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Language available : english
Viola da gamba player Ralph Rousseau is not French but Dutch; he uses his mother's maiden name in preference to the tough-to-pronounce Meulenbroeks, his father's name. He confidently maintains that the idea of combining French Baroque gamba music with arrangements of twentieth century French pop "seems completely natural, even evident, to me." In fact the effect is so unusual as to be uncanny, but Chansons d'amour certainly gets points for sheer originality. There are several layers of fusion happening here. First is that between the realms of song and instrumental music; although the album title promises love songs, all the music is instrumental. Rousseau, who points out that the gamba's top string is called the chanterelle, focuses on the almost declamatory, rhetorical quality that the viola da gamba has in its Baroque language, transferring it with remarkable effectiveness to the likes of Jacques Brel's Ne me quittes pas. Second is the above-mentioned blurring of the classical-popular boundary. Here Rousseau is on somewhat more familiar ground; the structural analogies between Baroque music and jazz have been proposed before, and Rousseau's French popular songs -- famous ones by Edith Piaf, Brel, and Michel Legrand among them -- are jazzy in feel, relying on rhythmic and melodic elaboration over easily identifiable harmonic patterns. But the third boundary being crossed is one that has remained pristine until now: what makes the sound of Chansons d'amour really mysterious is the combination of the viola da gamba with a Classical-era string quintet: the Matangi String Quartet plus a double bass. It is this unique ensemble that sets off the plaintive calls of the viola da gamba and ties together the diverse materials on the program. Most of the music is further linked by its downbeat mood, at least until the final Roland Vincent song, Pour un flirt, which has a truly memorable exuberance. A genuine novelty that stands a reasonable chance at dominating the listening of any given buyer for a long time.
© TiVo
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Cent mille chansons (Michel Magne)
Michel Magne, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Air (Louis de Caix D'hervelois)
Louis de Caix D'Hervelois, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
La montagne (Jean Ferrat)
Jean Ferrat, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Le troisième livre de pièces de viole (Marin Marais)
Marin Marais, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
La vie en rose (Louis)
Louis, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Un jour, un enfant (Emile Stern)
Emile Stern, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
La Monguichet (Louis de Caix D'hervelois)
Louis de Caix D'Hervelois, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Sous le ciel de Paris (Hubert Giraud)
Hubert Giraud, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
La quatrième livre de pièces de viole (Marin Marais)
Marin Marais, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Les moulins de mon coeur (Michel Legrand)
Michel Legrand, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Jesu, joy of man's desiring (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel)
Jacques Brel, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Suite II in G Major (Antoine Forqueray)
Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist - Antoine Forqueray, Composer
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Pour un flirt (Roland Vincent)
Roland Vincent, Composer - Hein van de Geyn, Soloist, FeaturedArtist - Ralph Rousseau, MainArtist - Matangi String Quartet, FeaturedArtist
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
Albumbeschreibung
Viola da gamba player Ralph Rousseau is not French but Dutch; he uses his mother's maiden name in preference to the tough-to-pronounce Meulenbroeks, his father's name. He confidently maintains that the idea of combining French Baroque gamba music with arrangements of twentieth century French pop "seems completely natural, even evident, to me." In fact the effect is so unusual as to be uncanny, but Chansons d'amour certainly gets points for sheer originality. There are several layers of fusion happening here. First is that between the realms of song and instrumental music; although the album title promises love songs, all the music is instrumental. Rousseau, who points out that the gamba's top string is called the chanterelle, focuses on the almost declamatory, rhetorical quality that the viola da gamba has in its Baroque language, transferring it with remarkable effectiveness to the likes of Jacques Brel's Ne me quittes pas. Second is the above-mentioned blurring of the classical-popular boundary. Here Rousseau is on somewhat more familiar ground; the structural analogies between Baroque music and jazz have been proposed before, and Rousseau's French popular songs -- famous ones by Edith Piaf, Brel, and Michel Legrand among them -- are jazzy in feel, relying on rhythmic and melodic elaboration over easily identifiable harmonic patterns. But the third boundary being crossed is one that has remained pristine until now: what makes the sound of Chansons d'amour really mysterious is the combination of the viola da gamba with a Classical-era string quintet: the Matangi String Quartet plus a double bass. It is this unique ensemble that sets off the plaintive calls of the viola da gamba and ties together the diverse materials on the program. Most of the music is further linked by its downbeat mood, at least until the final Roland Vincent song, Pour un flirt, which has a truly memorable exuberance. A genuine novelty that stands a reasonable chance at dominating the listening of any given buyer for a long time.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 00:52:32
- Main artists: Ralph Rousseau
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Challenge Classics
- Genre: Klassiek
(C) 2008 Challenge Classics (P) 2008 Challenge Classics
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