Pieces de Viole

Between Marin Marais' Premier Livre de Pièces de Violes (1686) and the Cinquième (1725) lie more than forty years. Despite the novelty of the basso continuo, the First Book is still the work of a composer who continued a tradition that had developed in seventeenth-century France. The Fifth, published a few years before his death, is a moving and perfect testimony to a musical language that remained with him even in his final years. The Second, Third and Fourth Books reveal not only the development of musical forms, but also the indescribable talent that secured Marais' position as the undisputed master of his art, which was inextricably bound up with the spirit of French music of the Grand Siècle. The Pièces de Viole by Marin Marais were recorded and released in their entirety between 2014 and 2021. They are now being released as a box set on the occasion of François Joubert-Caillet's appointment as professor at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis this year.

Reviews

"This ambitious project is clearly in the best hands, both musically and editorially." (musikansich) "You recognize the high musical level of this recording - an achievement not only of the soloist François Joubert-Caillet, but of his entire ensemble L'Achéron." (SWR2) "These pièces are suffused with an incomparable charm and grace, and Joubert-Caillet & Co. reveal the small and great secrets hidden within them with the finest sense for the vibrations of a sound rhetoric that you cannot get enough of." (Rondo) "Gambist François Joubert-Caillet interprets the nine suites of the third book of Marais' "Pièces de viole" with an equally determined and careful commitment, so that everything is clearly emphasized, but nothing is over-illuminated. The third book also addresses amateurs with some compelling pieces, without withholding anything demanding from the professionals. This recording is therefore to be recommended as an ideal introduction to the music of Marais."