Urinary Bladder Surgery?
GERALD FENECH recommends lusciously presented and recorded music by the French composer Marin Marais
'... charmingly descriptive music full of colourful expressiveness that is unjustly neglected.'
Marin Marais (1656-1728) has gone down in history as the composer and interpreter par excellence of the viol. He studied composition with the famous Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for six months.
In 1676 he was hired as a musician of the royal court of Versailles, and his musical contribution was so successful that in 1679 he was appointed as ordinaire de la chambre du roi pour la viola, a title he kept until 1725. Indeed, Marais was a master of the viol and the leading French composer for the instrument. He wrote five books of Reces de viole (1686-1725) for the instrument, generally suites with basso continuo. These were quite popular in the court, and for these he was remembered in later years as he who founded and firmly established the empire of the viol.
His other works included a book of Pieces en trio (1692) and four operas (1693-1709), Aleyone (1706) being noted for its tempest scene. Titon du Tillet included Marais in Le Parnasse françois, making comments on two of his pieces, Le Labyrinthe and La Gamme. A piece from his fourth book entitled The Labyrinth, which passes through various keys, strikes various dissonances and notes the uncertainty of a man caught in a labyrinth through serious and then quick passages; he comes out of it happily and finishes with a gracious and natural chaconne.
But he surprised musical connoisseurs even more successfully with his pieces called La Gamme (The Scale), which is a piece de symphonie that imperceptibly ascends the steps of the octave; one then descends, thereby going through harmonious songs and melodious tones, the various sounds of music.
As with Sainte-Colombe, little of Marais' personal life is known after he reached adulthood. He married a Parisian named Catherine d'Amicourt, on 21 September 1676, a union that produced nineteen children.
It is highly interesting to know that Marais is credited with being one of the earliest composers of programmatic music. Listen to this. His work The Bladder-Stone Operation, for viola da gamba and harpsichord, includes the composer's annotations such as 'the patient is bound with silken chords' and 'he screameth'. The title has often been interpreted as 'The Gall-Bladder Operation', but that surgery was not performed until the late nineteenth century. It seems that urinary bladder surgery to remove stones was, after all, already a medical speciality in seventeenth century Paris.
In this fascinating new album, Florence Bolton and Benjamin Perrot revisit the composer who gave their ensemble its delightful name, La Rêveuse. Drawing on his heritage (Saint-Colombe), his friendships (Robert de Visée) and his own visionary genius, Marais blazed new trails for his instrument in his second book of viol pieces (1701).
Listen — Marin Marais: Sarabande à l'Espagnol
(Suite pour viole et basse continue in E minor)
(HMM 905356 track 3, 0:00-0:57) ℗ 2024 Harmonia Mundi Musique SAS :
Alongside the customary dances and sets of variations, Marais invented the 'character pieces' that were to become so popular in the eighteenth century.
Listen — Marin Marais: Cloches ou Carillon
(Suite pour viole et basse continue in D minor)
(HMM 905356 track 10, 2:19-3:15) ℗ 2024 Harmonia Mundi Musique SAS :
This is charmingly descriptive music full of colourful expressiveness that is unjustly neglected. The Bolton/Perrot duo performs these works with astute virtuosity and wholehearted aplomb, giving these Marais works the dutiful exposure they deserve.
Listen — Marin Marais: Chaconne in G
(HMM 905356 track 13, 4:24-5:21) ℗ 2024 Harmonia Mundi Musique SAS :
Lusciously presented and recorded, this album is a must for all. Do take the plunge.
Copyright © 12 August 2024
Gerald Fenech,
Gzira, Malta
