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Charles Dolle: Pieces de Viole avec la basse continue, op. 2 (1737).
Petr Wagner, viola da gamba; Jacques Ogg, harpsichord. Dorian, DPR-93246. Recorded 2001.
There appear to be many gamba composers and performers whose origins are lost in the mists of time, and Charles Dolle is no exception. We know little of him but his music, of which exists his op. 1 (trio sonatas), op. 2 (three suites for viola da gamba), and the opuses 4 and 6 which are sonatas and pieces for pardessus. The two other opuses 3 and 5 are missing, but op. 5 was for pardessus and op. 3 may also have been. The publication dates of his works range from 1737 to 1754, so one might deduce a speculative birthdate between 1695 and 1715, putting him in the generation which followed Marais. Recordings of Dolle are few and far between, so this complete op. 2 set performed by Petr Wagner and Jacques Ogg is most welcome, both to hear this repertoire which deserves far greater recognition, and to bear it beautifully performed. Indeed the cover notes it as a "world premiere recording". Mr Wagner has an impressive gamba pedigree, having studied with Richard Boothby, Jaap ter Linden and Wieland Kuijken, and he has performed with numerous leading European ensembles. His accompanist Jacques Ogg has had an equally impressive performing career, and is now a teacher at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and a past student of Gustav Leonhardt. Dolle's compositional style owes a lot to Marais and the current French style of the time, with many rondeaux. He also uses the same ornaments as Marais, and sometimes drones or pedal notes, just as Marais does at times. These suites have fairly typical movements, and they tend to be in the same order in each suite, beginning with a prelude and an allemande, and following with various character pieces, sarabandes, fantasies and musettes plus a number of rondeaux. The second suite features a Tombeau de Marais le Pere, and the first suite a somewhat treacherous fugue, which Mr Wagner makes sound effortless. The Premiere Suitte in G major begins with a delicious Prelude, full of crunchy dissonances and suspense, which contrasts very nicely with the following Allemande La Mantry that is full of bounce. Le Tendre Engagement, a gracious rondeau with four couplets follows, and then Rondeau le Gruer lightly explores the various registers of the viol, with frequent large leaps. The stately Sarabande is next, and Mr Wagner exploits the richness of the chords fully. The performer who knew his instrument like the back of his hand. Two more movements follow this: a Musett La Favoritte, and La Badine which is another rondeau. The fourth couplet of the Musette has a lovely hurdy-gurdy-like effect which Mr Wagner accentuates with a very legato style which contrasts with the quick chords and the slurred quaver pairs in La Badine. In this piece there are also some interesting tempo changes to bring out the drama. The Deuxieme Suitte in C minor is a real contrast in mood. The opening Prelude has a great sense of mystery, and some very interesting and original melodic shapes, the drama of which is not lost at all on Mr Wagner. In one place there is a slight harkening back to the wrenching end chords of Marais' Tombeau po' M. de Ste Colombe, but Dolle moves on so we just get a hint of it. The Allemende La Fiere is full of life, despite the c minor tonality. In places one is a little reminded of Forqueray, but Dolle's style is more transparent than Forqueray's, and the solo line is in much greater relief from the relatively simple figured bass than one finds in Forqueray. The Rondeau L'amoreux, like Le Tendre Engagement in the Premiere Suitte, is elegant, conjuring images of gracious ladies of the French court, and this is immediately followed by the Fantasie la Clausie, which feels almost like an assault at first, being very lively with a strong dotted note motif. After that, there's the relief fugue is full of contrasts, some not unlike the Grand Ballet of a slow Sarabande, with a stunning melody which often in Marais' Book 3, and later has an amazing passage on a G ends to drop down the octave at the end of a phrase, and pedal of the sort which could only have been written by a some exquisite runs added in the repeats. A real show piece follows: Les Amusements. This five couplet rondeau again reminds me of pieces like the rather difficult La Ferrand in Forqueray's 3rd Suite. As in the fugue in DolWs Premiere Suitte, the final couplet here is a virtuosic arpeggiated figure over a pedal C and is not for the faint-hearted player. Then we have the Tombeau de Marais le Pere, which presumably was Marin Marais. As Marais died in 1725, this could point to an earlier compositional date than the publication date of 1737 for the op. 2, a circumstance which was not unusual. This is an exquisite piece, recalling Marais' own Tombeau po' M. de Ste Colombe, but incorporating the rondeau form once again. Dolle ends the Deuxieme Suitte with Rondeau, La Weymar, a piece not dissimilar to La Badine which ended the Premiere Suitte. The Troisieme Suitte is in A major. Again we begin with a Prelude and Allemande, not unlike those of the other suites. But what follows is a Tambourin which makes for a change of texture, particularly as there's an a minor melodic section in the middle which contrasts with the more chordal A major texture of the opening and ending. The next movement is a very joyful Rondeau le Turpaux which is absolutely delightful and the performers' enjoyment can really be heard. The following Musette also gracious. As before, the third last piece in each suite tests the virtuosity of the performer, but this time Doll& confesses it: ondeau le Difficille. A verv pretty Sarabande follows and to end there's a big piece called Carillon. Fierement is the performance indication, and it begins with some dramatic chords with a recurring bottom A string note which exploits the viols deep resonance. The accompanying booklet is small, at 8 pages plus cover, but it contains an interesting historical essay on French gamba music by Lucy Robinson. There are also performer biographies at the back, with black and white photos of the performers. It's interesting to read that all the instruments are modern copies, the viol of a Collichon (1691) and the harpsichord is after Taskin (1769). The booklet is all in English, which is not unusual for a US-released CD. The cover picture is of a painting of a "Putto playing gamba" which is obviously too large for the child, whose teacher needs to be chastised for this. Actually, from what little one can see of it, the gamba is quite interesting, as the body looks fairly late with the bridge placed very low as in the painting of Forqueray and his viol, and the neck looks rather thick, upright and Renaissance. I'm a trifle worried about some muscular stress in the little Putto's right shoulder though, and he's perched precariously on some thick books. At 70 minutes and 35 seconds, this CD is good value and 1 thoroughly recommend both the music and the performance. This really is a good listening experience and 1 look forward to hearing other CDs by Petr Wagner and Jacques Ogg. Patrice Connelly |