Pardessus in Paradise

The works selected by Mélisande Corriveau and Eric Milnes for this evening present a vibrant array of French musical styles developed during the 18th century before the French Revolution. The origin and development of the pardessus de viole – known in France as “the woman’s violin”- coincided with the increasing prominence of the violin in French instrumental fashion. The crowning glory of the viola da gamba family, the pardessus – the smallest of the viola da gamba family of instruments – facilitated the instrument’s rise in popularity in France. Most of the works which will be performed were selected from the microfilm collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and few had been recorded until Mélisande’s recent recording. They are charming, playful, luminous and exquisitely elegant.

Part of the 2021 Vancouver Bach Festival.

Please note that this is a recording session for EMV’s Digital Concert Hall, not a traditional concert.

PROGRAM:

Louis de Caix D’Hervelois (1680-1759)
Suite en ré mineur │ Suite in d minor
Ve livre de pièces pour un pardessus de viole A Cinq et Six cordes avec la Basse, Xe Oeuvre (1753)
5th volume of pieces for a pardessus de viole with five and six strings with Bass, Opus 10 (1753)

Prélude
La Tourolle
La Diligence
Sarabande
La Légèreté
Menuets 1, 2 et 3

Jean Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755)
Deuxiéme sonate, sol mineur │ Second Sonata in g minor
Oeuvre soixante-uniéme contenant VI sonates Pour le Pardessus de Viole Avec la Basse (1736)
Opus 61 including six sonatas for the Pardessus de Viole with Bass (1736)

Gravement
Courante
Rondeau Gracieusement
Gigue

Charles Dollé (c.1710-c.1755)
Pièces tirées de l’Oeuvre IVe│ Pieces from Opus Four
Sonates, Duo & Pièces Pour le pardessus de viole, Livre Second (1737)
Sonatas, Duo and pieces for the pardessus de viole, Second volume (1737)

La Favoritte (Tendrement)
Les Regrets (Affectueusement)

Sonata I, la mineur │ Sonata 1 in a minor
Adagio
Allegro ma non tropo
Sarabanda
Giga Allegro

Jean-Sébastien Bach (1685-1750)
Trio Sonata No 3 in d minor, BWV 527
Transcribed from Organ Sonata

Andante
Adagio e dolce
Vivace

The pardessus de viole used for this concert is a  rare exemplar, dated 1755,  from the workshop of Pierre LePilleur, Paris ,“faiseurs d’instruments for the Musketeers”.