Since Harmonique, first performed in 1970 by Michael Gielen, the symphonic work of Pierre Bartholomée has gradually been enriched by magnificent pages from the entire palette of a great connoisseur of the orchestra - and hasn't the composer been the artistic director of the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra from 1977 to 2001? Together with Humoresque, first produced in 1994 by Pascal Verrot in Québec, it is a new, impressively dense and fascinating work one discovers on this disc, conducted by the composer himself. Fredons et Tarabusts, a vast "serenade without serenity", is (beyond a wink to Pascal Quignard and his Haine de la Musique) a sort of concerto for orchestra and displays the intelligence of the musical writing of a great contemporary composer - not only in Belgium but (as Harry Halbreich affirms in the notes) on the international scene as well. This masterpiece was recorded in the Brussels "Palais des Beaux-Arts" at its first performance on 18 September 1997.
