Cerdanya & En vacances

With an excellent
interpretation by Albert Attenelle, this CD presents us with a
masterpiece -The Cerdagne Valley- by the French composer Déodat de
Sévérac (1872-1921), which remains incomprehensibly unknown here in
Catalonia. It is a piece impregnated by sensuality and gratitude to a
land, a people and a country where Séverac felt at home (in fact, tired
of the cultural atmosphere of Paris, Sévérac flew to the South,
discovered the Roussillon and the Cerdagne Valley, and settled down
there until the end of his life in Ceret, where he became a good friend
of the sculptor Manolo, as well as Picasso). In his book La présence
lointaine: Albéniz, Sévérac, Mompou (1983), V. Jankélévitch suggests
that, compared to that which is light and airy (water, wind) in
Debussy, Séverac’s music is characterised by an intense Georgic
inspiration, the most inspired moment of which is no doubt this very
beautiful suite The Cerdagne Valley.