Marais: Pieces De Viole

Recorded between 1975 (the Second Book) and 1992 (the Third), these performances aren’t necessarily Jordi Savall’s last word on the marvelous viol music of Marin Marais. He has since recorded more music from the Second Book, for instance, and rerecorded one of its suites. But the recordings in this five-disc collection are the ones that brought Savall fame and that revived interest in the composer. More importantly, the recordings are wonderfully played and vibrantly recorded.

Where I can compare Savall then and now, I find that the older tempos are slightly faster, as if he then wanted to emphasize the dance and now the pathos of the music. But the change is not so radical or consistent as that. No book is, as I understand it, complete here. Marais wrote approximately 700 pieces for viol that survive. The books have different characters. The third, for instance, has Marais’ response to the criticism that his first two books were for virtuosos. He claims that the Third Book includes easy pieces. I am particularly taken with the music from the Fourth Book, which Marais published as illustrating a foreign taste. The pieces here are fancifully titled; the selection begins with Marche Tartare . There’s the (obviously) turbulent and virtuosic Le Tourbillon, played by Savall almost recklessly. Other listeners will have other favorites. What is safe to say is that this box, some of which has been reviewed in these pages before, is the best introduction to the range of Marais’ viol music and that it is not likely to be soon equaled.

FANFARE: Michael Ullman