About this product

Product Identifiers

Record LabelCD Baby, Cdb

UPC0751758015029

eBay Product ID (ePID)27046052189

Product Key Features

FormatCD

Release Year2010

GenreClassical Artists

ArtistDuo Guersan

Release TitleBarthelemy De Caix: Six Sonatas for Two Pardessus

Dimensions

Item Height0.39 in

Item Weight0.20 lb

Item Length5.56 in

Item Width4.94 in

Additional Product Features

Number of Tracks18

Number of Discs1

TracksSon I: Allegro, Son I: Aria (Musette), Son I: Allegro Assai, Son II: Andante, Son II: Tambourino I (Presto)/Tambourino II (Minore), Son II: Allegro (Caccia), Son III: Allegro, Son III: Sarabanda (Adagio), Son III: Allegro (Pantomime), Son IV: Allegro, Son IV: Aria (Gratioso), Son IV: Ciaconna, Son V: Andante, Son V: Allegro, Son V: Tempo Di Minuetto I/Minuetto II (Majore), Son VI: Andantino, Son VI: Allegro, Son VI: Minuetto I/Minuetto II (Majore)

NotesThe PARDESSUS de VIOLE The pardessus de viole is an 18th century member of the viola da gamba family, which first appeared in early 16th century Italy. Created as a kind of bowed lute and tuned in fourths with a third in the middle, the six-stringed viola da gamba (also called the viol or viole) inherited a strong tradition of chordal playing. This facility in self-accompaniment, coupled with an expressive melodic voice, made the viol a favorite solo instrument among sophisticated amateur musicians in 17th century France. Treble and bass viols were the popular sizes in France, both fretted and held between the knees. (At that time the violin was played only by professionals for dances and public spectacles.) Near the end of the 17th century the upper scope of the treble viol was expanded; it's bottom D string was removed and an additional high G string was added to the top, making a six-string pardessus (meaning, literally, over or above the dessus). For it's first thirty years of existence the six-string pardessus functioned much like the treble viol, often mentioned as an alternate instrument on the title pages of treble duets written for such pastoral instruments as the musette (court bagpipe), vielle a roue (court hurdy-gurdy) and recorder (end-blown wooden flute). The appearance of the five-string pardessus in the 1730's (the instrument for which the Caix sonatas was written) was stimulated primarily by a new awareness in France of the music of Arcangelo Corelli. The five-string pardessus, fretted and held between the knees, is tuned like a combination violin and viol in fifths and fourths: G-D-A-D-G. It's lowest three strings duplicate the pitches of the violin, but instead of a high F string the pardessus has both an upper D and G. This enables players to reach high-high D without shifting. The five-string pardessus attracted a variety of partisans, most notably the aristocratic amateur women musicians of the French court. Prevented by custom from playing the violin, they appreciated the similarity of technique to the treble viol and the access to the new style of music without the trouble of learning a 'braccio' position. Professional cellists from Parisian theatre orchestras took up the pardessus as well, as did provincial noblemen who found the violin difficult and small children who found the bass viol too large. From 1730-60 the five-string pardessus was extremely popular both as a solo and a chamber instrument. Enterprising pardessus players substituted the instrument for the oboe, violin, or flute in French and Italian trio sonatas, and even it is said, performed Italian violin concerti. After 1760 the instrument began a slow decline; while it became socially acceptable for women to play the violin, the pardessus also began to be seen as a musical symbol of the effete aristocracy. Although teachers of the pardessus advertised in the Mercury Galant as late as 1777, the instrument was also being cannibalized to create new hybrid instruments such as the pardessus hurdy-gurdy, or pardessus vielle. After the revolution, an inventory of instruments confiscated from aristocratic homes showed that pardessus and bass viols were relatively numerous, but a monetary evaluation by revolutionary officials demonstrated that, to the new population, the pardessus was virtually worthless. The Pardessus de Viole as a Woman's Instrument The pardessus was not the only mid-l8th century French instrument to be gendered, that is, identified primarily with a certain sex because of it's function or manner of playing. The harpsichord, viola da gamba, hurdy-gurdy, lute and harp were also thought to he a woman's domain; just as the violin, wind and brass instruments were a man's. This typecasting reflected the situation in which the instrument was used (war-like trumpet and drums were masculine), as well as what position it filled in the ensemble (while women took a supporting role on a keyboard. Lute, or viol, men played the melod