Chanson dans la nuit

Even though Carlos Salzedo was born in the Basque region on the border between France and Spain, his youthful period of study in two of France’s major musical cities, Bordeaux and Paris, goes a long way toward explaining the strong Ravelian nature of his early compositions. His musical gifts appeared early, and he followed a promising start at the piano with an equally prodigious turn at the harp, entering conservatory on that instrument at age 13. Eventually, at age 24, he moved to the United States, became an American citizen, and performed for several years as principal harpist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under Toscanini. He inaugurated the harp program at the famed Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and also helped found the International Composers Guild in 1921.
While he made many contributions to the techniques and symbols of avant-garde tonal notation and effects, it is as a harpist and teacher that Salzedo will be best remembered. Somewhat like Segovia on the guitar, Salzedo crafted a place for the harp in the concert literature of the 20th century through original compositions, arrangements, and pedagogical texts. The work heard this evening, “Chanson dans la nuit” (Song in the Night), is very evocative, even programmatic. If you wish to discover the underlying scenario with your own ears, do not read any further! The following explanation comes from Salzedo himself, which I have glossed with musical cues:

“At the beginning, the music depicts the warm breeze of a summer night [lush glissandi]. Strange sounds are heard, reminiscent of three muted trumpets [a passage based on parallel triads in the manner of Debussy] answered by a little bell. Then a serenade [suggesting the influence of Albéniz] grows and dies away. A morning breeze is felt and the composition dies away in faint rustlings.”

(c) Jason Stell