Diptyque (Diptych)
Taking over in his own name a fashion that was widespread in the 19th century, combining piano and harmonium. Jean Langlais decided to bring together the piano and organ in a Diptych made up of two highly contrasted movements. Taking as a point of departure his Mouvement perpétuel for piano of 1930 (neglected, we must admit, by pianists), he transformed the two main themes rhythmically and built a first movement, Andante, in which piano and organ are clearly opposed through highly contrasted dynamics ranging from the very softest to the most powerful tutti. The second part of the Diptych faithfully repeats the Mouvement perpétuel for piano, superposing on it an original organ part, intended to sustain the piano's uninterrupted flow of semiquavers with long tenuti. The two instruments conclude in a fortissimo syncopated cadence.
Marie-Louise Langlais
Extract from CD booklet Musique de Chambre avec Piano (March 2001)
