The transverse flute is one of the oldest instruments in Western music.
For a long time it was almost exclusively played in ensemble. Consort music,
for instance, could not only be played by an ensemble of viols or recorders
but also by flutes which in the renaissance were built in different ranges,
comparable with those of the recorder. The latter instrument remained the
favoured instrument in most regions in Europe until the early 18th century.
In the second half of the 17th century some transformations in the
construction of the flute took place, especially in France. Whereas
previously it was mainly used as a military instrument it started to play a
role in chamber music. It became especially popular in the early decades of
the 18th century which saw the emergence of playing music at the homes of
the aristocracy and the upper bourgeoisie.
The publication of a treatise on playing the flute by Jacques Martin
Hotteterre 'le Romain' in 1707 attests to its growing
popularity. Further evidence is to be found in the number of collections of
music for one or several flutes which came from the press. Some of these are
for various instruments, to the choice of the performers. It was quite usual
to see on the title pages several instruments being mentioned as
alternatives: the recorder, the flute, the oboe, the violin and the viola da
gamba. However, some composers also published music specifically intended
for the transverse flute. The main composers of such music were members of
the Philidor family, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair and Michel de La
Barre.
In the 17th century the flute was thought to be especially suitable for
"soft and charming music of a more touching nature, especially that in
which love was a theme", as the article on the flute in
New
Grove puts it. The flute made its appearance in songs, especially
brunettes, popular songs about love, mostly for one to three voices
without accompaniment, and often with a refrain. This kind of song remained
popular well into the 18th century. No wonder that composers arranged them
so that they could be played by the musical amateurs of their time. The
present disc includes specimens of this genre from the pen of Michel
Pignolet de Montéclair.
He was born as Michel Pignolet in Andelot in the Haute-Marne, and started
his musical career as a choirboy in Langres cathedral. In 1687 he moved to
Paris where in a tax register of 1695 he is described as "dancing and
instrumental teacher of the third class". Here he added
'Montéclair' to his name, after a Gallo-Roman site on the hill
of Montéclair in Andelot-Blancheville. He published various collections of
airs for one and two voices and basso continuo. At the end of the century he
was at the service of Charles-Henri de Lorraine Vaudémont, Prince of
Commercy and Governor of Milan.
Montéclair published a collection of six
concerts for two flutes
which were recorded by Marie-Céline Labbé and Marion Treupel-Franck in 2009
(
review). On the present disc they play ten
brunettes from the collection
Brunètes anciènes et
modernes which are scored for flutes or violins. Four of them are
presented in the form of a suite, but the others are used as preludes to the
suites by Pierre Danican Philidor. It is nice that the booklet includes the
lyrics of the
brunettes. The artists "hope that you will be
able to hear that the original inspiration was a song - even if, as here,
one without words". It would have been helpful if the lyrics had also
been translated into English.
The name Philidor is inextricably bound up with the French court. The
first member of this family that we know is Michel Danican, who seems to
have been of Scottish origin. His family name may have been a corruption of
'Duncan'. Michel was in the service of Louis XIII as an
oboist. His sons Michel and Jean also worked for him; the latter is the
first who is known with the adopted name of Philidor (or Filidor). Members
of the following generations would play an important role at the court for
more than a century. Pierre started composing at an early age, and took over
his father's position as oboist of the
Grands Hautbois.
Later on he became a member of the
chambre du roy where Marin
Marais and François Couperin were among his colleagues.
His extant oeuvre is rather small: in addition to some music for the stage
only eighteen suites are known: six for a solo instrument and bc, six for
two flutes and six for three instruments.
New Grove also makes
mention of dances and marches. The present disc includes the six suites for
two flutes, without accompaniment. In his suites Philidor added
ornamentation symbols but did not explain them. According to Marion
Treupel-Franck in her liner-notes the ornamentation symbols "are
sometimes graphically identical to Hotteterre's symbols while
denoting something entirely different". One feature of
Philidor's suites is the use of the
flattement, "a
softly mournful finger vibrato whose effect closely resembles the human
(singing) voice". He was the first woodwind player to notate
flattement precisely and extensively for slow and fast tempi. For
that reason these suites are of considerable historical importance.
Each suite comprises four movements, except the
Unziéme Suitte
which has five. They show the influence of the Italian style: all the
movements have French titles, often referring to dances, such as allemande,
courante, sarabande and gavotte, but they are ordered according to the model
of Corelli's
sonate da chiesa. The first and third are slow,
the second and fourth fast. Notable is the inclusion of a fugue in all but
one of these suites. The
Deuxiéme Suitte even includes two fugues.
The
Troisiéme Suitte ends with a chaconne, a
basso
ostinato which was part of every opera by Lully in the preceding
century. Various suites include a
rondeau which was to become one
of the most popular forms in French music of the 18th century.
Talking about the flute the German writer Joachim Christoph Nemeitz stated
in 1727, that "the French play these instruments today with an
unequalled delicacy". The flute suited the fashion of the time: music
as a galant and refined conversation. That is also how music for the flute
was written. The suites by Philidor and the
brunettes by Montéclair
are no virtuosic showpieces nor are there any harmonic experiments. As with
their previous disc the artists show a good feeling for the character of
this repertoire. They play with refinement, in a truly conversational style.
The vocal origin of the
brunettes comes off well. I have listened
to this disc at a stretch and I had no problems doing so, but those who are
not particular flute aficionados are probably well advised to listen to a
couple of suites and
brunettes at a time. After all this music was
never intended to be consumed all at once.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
