Lucien Wurmser wrote almost exclusively for his instrument. 
The aim of this project is to record the essential of his production for piano. Forty pieces are available, split in two discs, in this edition for the independent label Editions Hortus. Both are also available as a physical compact disc (release date for the first record: 27/12/2024, release date for the second: 20/02/2026). The most of these pieces are here presented to the public for the very first time and represent the biggest amount of Wurmser’s music recorded so far. Here is the complete list of the pieces for the two recordings (Hortus 246 and Hortus 276) which comprises, among others, the complete set of his Études de concert et de concours, his Gradus Moderne (6 études), the two préludes sets (1913 and 1954) and the whole five Concertini.
Free listen to the first record on yt.
Free listen to the second record on yt.
Enjoy. Études de concert et de concours (1947) 1. Légèreté 2. Intermède en forme de Habanera 3. Doubles notes 4. Voltige 5. Romance 6. Bravoure Ballade (1939) Concertini 1. Concertino appassionato (1939) 2. Concertino giocoso (1943) 3. Concertino accelerato (1955) 4. Concertino delicato (1952) 5. Concertino patetico (1937) Crépuscule (1966) Toccata (1955) Le gradus moderne (1960) 1. Mouvement 2. Main gauche seule 3. Papillons blancs 4. Petite toccata 5. L’Enjouée 6. Arabesque Trois préludes (1913) 1. Soir! 2. Silhouette! 3. Brise Préludes (1954) 1. La mer 2. La campagne 3. La nuit 4. Rêves 5. Fantasque 6. Fluidité 7. Danse grise 8. Vagues 9. Ma jazotte 10. L’entêté 11. Sérénité 12. Ballerine Trois pièces (1966) 1. Élégie 2. Interlude 3. Air de ballet Valse pittoresque (1902) Solitude (1923) Critical considerations To explain why Wurmser’s work has been unjustly forgotten despite its quality, some critical factors must be considered. Lacking major publishers, Wurmser did not benefit from widespread dissemination of his music. The small- and medium-sized publishing houses of his time saw their catalogues disappear, and it is no coincidence that the only major collections still in circulation (Le Gradus Moderne and the Preludes) were published late in his career by more international publishers, Durand and Eschig.
Another factor is purely chronological. Wurmser began publishing early (with Gavotte in 1896) and continued until the end of his life (Trois Pièces in 1966). However, his compositional output was not evenly spread over seven decades but developed in waves, peaking after 1947 with the first book of études. Starting from salon pieces and descriptive works, the composer was able to develop a personal language connected to the avant-garde movements of his time. Unfortunately, these avant-gardes had already become historical by the time Wurmser reached the height of his art: the aesthetics of the second half of the 20th century would have erased any trace of post-Debussian or post-Ravelian impressionism. Wurmser, however, still enjoyed, during the 1950s and 1960s, in the era of integral Serialism, putting on paper all his craftsmanship, a testimony to what French music had been at the beginning of the 20th century.
Wurmser’s path was unique: at seventy, and for the next twenty years, he accelerated the pace of his production, though looking backward. We believe this was neither due to nostalgia nor backwardness. Fully a product of the Third Republic and its artistic epic, but dying under the Fifth, Lucien Wurmser is one of the last fruits of the French school and of what its “golden age” was able to offer us.
Dedication [for Le dernier impressionniste] David Chevalier in memoriam. Dear David, we discussed many times about this record [Le dernier impressionniste] and your advice was so important. The copy I promised to you has arrived too late and unfortunately you will not listen to it…