A Bassoon Under the Empire • The Music of Étienne Ozi

Description

Bassoonist Mathieu Lussier’s new recording features six of the twelve sonatas from Étienne Ozi’s “grandes sonates” for accomplished bassoonists, accompanied by Christophe Gauthier (harpsichord and fortepiano) and Amanda Keesmaat (cello).

Considered to be the greatest bassoonist of his time, Étienne Ozi (1754-1813) was one of a fascinating cohort of musicians who had to face up to the turmoil of the French Revolution armed only with their instruments. Ozi lived through this troubled but musically rich period by being very active on stage, in music publishing and in the establishment of the Paris Conservatory of Music.  He was an ardent promoter of an instrument that was enjoying a true golden age at the time.

“It was reading Eugène Jancourt’s fascinating méthode that made me realize that, after three discs devoted to the music of François Devienne and one featuring Jancourt’s sonatas, it was high time to delve into Ozi’s method, which was not only decisive for bassoon pedagogy but also very enlightening in terms of the interpretation of instrumental music of the period,” says Mathieu Lussier. “In my opinion, these Sonatas are much more than a series of exercises designed to train the taste and dexterity of bassoonists living under the Empire of Napoleon I.”