String Quartets no 1 and no 2

Pieces for clarinet and piano, Prelude & dance for oboe and piano

Claudel-Canimex Quartet: Élaine Marcil , violin / Marie-Josée Arpin, violin / Annie Parent, viola / Jeanne de Chantal Marcil, cello

Simon Aldrich, clarinet / Lise Beauchamp, oboe / Sara Laimon, piano

20-page booklet

Release date : September 5, 2006

Nearly all the content of this disc is a world premiere recording. Before going to the studio, the Claudel-Canimex Quartet played Delerue's two string quartets in concert. With all the intensity and the precision that made their reputation, the four musicians women render wonderfully the tension and the surges of passion of these demanding works. The pieces for clarinet and oboe with piano accompaniment, played by renowned soloists, make a good introduction to Delerue's classical style. This release will please to every film music fan already familiar with the composer's production, as well as to every fan of contemporary music.

Four pieces for clarinet and piano

01. Valse mélancolique  1:25

02. Romance  1:40

03. Aria  1:39

04. Elegia  4:09 

05. Prélude et danse pour hautbois et piano  7:12  

String Quartet no 1 (25:48)

06. Allegro  7:20

07. Vif et léger  5:08

08. Adagio  7:50

09. Allegro vivace  5:31 

String Quartet no 2  (19:24)

10. Lento-allegro  7:05 

11. Lento  5:09

12 Allegro con moto 7:09

TT : 62:00

Christophe Rodriguez - Journal de Montréal, 09-16- 06 (translated from French)

The gifted composer Georges Delerue left a lasting impression in the cinematic world. Among his best known achievements, one remembers his scores for François Truffaut's Jules and Jim and the Last Metro, Philippe de Broca's That Man From Rio and Fred Zinnemann's Julia. In the last months, the Montreal Claudel-Canimex Quartet has unveiled the classical production of the composer. A goldsmith's commitment which expresses passion and recognition.

Christophe Huss - Le Devoir, Montreal, 09-29-06 (translated from French)

Those who are seeking for easy tunes will be disappointed, but it is obvious that Delerue masters perfectly music writing and delivers here, like in his pieces for clarinet, his private diary, his torments. The Claudel-Canimex is as much convincing on disc as in concert.

Claude Gingras - La Presse, Montreal, 04-14-07 (translated from French)

Delerue was very skilful at writing for the quartet. Favouring neo-classical style an polytonal language, he knew how to get the best from the four instruments with tight tones, while highlighting at times the two violins, the viola and, with special eloquence, the deep voice of the cello. Nimbleness, restlessness and solemnity alternate during the seven movements.