Style and Performance for Bowed String Instruments in French Baroque Music

Mary Cyr addresses the needs of researchers, performers, and informed listeners who wish to apply knowledge about historically informed performance to specific pieces. Special emphasis is placed upon the period 1680 to 1760, when the viol, violin, and violoncello grew to prominence as solo instruments in France. Part I deals with the historical background to the debate between the French and Italian styles and the features that defined French style. Part II summarizes the present state of research on bowed string instruments (violin, viola, cello, contrebasse, pardessus de viole, and viol) in France, including such topics as the size and distribution of parts in ensembles and the role of the contrebasse. Part III addresses issues and conventions of interpretation such as articulation, tempo and character, inequality, ornamentation, the basse continue, pitch, temperament, and "special effects" such as tremolo and harmonics. Part IV introduces four composer profiles that examine performance issues in the music of Ã-lisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Marin Marais, Jean-Baptiste Barrière, and the Forquerays (father and son). The diversity of compositional styles among this group of composers, and the virtuosity they incorporated in their music, generate a broad field for discussing issues of performance practice and offer opportunities to explore controversial themes within the context of specific pieces.

Mary Cyr is Professor Emerita of Music at the University of Guelph, Canada.

Part I Sources and Style in French Baroque Music; Chapter 1 Historical Context, Musical Works, and Performance; Chapter 2 French and Italian Musical Style: The Great Divide; Part II Bowed String Instruments in French Ensembles; Chapter 3 Strings in French Ensembles; Chapter 4 Bass Instruments of the Violin and Viol Families in Solo and Ensemble Roles; Part III Interpretation and Style in French Music for String Players; Chapter 5 Articulation; Chapter 6 Tempo, Character, and Inequality; Chapter 7 Ornamentation and Special Effects; Chapter 8 Basse Continue, Pitch, and Temperament; Part IV Composer Profiles; Chapter 9 Marin Marais: Viol Player, Composer, and Teacher extraordinaire; Chapter 10 Ã-lisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre's Violin Sonatas: What the Sources Do (and Do Not) Tell Us; Chapter 11 Jean-Baptiste BarriÃ-re, Virtuoso French Cellist and Composer; Chapter 12 Forqueray's Pieces de viole avec la Basse ContinuÃ': Authorship and Performance Issues;