Ivan Wyschnegradsky

Recognised today as one of the pioneers of microtonal music and played all over the world, Ivan Wyschnegradsky nevertheless wrote pieces for solo piano in ordinary semitone tuning throughout his life, an instrument he particularly loved. This recording is unique: it gathers his complete works for so-called normal piano, most of them unpublished until now and brought to light here for the first time.

The programme runs backwards in time, from maturity to the earliest compositions: from the Étude sur le carré magique sonore op. 40 to youthful preludes written in Petrograd in 1916, shortly before Wyschnegradsky left Russia for good to settle in Paris, where he lived until 1979. Along the way come Di-Ra-Te-Lo-Tu, the Trois pièces op. 38, the Quatre fragments op. 5, the three Ombres and the Deux préludes op. 2, and the disc closes with two excerpts of interviews with the composer.

Pianist Martine Joste knew Wyschnegradsky well and premiered many of his works in his presence; he especially valued her playing, at once dynamic and sensitive. In 1983 she founded the Association Ivan Wyschnegradsky with Claude Ballif. This disc sheds light on a less familiar side of a major 20th century figure.