Dialogue Viols (Peter Wendland, Jacqui Robertson-Wade)
71:23
First Hand Records FHR159
The pardessus de viole, a viol smaller and pitched a fourth higher than the treble viol, enjoyed something of a vogue in France in the first half of the 18th century, and amongst its champions was the prolific French composer Bodin de Boismortier, who wrote much repertoire for the instrument as well as later in life a tutor for it. The present set of six sonatas for a pair of pardessus de viole was considered lost until rediscovered a few years ago, and it is receiving its premiere recording here. The combination of two instruments at the same pitch poses challenges for a composer, as does the relatively high pitch of these viols. The resulting music often relies upon close dialogue over the same material at the same pitch, with the concomitant threat of predictability and, dare one say, ennui. Boismortier’s endless inventiveness and the expressive playing of Peter Wendland and Jacqui Robertson-Wade (Dialogue Viols) avoid this very successfully, and I found myself comprehensively drawn into the reduced world of this diminutive instrument. Such was the persuasiveness of their accounts of Boismortier’s op 63 duos that their arrangements for pardessus of duets by Marais and Couperin sounded entirely natural. The CD notes point out that while the pardessus is mentioned as an optional instrumentation in over 250 pieces in the 18th century, music written specifically for a matched pair of pardessus is vanishingly rare. This makes these charming sonatas by Boismortier a rare and valuable find.
D. James Ross