Viole

During their long study of the works of the composer Richard Mico (1590- 1661), the musicians of the Concerto di Viole ensemble developed charac- teristic images and associations that make each of the pavans and fantasies unique to them. Following the tradition of Mico’s contemporaries, they have therefore given the pieces new titles to inspire the listeners’ imagination. The Ensemble Con- certo di Viole was founded in Basle in 1989 and has since then been playing almost in the same line. The four permanent members Arno Jochem, Brian Franklin (2), Brigitte Gasser and Rebeka Ruso have studied at the schola Cantorum Basiliensis at different times and bring musical experiences with different ensembles.

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.

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.

It was in Amsterdam in 1740 that a lawyer named Hubert Le Blanc published an astounding work that defended the use of the bass viol at a time when the violin and the cello were becoming more and more important in Parisian musical life. This recording provides a musical equivalent of his essay, depicting the initial success of the bass viol and of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (celebrated in the film Tous les matins du monde), its moments of glory and, above all else, the repertoire of the viol, violin and cello during the first half of the 18th century.

Originally recorded in an Italian villa in 1992, this release covered German solo vocal music ranging over much of the 17th century, most of it with the melancholy tone suggested by the album's title. Its release by Spain's Glossa label in 2009 was likely due to the fact that it includes music that even by then remained unfamiliar. The biggest attraction is the sextet of songs, and songs are what they are, by Adam Krieger, the founder of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum Bach decades later. Some are secular, some sacred, and they sound very little like Schütz, Schein, or the comparable Italian works of the period; they're free in shape, rather light-hearted, and apparently written for the entertainment of aristocratic amateurs.

While the availability of programs devoted to the chamber music of François Couperin have been relatively constant throughout the CD era, fans of the composer will find much to enjoy in rehearing these familiar works on this new Channel Classics offering. What immediately impresses is the recording's sumptuous, remarkably illusionistic sound, with Mieneke van der Velden's viols (a Pardessus de viole, the highest instrument in the gamba family, was chosen for the Onzieme [11th] concert from Les Goûts-Réunies) ideally complementing the scale of Glen Wilson's harpsichord.

Massimo Lonardi avait bien enregistré un album assez réussi, consacré lui aussi à la fois à Milano et Borrono, mais cet album de Paolo Cherici, de toute facon plus disponible, est la meilleure facon de découvrir Pietro Paolo Borrono, un des compositeurs majeurs du XVIe siècle italien, particulièrement réputé pour ses danses, et un des plus oubliés au disque (même s'il est régulièrement cité dans les anthologies via une ou deux pièces) maintenant que presque tous les autres grands luthistes, hormis Dalza (même si le même Paolo Cherici a enregistré un très bon album Dalza - Spinacino chez Pan classics), ont eu droit à leur disque dédié: Spinacino, Dall'Aquila, Capirola, Alberto da Ripa… et bien sûr Milano dont la discographie est maintenant riche.

Marin Marais possesses the grace, elegance and wit so appealing in the goût français of the eighteenth century. The character pieces of his last two books depict portraits, landscapes and little genre scenes in painterly fashion, and are an unsurpassed highpoint of the viol repertory.

Marin Marais published his last collection in 1725, eight years after the appearance of his Quatrième Livre de Pièces de Viole . He was no longer playing in the Chambre du Roi by that time and had moved to a house in the Faubourg Saint-Marceau where he cultivated plants and flowers in his garden. He continued, however, to give lessons to people who wanted to improve their viol playing. The Cinquième Livre de Pièces de Viole reflects this image of a peaceful life; today we regard it as the final testament of a musician who was looking back upon his past years as their undisputed master — and which he remains today.