Program II: Musique Fantastique

This sumptuous program celebrates the French musical voice, with its distinctively dazzling variety of tonal effects. First up, a sextet for winds, strings, and piano by Guillaume Connesson—one of today’s most widely performed French composers—whose music has been called “a celebration of life, filled with joyous melodies, rhythmic vitality, and a sense of wonder" (American Record Guide). An elegiac oboe sonata by Poulenc, dedicated to the memory...