Sounds of France tickets

Flutist and composer André Jolivet was the kind of musician who strictly avoided conformity and advocated for music that makes us feel “human.” Pairing the flute with a quartet of percussionists, he aimed to highlight the instruments closest to the “primal” senses and origin of music in his 1965 suite.

Fauré’s E-minor String Quartet represents another aspect of humanity—death. Written just a month before he passed (and while he was completely deaf), the piece is as genius and complex as it is brooding and evocative, featuring an Andante movement which his biographer said “bathes in a supernatural light” from beginning to end.

Performed before and after the intermission are works by d’Indy and Tournier, respectively. D’Indy’s soothing and spirited song for woodwinds meets Tournier’s astounding and elaborate harp sonata.