Marin Marais
Pièces de Viole, Livre IV
Year: 1717
Suite d’un goût étranger (33 pieces for bass viol and continuo) No. 33: Le Badinage in F-sharp minor
Introduction: Marin Marais was both an extraordinary viola da gamba virtuoso and an astonishing composer. Everything suggests that he had an amazing bowing technique. We feel it in the writing of his « Badinage » written in 1717. The theme is written in such a way as to alternate and surf on the different strings of his instrument with prodigious flexibility. In the development of the virtuosity of stringed instruments, from the 17th century, many composers from different European countries pushed the technique to the limits of possibility. Instruments from the early Baroque period such as lutes and viols fell into disuse over the next century. The violin, however, has evolved with the times. Very few of these fretted instruments remain in their original form. The French Academy finds the verbs synonymous with dally (badiner): frolic, enjoy, to joke, but paradoxically the composer’s « Badinage » is imbued with mystery and a melancholic sensuality.
Marin Marais (1656-1728)
Marin Marais, born May 31, 1656 in Paris, is a French gambist and composer of the Baroque period. Coming from a modest family, he became an altar boy at the Saint Germain l'Auxerrois church in 1667. There he met Michel Richard de Lalande and Jean François Lalouette, both of whom were also choristers in their respective parishes. At 16, Marais left the choir of Saint Germain l'Auxerrois because his voice had molted. He took music lessons with François Chaperon, in the company of Lalande, then with Sainte-Colombe. Marais joined the orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music directed by Lalouette, thanks to his influence. The director and creator of the Royal Academy of Music was then Jean Baptiste Lully, also master of the music of King Louis XIV. In 1679 Marin Marais obtained a position as viol player in the music of the King's Chamber. He then combined this role with a career as a musician at the Opera for forty years. It was in 1685 that Marais began to write pieces for viol, a first book appeared in 1686. It was that same year that he began writing the dramatic Idyll for the stage, which was a great success but of which only the libretto remained. He also performed as a violist with other court musicians, with Louis XIV but also with his entourage. A second book published in 1692, Trio pieces for flutes, violins and viols, were a first of their kind, for his concerts at court. « Alcide », composed in collaboration with Louis Lully, to a libretto by Jean-Galbert de Campistron, was successfully created in 1693.
In 1701, Marais was called upon to lead a very large ceremony of a religious nature for the healing of the Dauphin, bringing together two hundred and fifty choristers and instrumentalists, during which two of his motets would be performed, among others: « Domine salvum fac regem » (God save the king) and another whose title has disappeared. After this important performance, he became permanent conductor at the Opera around 1704. Two years later he created « Alcyone », his most famous opera on a libretto by Houdar de la Motte. In the celebrated Tempête scene, he uses double basses, and inaugurates their first indication in a score. It was the viola da gamba which was the object of his greatest attention. He composed nearly 650 pieces for one or two viols and basso continuo, grouped into suites and published in five Books. We can say that Marais brought the Viol to its highest degree of perfection, and that he was the first to make its full extent and beauty known. But new and brilliant musicians came to challenge his supremacy as a violist and composer such as his great contemporary rival Antoine Forqueray. In 1708, Marin Marais requested and obtained that his eldest son, Vincent, resume his position as violist to the king. However, he continued to play at court until the death of Louis XIV, after which his activities were restricted. He also continued to teach and practice his instrument and lived in relative ease until the end of his life.
Lucien
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