Music for egon schiele

Description

In 1996, Rachel's was entrusted with creating the music for a performance (dance and theater) depicting the life of the Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele. Far from the large ensembles found on their other albums, Music for Egon Schiele is based on the intimate choice of the purest chamber music, with Rachel's performing here in a tight formation, strictly reduced to the trio consisting of Rachel Grimes (piano), Christian Frederickson (violin), and Wendy Doyle (cello). Thus, while the titles evoke Schiele's canvases (his self-portraits in particular), the surroundings (his sister Gertie, his models and companions Wally and Edith), the encounters (Mime Van Osen, Egon, Edith & Wally meet), and the separations (Egon & Wally embrace & say farewell), they are above all an allegorical representation of a life marked by the accumulation of life's trials, which sealed a tragic fate, culminating in his premature death at the age of 28. Alongside this apparent sadness, the compositions also reflect Schiele's work: in this setting of autumnal colors, the delicacy of the bows on the strings seems to draw closer to the sensitivity of the brushes on the canvases. Beyond this natural beauty, this carnal aspect that emanated from Schiele's painting, Rachel's also delivers numerous poignant moments, particularly through the gradual intensification of melodic sequences, reaching some peaks of the genre, first on Promenade, and then on the final Second family portrait, concluding a sublime album from start to finish.