RE-UP. Marin Marais: Pieces de Viole des Cinq Livres - Jordi Savall, Ton Koopman, Hopkinson Smith, Christophe Coin, Anne Gallet. 5xSACD-ISO + 5xCD,

Sony PS3 SACD to ISO | DSD 1bit-2822,4kHz 2.0, 5.0 | 5xSACD
EAC-RIP | FLAC-IMAGE, CUE, LOG | 5xCD
Classical | Label: AliaVox | Catalog Number: AVSA 9872 A-E | RAR 3% Rec.

 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...

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Recording Date and Place : Juillet 1975, janvier 1977, mars 1983, janvier 1992 en l’église romane de Saint-Lambert-des-Bois, Yv En l’église romane de Saint-Lambert-des-Bois, Yvelines (France) et l’église d’Habloville, Orne (France).
. Available format : 5 SACD Hybrid Multichannel Stereo
. Date of publication : 01/12/2010

JORDI SAVALL, basse de viole

TON KOOPMAN, clavecin

HOPKINSON SMITH, théorbe & guitare

CHRISTOPHE COIN, basse de viole (1er Livre)

ANNE GALLET, clavecin (2ème Livre)

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...


Disc 1:

Premier Livre de pieces de Viole (1686), Pieces a deux violes (with Christophe Coin) – recorded 1978

SUITE EN RÉ MINEUR                
CHACONNE EN SOL MAJEUR            
SUITE EN SOL MAJEUR

Disc 2:

Deuxieme Livre de pieces de viole (1701) – recorded 1975

FOLIES D’ESPAGNE, II. 20   
LES VOIX HUMAINES, II. 63         
SUITE EN SI MINEUR


Disc 3:
Troisieme Livre de pieces de viole( 1711) – recorded 1983

SUITE I EN LA MINEUR            
SUITE IV EN RE MAJEUR               
SUITE VII EN SOL MAJEUR 


Disc 4:
Quatrieme Livre de pieces de viole (1717) – recorded 1977
SUITTE D’UN GOUT ETRANGER


Disc 5:
Cinquieme Livre de pieces de viole (1725) – recorded 1983
SUITE EN SOL MINEUR                
SUITE EN MI MINEUR / MAJEUR

...The present recording offers a Suite, a series of variations and a character piece, all taken from the Second Livre, which appeared in 1701. Marin Marais perfectly illustrates that fondness for contrast that characterises the music of the Baroque era. We find it in the variations in dynamics, between the forte and piano and in tempi, where slow passages are linked to quick ones without transition. Variety of colour is provided by the multiple possibilities afforded by the full gamut of the instrument’s registers and the ways in which it can be played; at the same time, its polyphonic “voices” allow us to hear a voluble upper part with a quiet lower one, or vice versa. The “jeu de mélodie” and the “jeu d’harmonie” compete and alternate in the pieces in the Suite: according to the theorist Jean Rousseau, the player should sometimes “imitate everything charming and agreeable that the voice can do”, with “tenderness” and “delicacy”, and sometimes sustain several independent voices at once, which requires “great aptitude” and “plenty of practice”. He may also combine melody and harmony in a finished style in which the chords, far from inhibiting the movement of the top line, give it foundation and richness. In the thirty-two couplets of the Folies d’Espagne (an old Iberian dance), Marais especially exploits writing in “broken chords”: over a slow-moving bass line, he superimposes a mosaic of quick notes in scales or arpeggios. At times the music seems to flow of its own accord, in keeping with the traditional dances of the period, while  at others its unexpected modulations and suspensions go so far as to suggest that the performer is improvising. The Tombeau pour Monsieur de Lully in particular strikes us as surprisingly modern...

download links

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Marin Marais: Pieces de Viole (Book 1-5) 5CD
Marin Marais: Pieces de Viole du IV Livre, 1717 - Jordi Savall and others - 2006. 2xSACD-ISO
Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations: Jean-Philippe Rameau - L'Orchestre de Louis XV. 2SACD-ISO + 2CD