Marin Marais

The music of Marin Marais is now a part of the repertoire of all viola players, and here is graced with a royal visit, from Jordi Savall, on the opening track. This music displays all the melancholy of the closing years of the 17th Century, through the lens of the many pieces composed by Marais for the Chambre du Roi for which he was responsible. This Deuxième Livre de pièces de viole presented in the new album, recorded between 2015 and 2018, dates from 1701, well after the death of surintendant Lully, and during the bleak and final years of the reign of Louis XIV, who by then had become and austere religious zealot. In the Deuxième Livre, Marin Marais presents a whole catalogue of the human condition and renders moving homage to his departed masters, Lully and Sainte-Colombe. This voluminous Deuxième Livre contains no fewer than 142 pieces, ordered by key, allowing musicians to construct their suites as they please. The overall spirit is of grandeur and the monumental, with often very daring harmonies, as if Marin Marais wanted to drop them on his young competitors in the small Parisian world of viol da gamba. François Joubert-Caillet plays viola and leads the Belgian ensemble L’Achéron, made up of a bass viola and a rich continuo created by a harp, a theorbo, a guitar and a harpsichord. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Between 1680 and 1728, Marin Marais brought the 'pièce de viole' to the peak of perfection. An ‘unremitting’ teacher, he was also the publisher of his own music and invented special signs to notate certain ornaments for the viol. In the course of his research at the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Italian gambist Vittorio Ghielmi studied these manuscript codes, in the hand of Marais himself or his direct students. ‘This led me to a new vision of French Baroque music, which applies not only to the viola da gamba, but also to vocal and orchestral music. These signs reveal the technique of playing in action. Contrary to the static descriptions of the treatises of the time, one has the impression of seeing didactic “videos”’. This album, entirely devoted to the music of Marais, alternates récits for solo viola with orchestral pieces, all of them reinterpreted in the light of the new discovery of Monsieur Marais’s ‘codes’. In addition to Parisian viols of the time, Vittorio Ghielmi owns an instrument by the famous luthier Michel Colichon (a friend of Marais’s teacher Sainte-Colombe), made in Paris in 1688. Only two of the five surviving viols by Colichon are still in playable condition. © Alpha Classics

As a prelude to the vast enterprise represented by the release of Marin Marais’ complete five Books of Pièces de Viole, François Joubert-Caillet proposes this anthology of some of the most famous pieces that the illustrious gambist of La Chambre du Roi wrote for the delight of the Sun King’s private concerts. François Joubert-Caillet studied the viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Paolo Pandolfo, with whom he also studied early improvisation, and also with Rudolf Lutz. Winner of the First and Audience Prizes at the Bruges International Chamber Music Competition, he gives concerts, recitals and master classes in Europe, Asia and Latin America. François Joubert-Caillet also directs L’Achéron, an ensemble with which he appears in various formations, in particular the consort of viols. L’Achéron’s CDs, devoted to Anthony Holborne’s The Fruit of Love and Samuel Scheidt’s Ludi Musici, were released by Ricercar for which François Joubert-Caillet also recorded an album in duo with Wieland Kuijken: Johanes Schenck’s Le Nymphe di Rheno.

These Pièces de viole by Marin Marais first appeared in five volumes, dated 1686-9, 1701, 1711, 1717 and 1725 respectively. The small world of viol players was in full ferment when he published his first Livre: alongside this tradition of the solo viol there developed a highly original practice of two or three viols playing together. Furthermore, one of the great novelties of this volume is the addition of the continuo. However, the continuo part was not ready when the edition itself was published in 1686. We may therefore imagine that these pieces were also played without continuo, as is also the case with other pieces that still only exist in manuscript and that have no continuo line. We should, however, admit that the continuo adds considerable harmonic and expressive support to these pieces. The continuo part was not printed finally until 1689: ”When I gave the Public my Book of Pièces for one and two Viols, I intended to include the parts for bass continuo, for they are an essential part of it. Given, however, that music engraving is a very time-consuming enterprise, I was obliged to delay their appearance until today. I have figured them completely, so that they may be played on the Harpsichord or the Theorbo, two instruments that go very well with the solo Viol”.This Premier Livre contains 93 pieces grouped by key according to the lute and harpsichord traditions. The pieces were published following the order of the classic French Suite, i.e. Prelude and/or Fantasia, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue, followed by the “petites danses”, Minuet, Gavotte, one or two Rondeaux and finally a Passacaglia or Chaconne. François Joubert-Caillet and his colleagues of the ensemble L'Achéron have chosen the instruments for the continuo group according to the moods and emotions of the various suites: the more intimate works use only a theorbo or a guitar, the more flowery works employ a theorbo and a guitar or archlute, while the radiant, virile and many-hued works have been allotted the harpsichord. Given the extreme length of the Suites in D minor, we have divided each of these into two suites so that they can be more easily appreciated. For the same reason, the order of the Suites on this recording does not follow the order of the 93 pieces in the Premier Livre; given that the volume was not compiled with the intention that it be either played or heard in order from start to finish, we have attempted to make the listener’sexperience as comfortable as possible with the use of contrasting colours and instrumentation.

Marin Marais, "chamber viola player to the King", and a talented composer is the author of this rich work full of contrasts, which forms the bridge, in the French viola tradition, between the generation of pioneers (with Saint-Colombe at their head) and the generation of the last French viola players (such as Forqueray or Caix d'Hervelois). This selection gives us an insight into the art of Marais - who was recognised in his own time as a technically gifted and brilliant musician - by way of his two Livres de viole, published in 1717 and 1725 respectively. It was in this period, which was both especially artistically fruitful but also unstable and subject to all sorts of political, economic and social turmoil, that Marais brought out his two last works. This album brings together a good number of strikingly original pieces, in particular from the Suite d’un goût étranger, a real introduction to the world of tonalities. The viola responds very differently to different tones: each tonality has its own very particular effect in terms of musical rhetoric: the Paraza in D minor sounds opulent and full, the Badinage in F sharp minor fragile and uncertain. Special mention should also go to a rare and stunning piece called Le Tact, which requires a curious sort of left-handed pizzicato without any help from the right (which he calls "tact", a forerunner of very modern techniques). This is where Marais shows his particular genius, because he loves the instrument's sensitive, vulnerable instrument, which he explores with great poetry. Founded by theorbist Benjamin Perrot and the viola player Florence Bolton, La Rêveuse (taking its name from the final piece of this album) is an ensemble which specialises in the artistic heritage of the 17th and 18th Centuries, periods which are rich in experiences and artistic inventions of all kinds. © SM/Qobuz

A veteran of Jordi Savall's Hespèrion XX and XXI, gambaist Marianne Muller makes her Zig Zag Territories debut with this disc of music by the great French Baroque composer Marin Marais. The repertoire is daunting: the ingenious and evocative Le Labyrinthe, the 32 virtuoso variations on Les Folies d'Espagne, and the 12-movement Suite in E minor from Marais' Second Book of Pièces de viole. These are works that require not just virtuosity, stamina, intense expressivity, and soulful beauty of tone. Thankfully, Muller and her Ensemble Spirale fulfill all these requirements and then some. The disc opens with Les Folies d'Espagne, and through her nimble dexterity and endless invention, Muller holds the work together despite its enormous 18-minute length. The disc closes with Le Labyrinthe, and with her varied tone and subtle phrasing, Muller keeps the work on track through its harmonically adventurous 12-and-a-half minute length. But the best performance here is the central Suite in E minor. As are most of the Second Book's suites, this one is made up almost entirely of stylized dance forms; but through the concentration of Marais' thought and the power of his emotions, these sarabandes, gigues, and minuets are as deep and potentially moving as the best of Bach's variations on the same forms. With a nuanced tone ranging from the quietly contained to boldly assertive and a flexible bow allowing her to express herself as if she were singing, Muller delivers performances rivaling Jordi Savall's own recordings of these works. Especially impressive is her Tombeau pour M. de Sainte-Colombe, which closes the suite. Sterner and more severe than Savall's classic recording, Muller's interpretation is no less moving in its stoic dignity. The Ensemble Spirale -- gambist Sylvia Abramowicz, harpsichordist Violaine Cochard, Baroque guitarist Charles-Édouard Fantin, and theorbist Claire Antonini -- provides a wonderfully textured accompaniment for Muller's gamba. Recorded in clean, close, atmospheric sound, this disc can be highly recommended to everyone interested in the instrument, the composer, and the repertoire. © TiVo

Marie van Rhijn's 2016 album on the Evidence label is a collection of brilliant harpsichord pieces arranged from the tragédie en musique, Alcide, a collaboration by Marin Marais and Louis Lully, son of the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully. Marais was most famous as a composer of viol music, which became enormously popular in the court of Louis XIV, though he is not known to have composed any works for the harpsichord, so these keyboard transcriptions of his operatic music might be a bit unexpected. Consisting of airs and dances, such as the courante, the sarabande, the menuet, and the passepied, most of the pieces here consist of two lines with elaborate ornamentation and are quite suitable to the keyboard. Van Rhijn is a virtuoso of the harpsichord, as well as an authority on vocal music of the French Baroque, so her lively performances convey something of the drama and florid lyricism of the original work, infused with a personal flair that makes her playing fascinating. In addition to the pieces from Alcide, van Rhijn also plays harpsichord adaptations of the Suite in B minor for viol da gamba, including the "Tombeau pour Monsieur de Lully," which rounds out the program with more familiar music by Marais. Highly recommended. © TiVo

Marin Marais (1656-1728), the subject of the popular 1991 film Tous les matins du monde, is best known today for his music for gamba, but he was prolific in a variety of genres and wrote some of the most important French operas between Lully and Rameau. Because of its dramatic weakness, Sémélé (1709) was not among his most successful works, but the music, here reconstructed by Gérard Geay, is hugely attractive, and hearing the score is perhaps the most satisfying way to experience it. The fact that Marais uses recitative very judiciously, reserving it for the moments where the drama is most heightened, makes the opera especially effective on CD. In its place, he writes short arias and ensembles that have a strong inherent musical interest, so there are few dull moments in Sémélé. In spite of the opera's weak story, it's clear Marais was a master of writing for the stage; each act is beautifully shaped and structured. Some of the most effective parts are the orchestral sections -- dances, marches, chaconnes -- whose surprising originality and brilliant instrumentation make them pop out in bold relief from the vocal textures. Throughout, Marais' writing is graceful and inventive, making Sémélé an appealing work that should be of strong interest to fans of Baroque opera. The elegance and spirit of the performances are ideally suited to the opera. Le Concert Spirituel, an ensemble using original instruments, founded and conducted by Hervé Niquet, performs with the utmost precision and with terrific energy. The soloists are uniformly fine, with strong, clear, heroic voices, and agile coloratura, and they make the most of the drama of their roles. The recording is immaculate: clean and bright, with a good sense of presence. © TiVo

Hille Perl and Lee Santana, a German viola da gamba player and an American theorbo player from Florida, met in Bremen's train station in 1984 and formed what they call a professional and personal "work in progress." Here they offer a disc of music by Marin Marais, a renowned French viol virtuoso and court musician of the late seventeenth century. What fame he has among general listeners comes from his appearance as a character in the 1991 film Tous les matins du monde, which in music-mad Germany caused passers-by, Perl says, to stop asking her "hey, is that a guitar?" and start asking "is that a six- or a seven-string?" In the U.S., music for viol and theorbo qualifies as an out-of-the-way corner of the musical universe, and Perl and Santana make things still more obscure with a lengthy liner-note justification for performing the music on this particular pair of instruments. (It involves the discovery of a Scottish manuscript that did not specify the bass instrumentation that appeared in later Marais publications.) Nevertheless, it's all somehow quite compelling. Perl is an exceptionally smooth player, and she executes the dances of these French suites with the lightness they deserve. In performing the variation sets that Marais would have used to display his own virtuosity, she's got power in reserve. And the music throughout has that elusive meshing of mutually familiar personalities that is the mark of effective chamber music. Marin Marais: Pour la Violle et le Théorbe, in short, comes off as something personal -- an impression intensified by the elegant dedication, written in the old-fashioned style of the French court, of the music to the public by the performers. One solo theorbo piece, by Robert de Visée, is also included. © TiVo