In the mid-twentieth century, French music for winds bore the stamp of Stravinskyian neo-Classicism, perhaps more indelibly than any other influence. Notwithstanding the clear differences of their own personalities -- the elegantly refined
Francis Poulenc is easily distinguished from the sometimes vulgar and slapdash
Darius Milhaud, and the jovial Jacques Ibert is distinct from the more quizzical Jean Françaix -- they all derived an "objective" sensibility from
Stravinsky; this is especially telling in their common uses of simple, folk-like tunes, asymmetrical rhythms, dry timbres, and pan-diatonic harmonies; but also, in a more general way, by their preference for bright keys and their striking aversion to sentimentality. The major works on this 2005 Naxos disc are clearly
Poulenc's Sextet for winds and piano (1932) and Françaix's Wind Quintet No. 1 (1948); these are the most imaginatively worked-out, and offer the most satisfying variety of textures and instrumental combinations. The shorter pieces -- Ibert's Pièces (3) brèves (1930) and
Milhaud's La Cheminée du roi René (1939) -- may pass by as lightweights, yet these are pleasant diversions that allow the listener to relax between the more complex works that bookend the program. The Wind Quintet of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and pianist
Ralf Gothóni are cheerfully virtuosic, meticulous in execution, and brightly sonorous in the fine reproduction.