Charles Koechlin: The Seven Stars' Symphony Op. 132

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Music by the marvelous, but unjustly underrated composer and “Aural Alchemist” Charles Koechlin is invariably a real discovery. “Koechlin can daub with notes as Seurat daubed with bright pigments on canvas; [he] could, whenever he wished, bathe his music in the impressionist glories of Debussy and Ravel or give it the delicacy of Fauré and then toughen it up with some Roussel-like grinding rhythms.” (Robert Reilly) He is an impressionist dreamboat. With a title like The Seven Stars’ Symphony, and following so closely on the heels of the equally enchanting Vers la voûte étoilée (Toward the Vault of the Stars), one might think the work was some spectacular, colourist, celestial bonanza. In fact, it’s Koechlin’s ode to his favourite film stars – but no less bewitching for that.