La castel animé - Fantaisie-souvenir for piano 4 hands

For Francis Coiteux, "The animated castle", is a flash-back, a work memory in tribute to the small castle of La Grand-Font (a district of the city of Angoulème), who sheltered is youth. This work is thus an evocation of sone vivid memories of the composer. Conceived as a cartoon music, the work begins with a theme tune like a generic music which enchaine in the first part : "The Lord of the manor", majestic walk evoking Roger Coiteux, father of Francis, himself composer.

The second part "The merry gardener", consisting of a valtz and a cha cha cha, leads directly to the third part : "A battle of cats", light and grating scherzo, describing the wild pursuit of the numerous cats prowling in the park. The fourth part : "A thunderstorm night" offers a particuraly ghostly epic vision of this house at certain summer nights.

To finish by a smile, the author proposes a fifth part : "The scarecrow", an allegro giocoso, treated in form of a child round. Then the music of generic completes this vision of "The animated castle".