Amarante - Airs de Cour
Nicolas VALLET (c1583-after 1642)
Prélude [1:20]
Jean-Baptiste BESARD (c1567-after 1616)
Ou luis tu soleil de mon ame [2:40]
Beaux jeux qui voyes clairement [2:31]
Nicolas VALLET
Fantaisye [3:43]
Constantijn HUYGENS (1596-1687)
Quoy Clorinde [1:38]
Nicolas HOTMAN (before 1614-1663)
Ballet [0:54]
Constantijn HUYGENS
Graves tesmoins [2:49]
Sérénade [1:59]
Nicolas VALLET
Fantasye sur La Passameze D'italie [3:05]
Prélude [1:29]
François RICHARD (c1580-1650)
Les yeux baignez de pleurs [4:11]
Amarante [4:49]
Beaux jeux [4:00]
GAULTIER?
Prélude [1:06]
Michel LAMBERT (c1610-1696)
Ah qui voudra desormais s'engager [2:06]
Par mes chants tristes et touchants [5:04]
Vos mespris [2:20]
Monsieur BASTIDE (?-?)
Arbres, rochers [3:04]
Mr DE MACHY (?-?)
Chaconne [4:09]
Mr DUBUISSON (1622/23-1680/81)
Plainte sur la mort de M. Lambert [6:04]
Céline Scheen (soprano), Edoardo Egüez (lute, theorbo), Philippe Pierlot (viola
da gamba)
rec. May 2010, Église Assomption de la Sainte-Vierge, Bra-sur-Lienne, Belgium.
DDD
Texts included, no translations
FLORA 2210 [59:09]
This disc is devoted to French music of the 17th century. It combines one
of the most popular genres of vocal music, the air de cour with the
two most distinguished instruments, the viola da gamba and the lute. The composers
belong to the lesser-known from this period, with the exception of Michel
Lambert, the most famous composer of airs de cour, whose Vos
mespris is one of the most frequently recorded French songs of the baroque
era. What was the leading thought behind the programme is anybody's
guess as the disc comes without any liner-notes.
The air de cour is a secular song, mostly strophic, and written roughly
between the mid-16th and the mid-17th centuries. A large part of this repertoire
is scored for solo voice with lute. François Richard was one of the first
to compose airs de cour with a basso continuo part. In 1614 he was
ordinaire de la musique de la chambre et de la chapelle du roi and
later worked as lute teacher to the choirboys of the royal chapel. He spent
some time in England at the service of Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles
I. After his return he became compositeur de la musique de la chambre
du roi.
The first airs on this disc are by Jean-Baptiste Bésard, who was from the
previous generation. He was educated as lutenist but also studied law and
medicine. He spent some time in Rome as well as in Germany. Here he worked
most of his life, first in Cologne, then in Augsburg. In recordings he only
turns up with pieces for lute. In the article on Bésard in New Grove
no vocal music is mentioned. I would have liked to know when they were composed
and how they have been preserved, but - as I wrote - there are no liner-notes
to tell us.
Three pieces are by Constantijn Huygens - not French, even though his Christian
name is spelled as Constantin in the track-list. He was one of the
main poets of the Netherlands in its Golden Age, and also an important figure
in the political scene of the Republic. He stood in contact with some of the
main composers of his time. Only one collection of music has been preserved.
It contains psalms on Latin texts, Italian arie and French airs,
all for solo voice and basso continuo. Graves tesmoins and the Sérénade
are most close to the French air de cour, but Quoy Clorinde,
despite its French text, shows strong Italian influence, and is quite dramatic.
With Michel Lambert the genre of the air de cour reached its pinnacle.
He was educated as a choirboy in the chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, the
elder brother of King Louis XIII. In the 1640s he started to make a career
as a singer in Paris, where he enjoyed the patronage of several people, among
them Cardinal Richelieu. He married a singer, and it is probably through his
sister-in-law, also a famous singer, that he had access to the court. In 1651
Lambert performed as a dancer in ballets at the court of Louis XIV, who had
become formally King in 1643. His first airs de cour were printed
in collections published by Christophe Ballard in the 1650s. The first publication
which was entirely devoted to his own airs appeared in 1660. From 1661 until
his death he held the position of maître de la musique de la chambre du
roi. How much he and his art were admired is expressed in the last piece
on this disc, Mr Dubuisson's Plainte sur la mort de M. Lambert,
where he is called "l'auteur des plus beaux airs" - the author
of the most beautiful airs. It is a very emotional piece and a worthy ending
to this disc.
Constantijn Huygens is not the only Dutch connection in the programme. Nicolas
Vallet was of French birth, but settled in the Netherlands in 1613 and worked
here as a lutenist. He became famous for his psalm settings and psalm arrangements.
Also remarkable are his lute quartets. Eduardo Egüez plays two préludes
and the Fantasye sur La Passameze D'italie. Another prélude
is probably by Gaultier, whose Christian name is not given. There were various
composers with that name, and it isn't always possible to establish
the authorship of pieces handed down under that name. They were all lutenists,
so it is surprising that this prélude is played on the viola da gamba.
Is it an original piece for the gamba or does Pierlot perform a lute piece?
The Chaconne by Mr De Machy is definitely a gamba piece. Together
with Sieur de Sainte Colombe he is considered one of the fathers of the French
gamba school. He published the first collection with pièces de viole
in France. He was a pupil of Nicolas Hotman, a gamba player of Flemish birth.
It is ironic that Hotman's Ballet is placed between the vocal
pieces by Constantijn Huygens. In 1659 Hotman sent Huygens pieces for the
viol and for the theorbo which Huygens later ridiculed in a letter to Henry
Du Mont.
This disc contains some of the finest and most expressive French music of
the 17th century. It is hard to imagine a more suitable voice than Céline
Scheen's. One doesn't hear such a beautiful voice that often,
and her singing is exquisite and refined. Her diction is immaculate, and she
captures the character of every single piece perfectly. It is striking how
she differentiates between the airs of Constantijn Huygens, using a wider
dynamic range in the Italianate Quoy Clorinde than in the more French
pieces. Lambert's Vos mépris may have been recorded many times
but I can't think of a better performance than is given here, and it
is miles ahead of Anne Sofie von Otter's caricatural 'interpretation'
(on her disc Ombre
de mon amant). The only regrettable thing is that Ms Scheen didn't
decide to follow Stephan Van Dyck's example of using historical pronunciation
(D'un
Feu Secret). Eduardo Egüez and Philippe Pierlot deliver very fine performances
of the instrumental pieces and give excellent support to Ms Scheen's
voice. In Dubuisson's Plainte the unity of voice and instruments
contributes to this piece receiving its maximum effect.
This is a desirable disc, even though liner-notes are missing and the lyrics
are printed in French, without any translation.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Rarely does one hear such a beautiful voice as Céline Scheen's.