Program Notes
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PProgramrogram NNotesotes Guillaume Pécour and published in 1701. While modern audiences are generally more By Paige Whitley-Bauguess and familiar with baroque chamber music, than baroque Thomas Baird with John Moran dance, the sonatas on this program by Handel and Corelli take on diff erent meaning when juxtaposed In 1653 Louis XIV danced in Le Ballet de la Nuit directly with other danced pieces. After all, much alongside the composer, musician, and conductor of instrumental music has its origins in dance. The Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), and choreographer opus 5 trio sonatas of George Frideric Handel (1685- and dancer Beauchamp. The signifi cance is that the 1759) were likely assembled by the London publisher talents of the artists crossed boundaries and each John Walsh from a variety of diff erent sources of was profi cient in the other’s art form. Specifi cally, Handel’s theatrical music. In particular, in the the musician choreographed dances and the dancer G Major sonata, Op. 5, No. 4, the Gigue was taken composed music. The dance and dance music that from his opera-ballet Terpsichore (1734), which was evolved from their early collaborations would later written for the French dancer Marie Sallé, who had infl uence the movements of the Baroque music appeared in a performance of Rebel’s Caractères de suite: courante, sarabande, bourée, menuet, gavotte, la Dance in London in 1725, directed by none other gigue, etc. All were dances with specifi c time than Handel. The Passacaille and the Menuet were signatures, rhythms, tempo ranges, “characters,” derived from Radamisto and Alcina respectively. and step vocabularies. The trio sonatas of Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) are not directly related to music written for dancing, and Ballroom and theatre dances were recorded in a yet his chamber sonatas, as opposed to his church system of dance notation devised by French dancing sonatas, largely consist of movements written in masters and fi rst published in Paris in 1700, the style of dances, or at least bearing the names of providing courts all over Europe easy access to the dances. The Allemanda in his Op. 4, No. 8, with its most fashionable French dances. The notation moto perpetuo bass line does not have the repose one ensured French domination of this art form that expects in an allemande, and the fi nal Sarabanda is evolved into Classical Ballet. The notation itself more like what we would expect from a gigue. conveys fl oor patterns, music, steps, a clear marking for music measure divisions, and some indication Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) composed Les of step timing within the measure. Instructions on Caractères de la Dance in 1715, the year of Louis specifi c dance style, arm movements, step execution, XIV’s death. It is a choreographed fantaisie, which and ballroom etiquette were presented verbally in several famous ballerinas of the Académie Royal dancing manuals. The relatively simple steps used used to showcase their talents. Françoise Prévost in the ballroom served as the basis for more diffi cult was the fi rst to interpret this suite of dances, and elaborate steps used in the theatre. There giving each dance a plot on the theme of Love. are three notated dances to the Passacaille from Prévost’s pupil Anne Cuppi de Camargo performed Armide: two published in England and this version the piece at her Paris Opéra debut in 1726 as pure published in Paris in c.1713. The title indicates dance to exhibit her impeccable technique. Marie that it was danced by the celebrated Paris Opéra Sallé performed the piece fi rst as a solo and later dancer “Mlle. Subligny en Angleterre de l’opéra in 1728 as a duet with M. Antoine Bandieri Laval. d’Armide” (Miss Subligny in England in the opera Choreographies for Les Caractères de la Dance were Armide). The “Sarabande de Monsieur Beauchamp” not preserved in notation, so we have choreographed is from an undated manuscript and provides a the fantaisie using the themes created by Prévost in beautiful example of ornamented and rhythmically 1715 as a guide. intricate theatrical dance technique. Louis XIV’s • Courante - an elderly lover, mocked by a young personal dancing master, Pierre Beauchamp, may be coquette, asks Amour to let him “believe referenced in the title. “Aimable vainqueur” is one of himself loved” three surviving dances to a beautiful aria from the • Menuet – a child of twelve, already feeling the opera Hésione by André Campra (1660-1744). This ardours of love, asks Amour to put her mother beloved ballroom dance was choreographed by Louis to sleep so she can meet her lover continued on next page continued from previous page his Op. 12 Sonatas in the late 1740s, which were unusually scored for two violins without bass. After • Bourrée - a shepherdess in love begs Amour to the breakup of his second marriage to the music open the eyes of a shepherd who disdains her engraver Louise-Cathérine Roussel, around 1758, charms Leclair moved to a seedy, and relatively dangerous, • Chaconne - a fop requests neither hearts nor part of Paris. After living there several years, he was favors from Amour, but only the reputation of returning home late one night when he was stabbed being wealthy and lucky in the entrance to his house and by such pure • Sarabande - a deceived lover complains to overwhelming rage killed. No one was ever charged, Amour and requests advice but the murderer was apparently his nephew, the • Gigue - a mad young thing, sweeping up all violinist Guillaume-François Vial, with whom he had hearts that come her way, asks Amour for recently had a dispute. a lovable shepherd who won’t get worn out Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) is best known for dancing with her his learned counterpoint and his theoretical work • Rigaudon - a wealthy fool assures Amour that Gradus ad parnassum (The Steps to Parnassus), “without sighing or languishing he has his which was fi rst published in 1725 in Vienna at choice of beauties” in view of his money imperial expense. It went through numerous printings and translations. This text was used • Passepied - an abandoned lover requests extensively by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven both Amour to give him strength to feign in their training and teaching. The Trio Partita indiff erence in the hope that coolness will in G minor is one of twelve that he wrote for two bring back his fl ighty mistress violins and continuo. His idiosyncratic rhythms • Gavotte - a young girl who has dismissed her and syncopations add a unique fl avor to his music. lover cries and wishes for his prompt return This is apparent in the fi nal, Italianate Passacaglia • Loure - a lover, disciple of Bacchus, asks Amour of this Partita, which has an earthier, more rustic to let him go on drinking, since wine often character than the courtly French-style passacailles induces love heard elsewhere in this program. • Musette - a young woman in love is happy she Dances with a Spanish fl avor became popular at has no favors to ask, and renders homage to the French court, not surprising since Louis XIV’s the God of Love marriage to Spanish-born María-Teresa was just one Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) was the foremost of many royal alliances to straddle the Pyrenees. French violin virtuoso of his day and a noted dancer. Spanish characters appeared in the French theater He was appointed ordinaire de la musique du roi in and it became fashionable to dance Spanish entrées 1733 by Louis XV, but his fi ery, uncompromising while playing castanets. French choreographers personality made it diffi cult for him to accept such as Raoul-Auger Feuillet not only notated obediently his place in the court’s musical hierarchy. the steps and the corresponding music to these In 1737 he fought with his rival, Jean-Pierre Guignon, popular dances, but also supplied specifi c castanet over the leadership of the king’s orchestra. An rhythms for the dancers. This version of Les Folies agreement was reached that the two would take d’Espagne, or The Follies of Spain, is a compilation turns in alternate months as leader, but, after of existing folie choreographies by Feuillet and one month directing, Leclair resigned because Louis-Guillaume Pécour, dancing master and he could not stand the idea of playing second choreographer at the Paris Opéra, set here to a to Guignon. Leclair’s style remained unusually stunning set of folia variations by Antonio Vivaldi consistent throughout his career, so it is possible (1678-1741). With this sonata, issued as the closing that he actually wrote much of his music early in piece in his Op. 1 sonatas, Vivaldi was accepting the his life, refi ning pieces bit by bit as it was time to challenge of Arcangelo Corelli and throwing down publish them. Consequently, his style was daring the gauntlet to others. in the 1730s but was beginning to be considered old fashioned by the time of the publication of .