Hommage a Debussy

In Honor of Debussy There is no other composer who has been as proud of his national artistic heritage as Claude Debussy (1875-1918).He had planned to write six sonatas for varied instruments. However death interrupted his task when he concluded three of the sonatas.The second of them (1916) was conceived initially for flute,oboe and harp, but the oboe was soon replaced by an alto to obtain a better overall balance. He dedicated the sonata to his wife Emma. The three movements of this masterpiece, which is full of character and based on harmonics and it's usual modulations, are among Debussy's subtlest creations. Henri Lazarof, Oeden Partos and Mel Bonis have found inspiration in this wonderful sonata. Mel Bonis was born in Paris in 1858. A family friend got stunned by her giftedness she never received music lessons and yet she played the piano with ease and improvised quickly. She was admitted to the Paris Conservatory, when she was bartely 19 years old.There she was pal with debussy and had great brillance. Henri Lazarof the famous distinguished composer and educator received his training both in Europe and the United States. In 1959 he joined the faculty of the University of California, where he is currently a Professor Emeritus of Music.Lazarof has been awarded numerous prizes -First Prize International Competition of Monaco, and City of Milan 'La Scala Award'.Lazarof has composed prolifically and his music is widely performed and recorded.While his texture is traditional 'The Harp Trio' exhibits rhythmic complexity and dynamic contrasts, together with the repetition of melodic motifs in each of the four movements. Oeden Partos (1907-1977)was born in Budapest. In 1951 he was appointed Director of the Rubin Academy of Music at the University of Tel-Aviv, a position he held till his death.Very famous viola player and composer, his 'Invenzione à Tre'was written in 1977, and was his last composition. It is an homage to Debussy's Sonata, which had been written 60 years earlier.There is a curious symbolism in the coincidence that both pieces where the last composition for both composers.