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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Finally, a complete edition of Sainte-Colombe, 27 Nov 2003
It is something of a surprise that no viole duo has attempted a complete recording of all 67 pieces for two equal violes before. Here is volume one (actually a two CD set) of the complete Concerts a deux violes esgales by Sainte-Colombe le pere, recorded by Le Voix Humaines, a Canadian duo. Concerts 1 to 18 are included, which means that approximately six more CDs (or three two CD sets) are to follow.Sainte-Colombe is a musical mystery: ‘Tous le matins du monde’ uses just a couple of real details to create a fictional account of a dour widower. As the liner notes tell us, he also was not Dautrecourt de Sainte-Colombe, a viole teacher of Lyon. He was most likely Jean de Sainte-Colombe, a middle-class independent musician and teacher from the Paris suburbs, and a Protestant too. The works of contemporary French composers are usually for a single viole but viole duos are not without precedent – Lyra viol duos were popular in England in the seventeenth century and Schenck’s ‘Nymphs of the Rhine’ consists of suites for two violes without bass. However, these duos are unlike the Sainte-Colombe’s French-style character pieces in which mood and a conversational style take precedence over counterpoint and formality. Les Voix humaines play these pieces superbly with great sympathy for the music. The Concerts are quite varied in emotion, not all portraying loss and regret in a way a less comprehensive survey of the 67 Concerts could suggest. The recording is quite close but there is almost no breathing or rustling evident from the players. The only possible criticism is that the recording could have been a more ambient: the sound is a little dry and could have given a better impression of the space in which the performances take place. Whether there is a market for complete edition is debatable as the Concerts a deux violes esgales (and French viole music in general) are something of an acquired taste, but the series could have no better advocate than this excellent opening offering. Recommended.
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£19.99
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£12.48
