Vincent d’Indy’s orchestral works exist on the outermost fringes of the orchestral repertoire. Even the delightful Symphony on a French Mountain Air seems to have fallen by the wayside. That once popular piece is in fact somewhat atypical of the composer’s turgid, chromatic, “son-of-Franck” style, but as usual with the French school there’s a great deal of sheer craftsmanship at work here, and if you give the music a chance you may find it growing on you. Certainly the Istar Variations have their charms and don’t outstay their welcome, while the two late “water” pieces really do repay serious investigation. Georges Prêtre set them down for EMI with the Monte Carlo orchestra early in the digital era, performances neither as well played nor as well recorded as these under Krivine.
Both the Poem of the Shores and the Mediterranean Diptych date from the 1920s, and they reveal a welcome concern with brighter sonorities and less dense textures. The second movement of the former, in particular, is really gorgeous, and d’Indy comes across in these works sounding curiously like a sort of French Delius, or even Bax, albeit with firmer rhythm than the former, and better tunes than the latter. The two works were inspired partly by the sunny regions of Provence, partly by the composer’s happy marriage to a much younger wife (nothing else quite gets those old creative juices flowing). In short, this is really good music, and both the playing of the Luxembourg orchestra and Timpani’s sonics are excellent. D’Indy may have been an uneven composer, and he was by most accounts a revolting human being, but his best music certainly does not deserve its current neglect. Listen, and judge for yourself.
