Hommage à Jacques Cerf - Kotaro Fukuma, Piano - Johan Smith, Guitar - Mariam Renno, Guitar - Marie-Laure de Beausacq, Narrator

Jacques CERF: Menuet, Op. 1: I. Allegretto – A ma chère maman – II. Larghetto – A mon cher papa – III. Adagio – A mon grand-père – IV. Allegretto – A grand’maman – Le Petit ours, Op. 37, No. 1: I. Préambule – II. Il était une fois – III. L’ourson – IV. Balade – V. Dans la forêt – VI. Sur la piste – VII. Le gourmand – VIII. L’essaim – IX. Berceuse – X. Le rêve – XI. Le retour – XII. Consolation – XIII. Jeux – S.O.S., Op. 32 – Variations intimes, Op. 7: I. Thème – II. Pastorale – III. Solitude – IV. Réveil – VI. Paysage – VII. Menuet – IX. Technique – XI. Triomphale (final) – Petites pièces pour grandes mains, Op. 25: I. Danse des puces – II. Suite Microscopique (Prélude – Romance – Toccata) – III. Spakoye («calme» en russe) – IV. Etude – V. Vision – VI. Tendresse – VII. Douceurs – VIII. Evasion – IX. Pensées fugitives – X. Mutine – Toccatina, Op. 28 – Caresses (extrait de la Flûte de Jade, Op. 17) – Près de l’âtre, Op. 76: I. Prélude No. 1 – II. Prélude No. 2 – III. Prélude No. 3 – Paseo Iberico, Op. 85: I. Tempo di Seguidilla – II. Tempo di Habanera – III. Tempo di Sevilla – IV. Tempo di Jaleo.

Kotaro Fukuma, Piano
https://kotarofukuma.com
Johan Smith, Guitar
https://www.johansmith.net
Mariam Renno, Guitar
https://mariamrenno.com
Marie-Laure de Beausacq, Narrator
https://debeausacq.com

Homage to Jacques Cerf

This album is composed mainly of unpublished pieces for piano and of works for guitar awarded by Radio France, performed by three international musicians, Kotaro Fukuma, Johan Smith, Mariam Renno, and a narrator, Marie-Laure de Beausacq.

The pieces performed by Kotaro Fukuma, international pianist, were recorded live during the recital of 15 October 2023 at the Salle Paderewski, Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne. Olivier Buttex, label Cascavelle, recorded this recital. This Hommage marked the 90th posthumous anniversary of the composer. It was realised with the support of his wife Colette Cerf, who gladly accepted the proposal of Marie-Laure de Beausacq to bring her husband’s work back into the light. This close collaboration was born from their friendship following an interview with Jacques Cerf in 2003, in homage to his 70th birthday, for an article in the Revue Musicale Suisse, “Ombre et lumière chez Jacques Cerf”, 9/2005.

Kotaro Fukuma, a devotee of rare music, performed his works mainly from handwritten scores, sometimes difficult to decipher, digitised by the Cantonal and University Library of Lausanne, to which Colette Cerf bequeathed the work after the death of her husband. She also created the Jacques Cerf Fund with the SUISA Foundation, supporting projects aimed at world premieres and/or performances of works by young Swiss composers of contemporary classical music, “Contemporary Classic”. But the work of Jacques Cerf is no longer present in the Swiss and international cultural landscape, apart from the guitar interpretations by Mariam Renno, hence the need to bring his musical heritage back into the light.

The works on this album are mostly unpublished, except Le petit ours, Opus 37 no. 1, a children’s piano suite published in the 1960s by Éditions Pan. This album illustrates childhood learning, from wisdom to disobedience, from dreams to wandering, from gluttony and its dangers to attachment to the mother. Each movement is preceded by a description, narrated by Marie-Laure de Beausacq. The composer addresses pedagogical aspects: “Rhythmic difficulties in 5/8 and glissandi on the thumb, sonorities and legato, bass lines sustained by the pedal against rapid movements (…)”. He also wrote a version for guitar.

The piece Tendresse, 1949, is a dedication to his wife. His Menuet, Op. 1, illustrating his early talent, contains four brief movements dedicated to his relatives, dated 1938, when he was six years old, probably with the help of his father. He later reworked them, much later, date not specified. The first movement, allegretto, À ma chère maman, in C major, illustrates his deep link with Mozart. The larghetto, À mon cher papa, explores harmonic tensions, but both are in duple time. The adagio, À mon grand-père, in G major, is in triple time, and the allegretto, À grand’ maman, returns to C major, in triple time, then quadruple time with harmonic modulations. In Variations intimes, Op. 7, 1949, he explores a contemporary language with subtle and meditative harmonic modulations.

Johan Smith, young Swiss guitarist, highly praised for his tone and clarity, performs Près de l’âtre in a recital at the Domaine de La Doges, organised by the association Harmonia Helvetica in 2025. This piece illustrates the serenity of the couple, near the crackling fire in their fireplace, above which stands the pelican, both designed by Jacques Cerf. Johan Smith writes: “This piece, like others for guitar, won the Radio France International Guitar Competition in 1973. It is rare for a composer not being a guitarist to write so accurately; his works offer fully idiomatic music, rich and natural. He reveals the full harmonic palette with remarkable mastery.”

Mariam Renno, Franco-Swiss guitarist, performs Paseo Ibérico, also awarded by Radio France, which the composer dedicated to her. A friend of the composer, she benefited from his advice for interpretation. This work, created in 2006 in Zurich, is frequently included in her concerts and recordings. Mariam Renno says: “The Paseo Ibérico, with its flamenco soul, has found a rich and modern expressive language. The guitar has benefited from the talent of an innovative composer and musicians from his immense generosity.”

Marie-Laure de Beausacq

VEL1724 Booklet.pdf