Description
Gabriel Verdalle – L’Oiseau-Mouche (The Hummingbird) op. 2
Gabriel Verdalle is one of those harpist-composers whose music used to be ubiquitous in old personal collections. Because he composed in a mellifluous style that featured none of the new edgy sounds of the avant-garde, he was disdained by the next generations. Upon further examination, none of his music is in bad taste. Some of his works are very fine examples of charming repertoire in a descriptive style aimed at the amateur musician or the student learning particular techniques.
This edition of L’Oiseau-Mouche (The Hummingbird) is a cleaned-up facsimile without any additional markings. It can serve as a satisfying alternative to Pozzoli’s Etude No. 27 that uses a similar technical pattern. Comparatively, his style is a bit more refined than Oberthür’s, yet less wistful than Hasselmans’. There must be room under the sun for music composed without any agenda other than to contribute to the pleasure of performer and listener alike. This was, after, la belle époque.
