French Chamber Music of the 18th Century - Ensemble Baroque de Paris

Jean Pierre Rampal, flute / Pierre Pierlot, oboe / Robert Gendre, violin Paul Hongne, bassoon / Robert Veyron-Lacroix, harpsichord 00:00 Concerto a 5 in E minor, Op. 37 (Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, 1689-1755) 08:32 Concert Royal No. 13 for Flute & Oboe (François Couperin, 1668-1733) 13:34 Sonata in D Major, Op. 9 No. 3 for Violin & Harpsichord (Jean-Marie Leclair, 1697-1764) 24:14 Sonata “La Steinkerque“ for Flute, Oboe, Bassoon & Harpsichord (Couperin) 33:00 Sonatille in E flat major, Op. 19 for Flute & Harpsichord (Michel Corrette, 1707-1795) 39:36 Sonata in G major for Flute, Violin & Harpsichord (Jean Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville, 1711-1772) During the 18th century French instrumental music saw the transition from the suite form, that kaleidoscopic succession of dances (allemande, courante, sarabande, menuet, bourrée, gigue, and chaconne) to the sonata form as well as the transition from the baroque to the galante. The earliest work in this recording is Couperin’s sonata “La Steinkerque” written in 1692. The latest work is Corrette’s Sonatille, dating from about 1740, by which time the evolution of form and style was complete. Bodin de Boismortier achieved great success and popularity as a composer of instrumental music, much of it for the musette and vielle. He also wrote a number of motets and cantatas and four ballet operas, three of which met with great success. His output includes more than 100 opus numbers of sonatas, concertos, suites, and assorted chamber works. The work presented here was published as Op. 37 in 1732. This volume contains five trio sonatas followed by the present quintet (designated as “concerto’). Couperin’s “Concerts” were published in two volumes in 1722 and 1725. The first volume contained four suites and was titled Concerts Royaux. The second volume contained ten suites plus the two great sonatas, L’Apothéose de Corelli and L’Apothéose de Lully, and bore the title Les Gouts Réunis. They are not concertos in the Italian style but are concerted music derived from dance forms scored for a variety of instrumental groupings. The 12th and 13th concerts were originally scored for two viols and are in the tradition of French viol dances. In this recording a flute and oboe have been used instead of two viols; the difference in timbre reinforces the clarity of the counterpoint between the two staves. Leclair is the great figure in the French violin tradition, occupying much the same place as Tartini did in Italy. His compositions are exacting upon the performer, but are not mere display pieces; they have substantive musical values. He published four books of sonatas for violin and keyboard, two books of sonatas for 2 violins without keyboard, several books of trio sonatas, and an opera “Scylla and Glaucus.” The sonata recorded here is from his fourth book of sonatas for violin and keyboard published in 1738. Italianate in form, it is French in spirit with characteristic grace and vivacity. La Steinkerque, published in 1692, commemorates the victory of the Marshal of Luxembourg at that place in one of Louis XIV’s interminable wars. It relies mainly on the balance of spacious harmonic clauses in which even the fugal subjects are based on the notes of the common triad, much in the mode of Handel. Wilfrid Mellers describes it as “an Italianized version of Lully’s battle music, a work in the grand manner, befitting a ceremonial occasion¨. Little is known of the life of Corrette. He was born at Saint-Germain in 1707, received his musical education in Paris, and in 1758 became organist at the Jesuit College. He was a gifted teacher and was the author of numerous “methods” for the didactic program of a number of instruments, especially the flute, the violin, etc. The sonatille recorded here is from his Op. 19 published in 1739. The three movements are labelled allegro, largo, and rondo, a hallmark that it is not a baroque work, but purely rococo. Born in Narbonne in 1711, Mondonville showed early promise as a violinist. Little is known of his youth, but in 1733 he was known in Paris where he achieved success as a solo violinist at a Concert Spirituel. In 1738 he began to compose motets which appeared regularly on the programs of the Concerts Spirituels until 1770. In 1744 he succeeded Gervais as superintendent of the Royal Chapel. In 1755 he was appointed director of the Concerts Spirituels, and for the next 7 years achieved much success both as an administrator and as a conductor. He died at his villa “Belleville” in 1772 of a surfeit. Mondonville’s instrumental compositions are chiefly sonatas, for violin and keyboard or trio sonatas for 2 violins or flute and violin with continuo. The sonata recorded here is from a set of trio sonatas published sometime between 1733 and 1738. It is already in four-movement form, but the air and the gigue show its homage to the suite form.