The salons in Paris have been frequented by a lot of outstanding philosophers and scientists as well as musicians (Among of them Rameau, Campra, Marais, Couperin, Rebel, Telemann...). These gatherings were a place of expression for any kind of subject. The king of the instruments in the Salons in Paris and Versailles is the harpsichord. In the beginning of the 18th Century this instrument gets a privileged status and became the instrument around one will compose, talk about or debate. It is very easy to hear it for instance with the Pièces de clavecin en concert composed by Rameau. The harpsichord there has a very virtuoso and important part while the violin and the viola da gamba are generally more seen as an accompaniement.
PIÈCES DE CLAVECIN EN CONCERT N°1
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) from Pièces de clavecin en concert
Published in 1741, Paris
La Coulicam La Livri Le Vézinet
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TRIOSONATA N°5 (TWV 42:g1) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) from Six Trio Sonatas Published in 1718, Frankfurt
Adagio Vivace Adagio Allegro
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TOMBEAU POUR MONSIEUR DE SAINTE-COLOMBE Marin Marais (1656-1728) from Deuxième livre de pièces de viole, Sonate en Mi mineur Published in 1701, Paris
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SONATE QUATRIÈME EN MI MINEUR
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) from Sonates à violon seul livre II Published in 1713, Paris
Gracieusement Viste Récit: Très doux Gai Viste
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PIÈCES DE CLAVECIN EN CONCERT N°4 Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) from Pièces de clavecin en concert Published in 1741, Paris
La Pantomime L'Indiscrète La Rameau
The Italian Sprezzatura
Sprezzatura is an Italian word originating from Baldassare Castiglione's The book of the courtier, where it is defined by the author as ''a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it. It is the ability of the courtier to display an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them".
VIOLIN SONATA IN D MINOR HWV 359a Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685-1759)
Grave Allegro Adagio Allegro
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VIOLIN SONATA IN G MAJOR BWV1021 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Adagio Vivace Largo Presto
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VIOLIN SONATA N°1 OP 2 IN D MAJOR Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Andante Cantabile Allegro
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TRIOSONATA IN C MINOR WD 678 Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697-1763)
Adagio Allegro Sarabanda Giga
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FUGA IN G MINOR BWV1026 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Chicaneries allemandes en trio au XVIIème et XVIIIème siècles
We chose here a selection of pieces composed in a 45 year time-span by closely related composers, all of them showing a great dialogue between the violin and the gamba. Erlebach was a typical composer in the Central-German region of Thüringen, whose traditions the young J.S. Bach drew upon to compose his early masterpieces. Bach, in his turn, had visited the great Dietrich Buxtehude in 1705 and combined the Central-German style with the Northern stylus-fantasticus in his earlier works, still visible in his Fugue for Violin and Continuo from around 1712. The Trio Sonata by Telemann, a very close friend of Bach, was published in 1718 and breaths a completely different atmosphere. It is a good example of the opulent 18th Century German chamber music. Aside from these famous composers, we decided to also play an anonymous piece from 1673, to give an extra overview of the music written in Germany of this period. Although these composers lived, worked and sometimes knew each other within quite a short amount of time, we can hear clear differences in the style and the spirit.
TRIOSONATA N°5 (TWV 42:g1) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) from Six Trio Sonatas Published in 1718, Frankfurt
Adagio Vivace Adagio Allegro
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TRIOSONATA OP.1 N°4 BuxWV255 Dietrich Buxtehude (1637-1707)
Vivace Lento Allegro
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SONATA PRIMA IN A MINOR Anonymous, Germany 1673
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TRIOSONATA N°2 Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) Adagio - Allegro - Adagio Allemande & Courante Sarabande Gigue
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FUGA IN G MINOR BWV1026 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)