Early Music America Fall 2014 - (Page 32)
Mysterious Titles,
Hidden Meaning
In works by Couperin, Marais, and others, performers are often perplexed by cryptic
references or long-forgotten musical practices. Here's how one such problem may be solved.
HAT THE MEANING of François
Couperin's title for Les baricades
François Couperin
mistérieuses-arguably his most famous
harpsichord piece-still eludes us today
serves as a reminder that a musical text
and its title can hold hidden meanings
that remain unexplained long after the
composer's death.
Scholars and performers alike have
been fascinated by the mystery of this
title ever since its first modern publication in 1841. When the French organist
and musicologist Norbert Dufourcq
published a study of Les baricades mistérieuses in 1973, he too was puzzled by
it. Are the baricades personal or social
ones, he asked, or perhaps even prison
barricades? More recently, harpsichordist
Jane Clark remarked in her book on
Couperin's titles that Les baricades mistérieuses is "one of the most impenetrable of all." She further argues that
because Couperin's titles are central to
understanding how his music works,
uncertainty about this particular one creates "a mysterious barrier of incomprehension between listener and music."
Nevertheless, the baricades misBy Mary Cyr
térieuses-whatever they may be-have
apparently not prevented generations of
players and listeners from actively engaging with Couperin's music (Ex. 1).
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said
for certain other French Baroque titles.
Within the solo viol music of Marin
Marais, there is a work whose title and
presentation have created misunderstandings for modern players, with the
result that the work is rarely performed.
Published in 1717-coincidentally the
T
32
Fall 2014 Early Music America
same year as Les baricades mistérieuses-
this work is entitled Allemande pour le
sujet; et gigue pour la basse. At first
glance, the title appears to be straightforward. As is often the case in Marais's
works, the melody (sujet) is played by
the solo viol, and the basse continue has
its own musical interest, or is varied in
some way. (The idea of playing an allemande and a gigue simultaneously
sounds unusual, but more about that
later.) I believe that the hidden meaning
of this title, although quite possibly
understood by Marais's contemporaries,
has been misunderstood in modern
times; the work has often been regarded
as a curiosity or simply ignored.
The work in question
The Allemande pour le sujet; et gigue
pour la basse was published in Marais's
fourth book of viol solos, entitled Pièces
à une et à trois violes (Paris, 1717). Like
all five books of Marais's solo viol music,
the collection was issued in two separate
part books, one for the viol and another
for the basse continue. As he had done in
Book 1 (1686/1689), Marais also
includes compositions for two solo viols
plus basse continue, in this case a group
of 20 movements and one double, divided into two suites. The remaining 86
movements in the collection are for solo
viol with basse continue and, as Marais
explains in the introduction (avertissement), he divided the pieces into two
parts in order to address the needs of
players at different levels. The first part,
intended for relative newcomers to the
viol, contains tuneful, less demanding
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Early Music America Fall 2014
Editor’s Note
Baroque Competition
Sound Bytes
Musings: Ave Atque Vale
Musings: Ave Atque Vale
Recording Reviews
Recording Reviews
Aetas Aurea: An Early Music Macbeth
Aetas Aurea: An Early Music Macbeth
Mysterious Titles, Hidden Meaning
Mysterious Titles, Hidden Meaning
Viola da Gamba Dojo
Viola da Gamba Dojo
A Joyful Noise: Highlights of BFX 2014
A Joyful Noise: Highlights of BFX 2014
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
EMA Donations
EMA Donations
Ad Index
Ad Index
In Conclusion: Sam Franko and the Origins of the Early Music Movement
In Conclusion: Sam Franko and the Origins of the Early Music Movement
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