Sarah Christ - Un Bal (2021) [Hi-Res]

Dances are among the valuable "raw materials" that composers of all epochs have incorporated into their works. Baroque suites were based on dance forms from various countries, classical symphonies usually contained a minuet or dance movement, and in the 19th century composers of emerging musical nations made use not only of folk songs but also, and above all, of the dances of their home regions in order to form an independent language.

In this album, harpist Sarah Christ shows that dance is as rich in moods as it is in forms: On "Un bal" - named after the second movement of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique - we hear the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, which moves so wonderfully freely within the framework of strict baroque models, the melancholy elegance in Chopin's and Debussy's waltzes, the folklore and rusticity in the pieces by Ferenc Farkas and Manuel de Falla, and the melancholy of Astor Piazzolla's tangos.