Servais - Duo sur une Mélodie de Dalayrac for 2 Cellos and Piano (Urtext Edition)

Published by Schott in 1876, a decade after Servais’s death, the Duo sur une Mélodie de Dalayrac appeared as Œuvre posthume No. 2. The work is based on “Comment goûter quelque repos,” an aria sung by Céphise in Nicolas Dalayrac’s opera Renaud d’Ast. Servais wrote the fantasia to perform with his younger son, Joseph, during their travels in 1866, the final year of François’s life.

The Duo gives the two cellos an unusually equal and conversational role. Rather than treating one instrument as soloist and the other as accompaniment, Servais allows the two cellos to exchange, develop, and at times “duel” over the melodic material, while the piano provides a transparent supporting texture. The result is a vivid chamber-concert work whose style and interaction recall the duets and fantasias of Bottesini.

The piece opens with a substantial introduction on an original theme before Cello II presents the Dalayrac melody over an extended pizzicato accompaniment in Cello I, a remarkable texture within Servais’s output. The following variations explore lyrical development, perpetual-motion virtuosity, harmonics, and increasingly active dialogue between the instruments. The finale draws on the head motive of the theme and subtly recalls the introduction of Souvenir d’Anvers, building from C major through E minor toward a triumphant conclusion in E major.

This edition presents one of Servais’s most engaging chamber fantasies in a clean modern engraving.

ASTA Level: 6