Pièces de viole

Description

The Sainte-Colombe family remains very mysterious even today: the father, master of Marin Marais, author of numerous pieces for one or two viols, is surrounded by shadows regarding his origins, his first name, etc. The same obscurities surround his son or sons: a few traces can be found in London and Edinburgh around 1700, but especially the Pièces de viole recorded here, in a non-autograph manuscript that includes five suites of French dances, notably a Tombeau for Mr. de Sainte-Colombe the elder. The version proposed here breaks with the usual interpretations of these Pièces de Viole as it offers a reconstruction of a part of the continuo, echoing the works of composers from the same generation as this son. The non-autograph part that has come down to us indeed gives a general sensation of harmonic "lack," which is filled here by this new continuo part. Reconstructed according to the practices of the past, the music of the son Sainte-Colombe seems to come back to life here, the sensation of "emptiness" dissipates, these pieces regain all their meaning and reveal sublime music.