Jordi Savall Marin Marais Suitte D'un Gout Etranger, Pieces De Viole Du IV Livre, 1717

Jordi Savall - Marin Marais - Suitte D'un Gout Etranger, Pieces De Viole Du IV Livre, 1717 (2006) {2CD Set, Alia Vox AVSA 9851}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 576 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 257 Mb
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© 2006 Alia Vox | AVSA 9851 A+B | DSD mastering
Classical / Chamber Music / Baroque

French composer Marin Marais (1656-1728) was remarkably prolific, writing nearly 600 compositions for viola da gamba, as well as many operas. One of his major collections of music for the gamba is Suitte d'un Gôut Etranger, a collection of 33 short works written, according to the composer, "to stretch the skill of those who do not like easy pieces." Jordi Savall, the most acclaimed gamba player of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, who is responsible for bringing many of Marais' works to light, plays with extraordinary virtuosity and expressiveness.

Like many of his contemporaries, Marin Marais has paid the price of his proximity to some outstandingly brilliant musicians. Between Lully and Rameau we can still cite Charpentier, Delalande, Campra and François Couperin. But what about the others? The Destouches, Mouret and Marais pale beside the stars of a fertile era which was rocked by controversy. The school of harpsichordists and organists, who were no match for Lully’s vocal art, are still represented in the repertoire of present-day performers: D’Anglebert, Lebègue, Dandrieu, Grigny and Clérambault are still played on our instruments. But Marin Marais had the misfortune not only to compose operas in Lully’s domain, but also to devote the bulk of his art to an instrument which was being eclipsed by the advance of the violin family… namely, the VIOLA DA GAMBA or the BASS VIOL. And it is only recently that we have rediscovered the specific manner of playing this instrument as well as the composers who wrote for it.

The most substantial pieces here are the set of variations of La folia, and the Tombeau pour M-deSte Colombe in memory of Marais's mentor. His idiom embodies a paradox that's peculiarly French, in that it demands a very high technical standard, yet its proper expression requires the utmost restraint. The young Finnish viol-player, Markku Luolajan-Mikkola, is a founder-member of Phantasm.

Between 1975 and 1983, Jordi Savall recorded five albums including the most beautiful pieces from each of the five ‘Books of Pieces for the Viol’ composed by Marin Marais between 1686 and 1725. A silence of nearly 250 years came to an end. A repertoire - and even better, an instrument - returned from oblivion. The memory of a composer had never been so closely linked to the performing art of amusician. 35 years after the beginning of this history-making enterprise, the five Astree albums are offered in a remastered sound, that fully rewards the genius of Marin Marais and Jordi Savall. Luxuriously documented – as always with Alia Vox - this anthology is a must-have for any Baroque music lover.

Jordi Savall - Monsieur de Sainte Colombe le fils & Marin Marais - Le Parnasse de la Viole (2003) {3CD Box Set Alia Vox AV9829}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 869 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 378 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 102 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2003 Alia Vox | AV 9829 A/C
Classical / Baroque / Viola da gamba

Jordi Savall's exquisite three-disc box set entitled Le Parnasse de la viole is devoted to the passionately expressive and virtuosic music of two great French Baroque composers, Sainte-Colombe the Younger and Marin Marais. The six suites by Sainte-Colombe adhere to the familiar form established by the end of the seventeenth century; each consists of such familiar dances as the allemande, courante, sarabande, gigue, and gavotte.

There is nothing left wanting in these performances. Hantaï and Verzier both display adroit virtuosity, possess warm tones but distinctive approaches, and share a telepathic sense of interplay, all excellent qualities in these intimate chamber works. Brother Pierre Hantaï on the keyboard sticks with them throughout, following them even in the most tempo rubato-saturated Sarabande. The lion's share of the pieces here are in the standard stylized Baroque dance forms, but Marais' expressive melodies, pungent harmonies, and highly individual take on the forms make each piece unique.

Compositeur, pédagogue et joueur de basse de viole à la cour, Marin Marais haussa le jeu de la viole soliste au plus haut niveau de raffinement. Il composa plus de cinq cents pièces, toutes annotées avec précision, sur lesquelles se mesurèrent tous les joueurs de viole de l’époque. Il publia cinq livres pour cet instrument dont certains en duo ou trio.

Marin Marais published his Quatrième Livre de Pièces de Viole two years after the death of Louis XIV, establishing himself as the undisputed master of the genre and providing pieces not only for musicians who had achieved some skill on the viol but also for the most virtuoso players. Here Marais reshaped the classical forms, altering the traditional sequence for the suites and making an increasing use of character pieces. The sometimes whimsical imagery and the new freedom of form that these pieces contain reach their peak in the astonishing Suitte d'un goût étranger; these thirty or so pieces employ as yet unheard-of keys and offer a multitude of characters and representations that can tend towards the exotic. Breaking further new ground, and somewhat influenced by the Italian trio, Marais ended the Quatrième Livre with two suites for three viols, a genre he claimed to be new to France.