Merlin R. Carothers

Simon Zaoui, Pierre Fouchenneret and Raphael Merlin here resume, and complete, their exploration of the chamber works of Gabriel Fauré:, begun in 2018 with the first volume of Horizons. Far from the prevailing trends of the early 20th century, Fauré's music for piano and strings testifies to the singularity of his language, constantly moving between past and future. Joined by violist Marie Chilemme for the two piano quartets, and by members of the Strada Quartet for the string quartet and quintets, the three friends present a carefully considered version of these masterpieces, recorded here for the first time using the material of the new Barenreiter edition.

Since our meeting during our studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2010 and a few years of concerts and exploration, we are happy to be able to concretize a project that has been close to our hearts for a long time: the recording of our first disc. We designed the Color Gradient program together, featuring works composed between the end of the 19th century and the present day. The program is a journey from France to America and from so-called classical music to almost improvised music. Color Gradient can be seen as a tribute to the incredible stylistic and aesthetic evolutions of music during the 20th century in terms of harmony, form and melodic freedom.