Samuel Ducommun

Petit Concert

Consisting of a suite of five dances, by turns solemn, mysterious, lively or impulsive, this composition (1946) strictly follows the rules of counterpoint, making use of fugal style, alternating with or superimposing themes like for example the 'Intrada'. The final 'Quodlibet' (subtitled 'in homage to Anglo-French friendship') is a good-natured wink at the members of the Geneva Brass Trio (the French Francis Bodet, trumpet and Achille Bonnal, horn and the British Thomas Morley, trombone, all members of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande), to whom the work is dedicated, and who performed the premiere. Indeed, this piece blends and mixes two folk songs, one English, one Burgundian.