Couleurs de France Ciconia Consort, The Hague String Orchestra, Paolo Giacometti & Dick van Gasteren

• Jacques Castérède (1926 - 2014): Prélude et fugue pour cordes (À Paul Kuentz, 1960):
• 1 Castérède: Prélude et fugue pour cordes (À Paul Kuentz, 1960) 11:57
• Concerto pour piano et orchestre à cordes (1954):
• 2 Castérède: Concerto pour piano et orchestre à cordes (1954): I. Pastorale 05:37
• 3 Castérède: Concerto pour piano et orchestre à cordes (1954): II. Scherzo 04:11
• 4 Castérède: Concerto pour piano et orchestre à cordes (1954): III. Nocturne 09:11
• 5 Castérède: Concerto pour piano et orchestre à cordes (1954): IV. Rondo 05:13
• André Jolivet (1905 - 1974): Symphonie pour cordes (1961):
• 6 Jolivet: Symphonie pour cordes (1961): I. Farouche 08:06
• 7 Jolivet: Symphonie pour cordes (1961): II. Flottant 07:58
• 8 Jolivet: Symphonie pour cordes (1961): III. Trépidant 06:33
• Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur (1908 - 2002): Sérénade pour cordes (À Maurice Ohana, 1954):
• 9 Daniel-Lesur: Sérénade pour cordes (À Maurice Ohana, 1954): I. Allegretto 04:21
• 10 Daniel-Lesur: Sérénade pour cordes (À Maurice Ohana, 1954): II. Adagio 04:06
• 11 Daniel-Lesur: Sérénade pour cordes (À Maurice Ohana, 1954): III. Allegro deciso 05:35
• Total Runtime 01:12:48

Info for Couleurs de France

This recording by Ciconia Consort, Couleurs de France, offers a rare and evocative journey through four lesser-known works for string orchestra by three prominent 20th-century French composers: André Jolivet, Jacques Castérède, and Daniel-Lesur.

Jacques Castérède’s connection to his French predecessors is evident in his use of modal, chromatic, and diatonic scales. A student of Olivier Messiaen, Castérède nonetheless forged a highly personal harmonic style within an extended tonal idiom, characterized by melodic clarity and accessibility. His compositions seem to harmoniously blend the various French styles of the 20th century. In his work, we hear the sonic fingerprints of Arthur Honegger, Daniel-Lesur, and his teacher Messiaen – all woven into a coherent, lyrical whole.

Throughout his life, André Jolivet aimed to "restore to music its original, ancient meaning, when it served as a magical, incantatory expression of the religious beliefs of human communities."* His later compositions continued this exploration, seeking music’s original function as an emotional, ritualistic, and celebratory form of expression. His Symphonie pour cordes, commissioned by French radio and television, was composed in 1961 and premiered on January 9, 1962. The symphony demands exceptional technical skill from all performers. It is written in a freely atonal idiom and is characterized by intense dissonance.

Daniel Jean Yves Lesur (1908–2002) was a French composer, organist, and teacher, closely linked to the group La Jeune France, alongside Olivier Messiaen and André Jolivet. His music often reflects a balance between tradition and modernity, combining rich harmonic language with a sense of spiritual depth. Lesur’s output includes choral works, chamber music, and orchestral compositions, yet he remains less widely known than some of his contemporaries.

Among his instrumental works is the Sérénade pour cordes (1949), a luminous piece that highlights his lyrical style and refined craftsmanship. Written for string orchestra, it embraces classical clarity while exploring colorful modal harmonies, characteristic of Lesur’s personal voice.

Paolo Giacometti, piano
Ciconia Consort
The Hague String Orchestra
Dick van Gasteren, conductor

Paolo Giacometti
performs all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician, both on period and on modern instruments.

He was born in Milan, Italy, but has been living in the Netherlands from his early childhood. He studied with Jan Wijn at the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam, where he graduated with the highest distinction. Also Gyorgy Sebök was an important source of inspiration and had a significant influence on his musical education.

Paolo Giacometti has won many prizes at both national and international competitions. He has played with renowned orchestras under distinguished conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Kenneth Montgomery, Laurent Petitgirard, Michael Tilkin and Jaap van Zweden. Apart from his activities as a soloist, Paolo Giacometti’s love for chamber music has resulted in a successful co-operation with leading musicians such as Pieter Wispelwey, Gordon Nikolich, Janine Jansen, Bart Schneemann and Viktoria Mullova. Paolo Giacometti is a much sought-after musician at chamber music festivals in Europe, Canada and the United States. He has performed in concert halls all over the world including the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Wigmore Hall (London), Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris) and Seoul Arts Centre (South Korea).

Paolo Giacometti records exclusively for Channel Classics. His impressive discography has been widely acclaimed by the international press. His recordings include Rossini’s complete piano works, a remarkable project that started in 1998 and was completed in 2007. In Rossini’s homeland critics say: "... Rossini has finally found his pianist ...". For the third recording of this series Giacometti was distinguished with the Edison Classical Music Award 2001. His recording of Schumann’s Humoreske, Fantasiestücke and Toccata has received the BBC Music Magazine’s Benchmark and Performance of Outstanding Quality distinctions. His recording of the Dvorák and Schumann piano concertos have been acclaimed by Gramophone as "... one of the best concerto disks I have heard in a long while ...".

Among Paolo Giacometti’s chamber music recordings, his recordings with cellist Pieter Wispelwey have been awarded many prizes like the Choc du Monde de la Musique, Luister 10 awards and the Diapason d'or.

Also together with Pieter Wispelwey, Paolo Giacometti has been awarded the German Brahms Prize 2019.

Paolo Giacometti is a dedicated piano professor at the Robert Schumann Musikhochschule Düsseldorf.

Dick van Gasteren
Since its founding in 2012, Dick van Gasteren has been Ciconia Consort’s conductor and artistic director. Between 2014 and 2021 Van Gasteren was guest conductor of the Orquesta Simón Bolívar in Venezuela, where he was invited by José Antonio Abreu. There he conducted symphonies by Schumann, Bruckner, and Mahler, amongst others. In addition to this, he regularly conducted other Venezuelan orchestras from ‘El Sistema’ such as Juan José Landaete and Teresa Carreño. As professor at the Conservatorio Inocente Careño de Venezuela, he gives lessons and masterclasses in orchestral conducting to talented young students.

Dick van Gasteren studied cello, orchestra conducting, art history, and law. He received cello lessons from Anner Bijlsma at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, and studied orchestral conducting with Jan Stulen. He continued his studies with Bernard Haitink in London, whom he later assisted during the ‘Mahler Festival Amsterdam’ in 1995. Amongst his awards, Van Gasteren was a Laureate for the conducting masterclass of both the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and the Wiener Meisterkurs. His concert programme conducting credits include the Limburgs Symfonie Orkest, Noordhollands Philharmonisch Orkest, Nürnberger Symphoniker and Wiener Klangforum Orchester. He has also earned a reputation as an opera conductor, performing operas such as Othello, Don Pasquale, Elektra, and Die Fledermaus with the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater. At the Royal Theatre in The Hague, he has conducted Constant van de Wall’s Dutch-Indonesian opera, Attima.

Dick van Gasteren presented two episodes of the popular Dutch children’s educational television series ‘Het Klokhuis’ where he focussed on the profession of conducting. His book Over jeugdorkesten en de didactiek van het dirigeren (On Youth Orchestras and the Didactics of Conducting) was published by Walburg Pers in 2010. It has subsequently been translated into Spanish for ‘El Sistema’ in Venezuela. In 2022 his book ‘La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid’ van Luigi Boccherini was published by Prominent.

Ciconia Consort
founded in 2012, is a Dutch string orchestra consisting of twenty young musicians under the leadership of Dick van Gasteren. Their concerts are predominately of a thematic nature and often combined with other disciplines such as theatre, literature, and science. Concert programs regularly touch upon contemporary social issues.

The orchestra has built up an extensive repertoire and performs music from all style periods (with an emphasis in late-romantic and modern works). Aside from the well-known works for strings, the orchestra has also revived quite a few forgotten masterpieces, which led to Dutch premieres and world premieres (such as Willem Mengelberg’s Sinfonietta for String Orchestra and Willem van Otterloo’s Prelude, Dance and Epilogue for clarinet and string orchestra). Little known compositions like Symphonie n° 1 pour orchestre à cordes by Jaques Castérède, Sur les flots lointain by Charles Koechlin and Serenade for string orchestra by George Antheil have also been recorded on CD, released on the ‘Brilliant Classics’ label. All CDs (French Music for String Orchestra, American Pioneers, and Rheingold) have received worldwide critical acclaim.

Ciconia Consort has enjoyed collaborations with soloists such as Lavinia Meijer, Isabelle van Keulen, Paolo Giacometti, Pieter Wispelwey, as well as scientists and writers such as Pieter Waterdrinker, Maarten van Rossem, Rosita Steenbeek and Willem Otterspeer. The orchestra can often be heard on Dutch radio and television, in addition to also receiving international airtime on radio stations in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, United States and Taiwan, among others.

Booklet for Couleurs de France