Four Hands for France: Music for Piano Duet Erin Helyard & Stephanie McCallum

• Ernest Chausson (1855 - 1899): Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 1 in G Major:
• 1 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 1 in G Major: I. Gaîment 01:37
• 2 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 1 in G Major: II. Andante 02:59
• 3 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 1 in G Major: III. Finale 01:48
• 4 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 2 in D Minor: I. Mouvement de marché 04:52
• 5 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 2 in D Minor: II. Variations sur un thème danois 05:44
• 6 Chausson: Sonatine pour quatre mains No. 2 in D Minor: III. Rondeau 03:53
• Joseph-Guy Ropartz (1864 - 1955): 10 Petites pièces:
• 7 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Pour Gaud: No. 1, Andante 01:35
• 8 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Pour Gaud: No. 2, Lento 01:31
• 9 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Pour Gaud: No. 3, Allegretto 01:06
• 10 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Sons de cloches: No. 4, L'angelus 03:18
• 11 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Sons de cloches: No. 5, Le glas 03:36
• 12 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces, Sons de cloches: No. 6, Cloches du soir 03:17
• 13 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces: No. 7, Choral 03:35
• 14 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces: No. 8, Tristesse 01:37
• 15 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces: No. 9, Intimité 02:24
• 16 Ropartz: 10 Petites pièces: No. 10, Par les champs 03:31
• Jules Massenet (1842 - 1912): 3 Pièces pour piano à 4 mains, Op. 11:
• 17 Massenet: 3 Pièces pour piano à 4 mains, Op. 11: No. 1, Andante 02:55
• 18 Massenet: 3 Pièces pour piano à 4 mains, Op. 11: No. 2, Allegretto quasi allegro 03:13
• 19 Massenet: 3 Pièces pour piano à 4 mains, Op. 11: No. 3, Andante 02:06
• Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813 - 1888):
• 20 Alkan: Sonate de concert, Op. 47: IV. Finale alla saltarella (Arr. for Piano 4 Hands) 07:03
• Cécile Chaminade (1857 - 1944): 6 Pièces romantiques, Op. 55 (Excerpts):
• 21 Chaminade: 6 Pièces romantiques, Op. 55 (Excerpts): No. 1, Primavera 02:41
• 22 Chaminade: 6 Pièces romantiques, Op. 55 (Excerpts): No. 3, Idylle arabe 02:43
• 23 Chaminade: 6 Pièces romantiques, Op. 55 (Excerpts): No. 4, Sérénade d'automne 02:59
• Benjamin Godard (1849 - 1895): 2 Morceaux, Op. 137:
• 24 Godard: 2 Morceaux, Op. 137: No. 1, Pastorale mélancolique 01:39
• 25 Godard: 2 Morceaux, Op. 137: No. 2, Marché villageoise 01:06
• Total Runtime 01:12:48

Info for Four Hands for France: Music for Piano Duet

Playing four-hands piano was both vital in the dissemination of music in the nineteenth century and also a popular domestic activity. The French composers recorded here span the Romantic century, from the salon charm of Chaminade and Massenet and the virtuosity of Alkan’s wild dance to the innocence of the family music-room in pieces by Chausson, Godard and Ropartz. The original 1853 Parisian Erard piano on which this recording was made combines warmth with bell-like clarity due to its straight stringing, allowing it to produce a surprising variety of appealing, expressive textures.

Stephanie McCallum, piano Erard 1853 (primo)
Erin Helyard, piano Erard 1853 (secondo)

Stephanie McCallum
Praised by London HiFi News and Record Review as "a formidable and insightful pianist", Stephanie McCallum has recorded nineteen solo CDs and appears on over fifty ensemble and compilation discs. Her most recent releases includes a disc of previously unrecorded music by French composer Guy Ropartz, and two CDs of the complete Recueils de Chants by Alkan. Her recording of Beethoven's complete Bagatelles contains the first recording of a previously unpublished piano piece believed to be the last piano piece that Beethoven wrote.

An Associate Professor in piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney, Stephanie studied with Alexander Sverjensky, Gordon Watson and Ronald Smith, before giving what The Times described as "an impressive debut" at the Wigmore Hall. She is credited with the first complete performance of Alkan's Trois Grandes Études, Op. 76 in London. Stephanie McCallum has appeared extensively as a soloist in the United Kingdom, France and Australia, and has appeared in the Brighton, Cheltenham, Huddersfield, and Sydney Festivals. Her concerto appearances have included performances with the Sydney Symphony, Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras of Elena Kats-Charnin's Displaced Dances, a work especially written for her. Stephanie's solo recordings include music of Satie, a two-disc set of the complete piano sonatas of Weber, Illegal Harmonies: The 20th Century Piano, two CDs of music by Liszt, and recordings of Alkan's complete studies in the major and minor keys (Op. 35 and 39).

Erin Helyard
Praised as a virtuosic and eloquent soloist as well as an inspired and versatile conductor, Erin Helyard is at the forefront of a new generation of young musicians who are inspired by the latest musicological and historical enquiry.

Erin graduated in harpsichord performance from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with first-class honours and the University Medal. He completed his Masters in 2005 in fortepiano performance and a PhD in Musicology in 2012 with Tom Beghin at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal. He was named the Westfield Concert Scholar on fortepiano for 2009-2010 and from 2003 to 2012 Erin was a central member of the award-winning Montreal- based Ensemble Caprice. In Sydney, Erin is artistic director and founder of the Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes. He has conducted from the keyboard acclaimed performances of Purcell's Fairy Queen (Montreal Baroque Festival), Cavalli's L'Ormindo, Purcell's Dioclesian, Vivaldi's Griselda, Cavalli's Giasone, Salieri's The Chimney Sweep, Vivaldi's Bajazet, Grétry's L'amant Jaloux (Pinchgut), Händel's Acis and Galatea (NZ Opera), Händel's Orlando (Hobart Baroque), Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and Händel's Faramondo and Agrippina (Brisbane Baroque). Both Faramondo and Agrippina won Best Opera at the Helpmann Awards in 2015 and 2016.

Erin has appeared as guest conductor and keyboard soloist with the Australian Haydn Ensemble and is a Senior Lecturer in Musicology and Historical Performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, and appears by kind courtesy of that institution.

Booklet for Four Hands for France: Music for Piano Duet