Early Music Vancouver: Pardessus in Paradise – J.S. Bach & His French Contemporaries
Free
- Mélisande Corriveau, pardessus de viole
- Eric Milnes, harpsichord
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier — Pardessus de viole Sonata No. 2 in G minor
Charles Dollé — Sonatas, Duo, and pieces for the pardessus de viole, Book II, Op. 4 ("La Favoritte (Tendrement)" & "Les Regrets (Affectueusement)")
Charles Dollé — Trio Sonata in A minor, Op. 1, No. 1
Johann Sebastian Bach — Organ Sonata No. 3 in D minor, BWV 527 (transcribed for pardessus de viole & harpsichord)
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.
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".
Watch the concert online via the EMV Youtube channel and channel 710 on Telus Optik TV (Canada) from February 16, 2022.
Access to the online concert is free, and donations are greatly appreciated. Click here to donate: http://www.earlymusic.bc.ca/donate