A very original composer, a link between Debussy and Messiaen, Caplet has until recently unfortunately been overlooked. He was a close friend and assistant / student of Debussy, whom Debussy entrusted with the completion and orchestration of several works (!). Caplet's striking and unique writing can be appreciated in the "Conte Fantastique" for solo harp and string orchestra completed in 1908, with its bold gestures, greatly advanced harmonies for the time, novel harp techniques and effects (harmonics, sweeping glissandi, sharp attacks, knocking on the wood of the frame) and unique string writing (harmonic glissandi, fleeting fragments, sound-gestures). Impressionism with fervor and energy. At the beginning, we are amidst an otherworldly, foreboding atmosphere, and then taken into the marvellous, celestial dance music of the ball heard from the Prince's tower, then the tolling of the chimes, and the concluding terror. A remarkable work.

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