Suitte d'un gout etranger, for viola da gamba & continuo (Pièces de viole, Book IV, Nos. 55B-87)
French composer Marin Marais (1656-1728) was remarkably prolific, writing nearly 600 compositions for viola da gamba, as well as many operas. One of his major collections of music for the gamba is Suitte d'un Gôut Etranger, a collection of 33 short works written, according to the composer, "to stretch the skill of those who do not like easy pieces." Jordi Savall, the most acclaimed gamba player of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, who is responsible for bringing many of Marais' works to light, plays with ...
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French composer Marin Marais (1656-1728) was remarkably prolific, writing nearly 600 compositions for viola da gamba, as well as many operas. One of his major collections of music for the gamba is Suitte d'un Gôut Etranger, a collection of 33 short works written, according to the composer, "to stretch the skill of those who do not like easy pieces." Jordi Savall, the most acclaimed gamba player of the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries, who is responsible for bringing many of Marais' works to light, plays with extraordinary virtuosity and expressiveness. He is accompanied by an ensemble of six-string, keyboard, harp, and percussion players, whose improvisational skills support and give a wide range of textural variety to the pieces. The music is notable for its high energy and spirit of playfulness, and occasionally, for its eccentricity. Listeners familiar with Marais primarily through his deeply expressive and heartbreakingly poignant side, made famous by the popular film about the...
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