CONCERTO POUR HARPE ET ORCHESTRE

The Concerto pour harpe et orchestre, was dedicated to and premiered by French harpist and pedagogue Pierre Jamet in 1946. Jamet later became the harp professor at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1948. Decruck’s Concerto shares similarities with Germaine Tailleferre's Sonate pour la harpe. It is a concertino in style, light-hearted, warm, and full of surprises. At the premier performance by Concerts Colonne, Henry Malherbe from Les étoiles commented that the Concerto was “A work of lively and delicate feeling. A renowned harpist, Pierre Jamet has carved out a great success.” Decruck must not have been fully satisfied, though. In her definitive score, she states that the original fourth movement, a fughetta, should be suppressed.

The Concerto pour harpe et orchestre was recorded as part of the Equal Billing Project in January 2022 by Chen-Yu Huang (harp) and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Matthew Aubin. It was released in the summer of 2022 on Claves Records. A preview of the manuscript score can be seen below.

A reduction for piano and harp was created by Chen-Yu Huang and Matthew Aubin. The reduction and orchestral score and parts are available through Éditions Billaudot and its distributors. www.billaudot.com https://fernandedecruck.com/compositions/concerto-pour-harpe-et-orchestre/ https://www.jacksonsymphony.org/equal-billing-project/