Charles-Marie Widor: Valse Chantante (Op. 33 No. 4); Valse Triste (Op. 71 No. 2)

Widor (1844-1937) - organist at St. Sulpice, Paris for 64 years is best known today for his organ works, including "that" Toccata, although a suite for flute and piano is also a standard repertory piece. However, he wrote quite a lot of piano music, including some waltzes, spread through several collections of pieces. They range from short pieces (like those in this video) to the virtuosic 'Kermesse carillonnante'. Although superficially salon pieces, the pices in this video display considerable pathos.
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Played by Phillip Sear (Sussex, UK)
http://www.psear.co.uk

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• classical
• Frence
• France
• pianist
• Sussex

[AndreaPianoPlayer]

Thanks for posting this! Great to listen to Widor Piano music. I like this Valse, you combine skill and interpretation!

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your most kind comment. I would like to hear more of Widor's sizeable output of piano music. However, it is hard to get hold of (although a company in Australia is republishing some of it) and some of it is immensely difficult to play!

[4candles]

Thanks for uploading these Philip. Widor sounds different on the piano to how I expected it, these are likeable miniatures. Your forays into the world of salon and other genres of music are yielding some interesting results! Keep it up.

[PSearPianist]

Thanks. Widor wrote quite a lot of piano music, and I will see if I can get hold of some more!

[Babejuda]

You're right about the pathos. However, the listener tends to 'judge' according to his own personal feeling, being at the right moment, the right mood, etc. I think it goes also in literature: we tend to like a book, if we have an identification with at least one of the characters. Thanks for uploading.

[PSearPianist]

Thanks for your (as always) interesting observation.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you!