It may seem odd that the composer who created the stunningly brilliant Sorcerer's Apprentice produced practically no other enduring music. In his Villanelle, Dukas reveals a gift for molding simple materials into an evocative vignette. Dukas interprets "villanelle," which translates from the Italian equivalent as "country girl," in a musical context that suggests something more like "scenes in a rural setting." The composer produced Villanelle as an entry in a competition for which only the solo part and sketches for the orchestration were required. Dukas himself never got around to fleshing out the instrumental texture; so, while it is often played with piano accompaniment, full concert versions of the work are not, strictly speaking, Dukas' own. The writing for the solo horn, in any event, is fetching and effective. Dukas' indications in the score specify that certain passages must be played as though on a natural (valveless) horn; as a result, the piece is not chromatically rich, relying instead on the charm of its melodic material and its taut organization. At about six minutes in length, the Villanelle is a miniature and—because of the scarcity of works by the composer—a rare gem.

© Michael Morrison, Rovi