Choral by Auguste Chapuis was composed in 1924 and is dedicated to French bassist Édouard Nanny (1871-1942).
Aimed at the intermediate bassist, the music is independent, lyrical and dramatic, and written in a modern and late-romantic idiom. The influence of Ravel and Debussy are never too far away and this is a wonderful, but long- forgotten, piece for the adventurous bassist looking for something ‘new’ and a little different. The piano accompaniment is strongly supportive and rhythmically inventive and independent and the piece has both player and audience appeal.

“Choral is an interesting and most welcome turn of the 20th-century French work. The composer was a pupil of Massenet and Franck.Choral covers a three-octave range, though it is largely unproblematic from a technical standpoint. The opening is forceful, even declamatory, and might almost have been worked into a sonata exposition. There then follows a lyrical second theme. Both these ideas return again, so overall the work offers the possibility of demonstrating two aspects of the performer’s playing in a short but really effective way. It’s a good addition to the repertoire.”
[ESTA News & Views]

This new edition includes piano accompaniments for both solo and orchestral tunings.

Auguste Chapuis was a French organist and composer who was born in Dampierre-sur-Salon (Haute-Saone) on 20 April 1858 and died in Paris on 6 December 1933. He was a student of Th. Dubois, Jules Massenet and César Franck at the Paris Conservatoire, and subsequently became organist of Notre-Dame-des-Champs and St. Rochelle. He composed three church masses, three operas, chamber music, and educational music.