, Debussy explores more dramatic textures. The viola and harp provide a driving engine with ponticello and snapping pizzicato, while the flute introduces a wild, chromatic theme. Tension is heightened with frequent diminished chords, and the movement concludes with a joyful reprise of the falling four-note motive from the first movement, ending in a playful, teasing resolution. The sonata captures both melancholy and joyfulness. In a letter, Debussy reflected on this unique quality: “I can’t say whether one should laugh or cry. Perhaps both at the same time?”

Label: Etcetera | Origin: Holland