Marin Marais

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.

Un disque qui s’inscrit dans l’intégrale des pièces de viole de Marin Marais, comprenant deux suites en ré majeur et sol majeur avec, en particulier, la très belle pièce intitulée Les voix humaines, toute d’intériorité et de gravité, hymne à la voix humaine et à l’instrument qui, à l’époque, s’en approchait le plus, la viole. La viole, seule, ou associée à d’autres instruments, la musique en général qui transcende la parole, qui enhardit, qui bouleverse, charme et aide à vivre ce compositeur admiré de la cour du Roi Soleil et de l’Europe entière, qui s’interroge sur les questions fondamentales de la vie, de la mort, du destin. L’essence des autres pièces est, avant tout, celle des musiques de danse, rythmées et jubilatoires. Une musique parfaitement interprétée, des danses mais aussi une méditation qui est un des moments forts de l’œuvre de Marin Marais.

It is always a thrill to hear a performance of newly discovered music by a favourite composer, especially when it includes previously unknown versions of much loved works like Marin Marais’ La Folie The music on this disc is a selection taken from a manuscript in the Scottish National Library of 150 pieces for solo viola da gamba.

C'est à partir d'un “Avertissement” de Marin Marais lui-même, dans son IIe livre de pièces de viole (1701), qu'est née l'idée de cet enregistrement tout à fait original et inédit. En effet, il y invite les musiciens à ne pas jouer le pièces de viole seulement sur la viole : “J'ai eu attention en les composant à les rendre propres pour être joués sur toutes sortes d'instruments comme l'orgue, clavecin, théorbe, luth, violon, flûte allemande…”, et prié les interprètes de “se donner la peine de les mettre sur chaque instrument en particulier”. Il ajoute, dans l'“Avertissement” de son IIIe livre : “Il ne s'agira que d'en savoir faire le choix pour chacun des instrument” (et) remplir le vide entre le sujet et la basse afin de ne pas faire de mauvais sons, ce qui est une règle très essentielle à l'harmonie.”

La gamme is Marais’s instrumental chamber version of an opera, based on an ascending harmonic scale and employing a succession of tempi, ensemble textures and forms, linked together by skilfully wrought transitions.

Marin Marais (1656-1728)est ajourd'hui célèbre grâce au fabuleux corpus de pièces pour violes de gambe qu'il nous a laissé et qui ont été remises à l'honneur avec le célèbre film "Tous les matins du monde" et les disques de Jordi Savall Mais Marais a aussi écrit 4 opéras dont Alcione, le meilleur d'entre eux.
Avant son enregistrement, celui-ci avait la réputation d'être digne des chefs-d'oeuvre de Lully et annonciateur des splendeurs ramistes, mais pour certains figé dans les règles passéistes du grand style français et refusant malencontreusement les harmonies italianisantes chères à Campra et Charpentier.

Marin Marais, the most outstanding composer for the viola da gamba, was a master in the writing of so-called Pièces de Caractère, in which he called upon the most diverse subjects for inspiration: La Désolée (the desolate), La Guitare, Feste Champêtre (country fair), Le Tableau de l’Opération de la Taille (a description of a gallstone operation!) and so on. The choice of 'Images' in Marais’ five books of Pièces de violes is endless. A program full of worship, grandeur and sadness.

…All these pursuits made of the 'Pièces en trio' an unpretentious but charming work. They very faithfully resuscitate the climate of the sosiety of the time, its passion for music and, at the same time, its lack of concern for it. But above all they carry the seed of a skill in writing and of the qualities of composition that Marais was not slow to employ so as to give us other testimonies much more elaborate and much more remarkable.

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 Troisième Livre de Pièces pour viole by Marin Marais, the object of the current recording, was printed in 1711 in many aspects is a break from the preceding first two. To start, and most probably echoing a demand from Marais’ clients, he adds some simpler pieces for less skilled players. It would seem that Marais anticipated criticism for urging works on mere mortals that would be too difficult for them to play. A clue may be found in the preface to this third book (1711): “The large number of short and easy pieces I have included is proof that I wanted to satisfy the present circumstances so often reiterated since the publication of my second book”. Having said this, they sit side by side with technically demanding pieces such as the Grand Ballet (track 27) from which the title of this album is taken.