L’Esprit Galant

Fred Jacobs, Johannette Zomer

16,9928,49
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Original Recording Format: DSD 64
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L’Esprit Galant (Airs by) Boësset, Lambert, Le Camus, and Charpentier Pièces de théorbe by Gautier, Pinel, Hotman, and De Visée. The short and succinct Air sérieux experienced a great flowering in the second half of the 17th century. The audiences of the time loved variety and novelty, in the theatre, the dance, and in music as well. The poetry on which the Air sérieux was based bore the general name of galanterie. ‘Delicate’, ‘cheerful’, ‘sweet’, and ‘light-footed’ (1) were the words associated with galant poets around 1670. The music was similarly referred to: Un air doux et galant En parlant, trouve souvent L’heureux secret de plaire (Jean Sicard, 1679) (2) The characteristics described above, however, apply not only to the text and music, but to the performing style as well. The importance of diction in singing is an important topic in Bénigne de Bacilly’s ‘Remarques curieuses sur l’art de bien chanter’ (1668): he devotes no fewer than 186 pages to the subject. The language used in singing is different than that used in speaking. In order to be expressive, a singer, according to Bacilly, cannot neglect a single syllable. Bacilly uses the term style galant when he speaks of the relationship between expression and lightness. To illustrate this, he makes reference, among others, to the Airs of Michel Lambert, the most important composer of the Air sérieux at that time. Lambert’s Airs, some 330 of them, formed the core of the précieux literary Salons in Paris, inseparably associated with the Esprit Galant which set the tone there. He dedicated the Airs and Doubles (decorated second verses) in his first collection (1660) to Pierre de Niert, ‘Premier valet de Chambre du Roy’, in homage to the latter’s gifts as a singer. Niert owed his belle manière de chanter to a stay in Rome in 1663. The art of singing, as practised in Rome (cf. our CD Splendore di Roma, CCS SA 19903), greatly inspired both Niert and, at a later date, Lambert. Unfortunately, none of Niert’s compositions has survived. Lambert was undoubtedly familiar with the Airs de Cour of Antoine Boësset, a contemporary of De Niert’s, and Louis XIII’s Sur intendant de la Musique. Boësset was fond of the familiar Italian technique of emphasizing the emotional content of certain words by the use of affekt-laden intervals. In 1640, ‘Me veux-tu voir mourir’ won a competition between the rational and the instinctive methods, as applied to the composition of the most expressive possible Air. The ‘Jury’ included the Dutch poet and musician Constantijn Huygens and the French scholar Marin Mersenne, who wrote about Boësset: ‘…ses airs ont je ne sçay quoi de grand et d’heroïque…’ (1640 (3)…

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
ësset - Noires forêts
01:51
2.
ësset - Que servent tes conseils
03:18
3.
L?Immortelle
02:05
4.
ësset - Me veux-tu voir mourir
02:14
5.
Prélude
01:09
6.
Vous éprouver toujours sévère
00:56
7.
Ombre de mon amant
03:47
8.
Sarabande
02:06
9.
Il n?est point d?amour sans peine
01:12
10.
Rochers, vous êtes sourds
04:08
11.
Vos mépris chaque jour
02:09
12.
Pièces de théorbe in d minor - Allemande
01:50
13.
Pièces de théorbe in d minor - Courante
01:39
14.
Pièces de théorbe in d minor - Passacaille
02:59
15.
Forêts solitaires et sombres
02:08
16.
Ah! Fuyons ce dangereux séjour
01:05
17.
Laissez durer la nuit
05:17
18.
Qu?une longue tiédeur ennuie
01:18
19.
Amour, cruel Amour
02:31
20.
ée - Prélude
02:02
21.
ée - la Mascarade
01:38
22.
ée - Chaconne en rondeau
04:17
23.
Ah! Laissez-moi rêver h. 441
02:49
24.
Celle qui fait tout mon tourment h. 450
02:06
25.
Ah! Qu?on est malheureux h. 443
01:59
26.
Ruisseau, qui nourrit dans ce bois h. 466
02:35
27.
Sans frayeur dans ce bois (Chaconne) h. 467
01:47

Total time: 01:02:55

Additional information

Label

SKU

24307

Qualities

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Channels

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Artists

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Composers

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Genres

,

Cables

van den Hul T3 series

Digital Converters

Meitner A/D DSD / Meitner DA

Mastering Engineer

Jared Sacks

Mastering Equipment

B&W 803 diamond series

Microphones

Bruel & Kjaer, Schoeps

Mixing Board

Rens Heijnis custom design

Instruments

Original Recording Format

Producer

Jared Sacks

Recording Engineer

Jared Sacks

Recording location

Doopgezinde kerk, Deventer The Netherlands 2007

Recording Software

Pyramix bij Merging

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DSD64

Speakers

Audiolab, Holland

Release DateAugust 3, 2015

Press reviews

Toccata

Johannette ist diezen Aufgaben voll gewachsen: ihre diktion ist ausgezichnenet und jede Nuance des Textes komt zum Tragen. Ihre Ornamenten sind immer gut u dosiert und geschmackvoll. Fred ist ein äusserts sensibler Begleiter und spietl auch die Lautenstücke mit der erforderlichen Eunfühlsamkeit. Eine hervorragende Aufnahme, die eine Stunde grössten Vergnügens bietet.

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