SOMM Recordings is delighted to build upon it's critically acclaimed discography with violinist, Adrian Butterfield, and the London Handel Players in a new collaboration featuring the Op. 7 set of six Violin Concertos by the French violinist-composer, Jean-Marie Leclair. The London Handel Players, praised by the New York Times for their "soulful depth" and "consummate skill and musicianship," have previously released five Handel discs with SOMM, along with recordings that celebrate Geminiani, J.S. Bach, and Telemann. The group's co-founder and director, period-instrument violinist Adrian Butterfield, has been described as "a marvel" by Gramophone for his recordings of Leclair's first three books of violin sonatas. The solo concerto emerged in Italy in the early 18th century through composers like Torelli, Albinoni and, particularly, Vivaldi. J.S. Bach acquired a copy of Vivaldi's popular set of twelve concertos, L'Estro Armonico, to transcribe and study, and he put his own stamp on concerto writing with works that are larger in scale, making use of more detailed contrapuntal development and a greater degree of harmonic variety. When Jean-Marie Leclair met an untimely death on 23 October, 1764 in a still-unsolved murder in Paris, he left behind a stellar reputation as the founder of the French violin school, along with a collection of works for violin that includes four volumes�of solo violin sonatas and two volumes of violin concertos; his Op. 7, heard here, and Op. 10, to follow in the near future. These virtuosic and elegant violin concertos are something of an amalgam of the Italian concerto style and of Bach's formalistic innovations. Leclair was born in Lyon in 1697, and his dream was to become a solo violinist in his own country. But, at this time in France, violin playing was the province of country fiddlers and orchestral players, while the viol was the chosen instrument for the French upper classes. When the Italian violinist-composer, Arcangelo Corelli, published his iconic set of Op. 5 sonatas in 1700, no French violinist was equipped with the technique to perform them. Having spent a year studying dance and composition in the Italian city of Turin, Leclair moved to Paris, where he soon published his first set of twelve violin sonatas. For a couple of years, he commuted between Paris and Turin in order to study with a former student of Corelli's, and, over the course of two decades, published three more sets of sonatas, along with the two sets of violin concertos. The concertos are justly celebrated for their blend of French elegance and Italian virtuosity, reflecting not only Leclair's skill as a renowned violinist, but also his background, which drew on a variety of Europe's national styles. In the early 1910s, Holst became interested in astrology, and he conceived the idea of a suite for orchestra based on the solar system's individual planets. Originally, he composed�The Planets on the piano, using the instrument in his newly-built, sound-proofed room in the music wing at St Paul's Girls School as well as the piano at his home in Thaxted. This version for four hands, two pianos was scored by two of his colleagues at St Paul's, Vally Lasker and Nora Day, who acted as amanuenses, because Holst suffered intermittently from painful neuritis in his right hand. Following the resounding success of the orchestrated version of The Planets, the original piano duet score was overlooked, though it was eventually published separately in 1949-51. In 1979, Holst's daughter, Imogen, reissued the complete two-piano arrangement in one volume, and Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman perform this version here. Elgar's renown was such that, at the height of his fame, several established musicians were commissioned by publishers to make piano transcriptions of his orchestral music. This was no mean feat, given that Elgar's scores are scrupulously marked as to how he wanted every phrase-sometimes even every bar or note within that phrase-to be played. It was the composer, arranger, and conductor, Otto Singer II, who made the transcription for piano four-hands of Elgar's 1905 Introduction and Allegro, scored originally for solo string quartet and string orchestra. Singer's insight and skill are evident in techniques like transferring string double-stopping to spread keyboard chords, and his piano four-hands version is admirably true to Elgar's evolving contrapuntal and harmonic ideas. In Victorian England, the marriage of a tradesman's son to the daughter of a Major-General in the British Army, who was eight years his senior, might not have appeared a perfect match. Yet, the marriage of Edward Elgar and Caroline Alice Roberts turned out to be a love-match. In 1888, as a wedding present, Edward presented to Carice, as he called her, Salut d'Amour. This enduring melody has inspired numerous arrangements for widely varying instrumental combinations, including this one for piano duet.

When Musica Alta Ripa recorded Jean-Marie Leclair’s Trio Sonatas op. 4 in January 1992 and released them on LP in 1993, this debut album became a sought-after premiere release. Since even then the MDG sound engineers were working with the latest digital technology, this production from Nordkirchen Castle’s Baroque Festive Hall could be transferred to disc and digital without a hitch and with the finest room nuances. Leclair was one of the best violinists of his time. The story is told that he had to compete in a musical duel with Locatelli in Kassel- then a most highly popular form of musical entertainment. The chronicler describes his “devilish” playing, contrasting it with the “angelic” style of his Italianrival. His trio sonatas suggest familiarity with the Italian school but also draw on entirely independent French traditions and shine with ingenious inventions and harmonic refinements. The virtuoso and composer Leclair was repeatedly drawn to Paris, where he would play the role of the victim in one of crime history’s greatest mysteries. His murder in October 1764 was never solved. Musica Alta Ripa has worked with MDG for many years, successfully establishing itself as one of the most sought-after early music ensembles. The ensemble’s recordings have earned many international awards, and the vibrant joy of these performances is a source of pure listening fun.

Classical Music

Classical Music

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Jean-Marie Leclair's violin sonatas were published in four volumes between 1723 and 1743. David Plantier here presents a selection of sonatas from the final three opus numbers of the collection. The consistent quality of Leclair's forty-eight sonatas, collected in four volumes, is admirable, whilst the collection as a whole is a monumental contribution to the repertoire and to posterity; few of Leclair's followers were able to combine innovation in violin technique and wealth of inspiration with so much talent. Leclair's taste, refinement, skill and refusal of all artifice enabled him to make his mark not merely on his own time but on the history of music as a whole.

5 Sonatas For Flute

This recording presents some of the most beautiful passages in all baroque violin repertoire, combining Italian sensuality with French grace and refinement. Idolised as both performer and composer during his lifetime, Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) was murdered in circumstances still mysterious. In 2000, violinist Patrick Cohën-Akenine founded Les Folies françoises to tackle a vast baroque instrumental and vocal repertoire with a true chamber music approach.

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Recorded in: St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London 13-15 February 1995 Producer(s) Nicholas Anderson Sound Engineer(s) Ben Connellan Annabel Weeden (Assistant)

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MUSIK FUER TUBA AUS DER SCHWEI

Classical Music

The Fourth Book of Violin Sonatas by Jean-Marie Leclair is considered the pinnacle of French Baroque violin artistry. Leclair pushed the development of violin playing further and further until hardly anyone could follow him. Accordingly; these sonatas are played by only a few and are unfortunately rarely heard. Hélène Schmitt; herself celebrated as an exceptional violinist; has for many years intensively studied the life and work of the great musician; whose career repeatedly took unexpected turns and whose life ended abruptly with a murder that is still unsolved today. On this CD she shows not only the virtuosity but also the many amazingly different colours of the sonatas. She is supported by her top-class continuo group in various instrumentations. The album is the first part of a complete recording of the twelve sonatas of the Fourth Book. The booklet contains an extensive text penned by the artist; who thus shares her personal insights into Leclair's life.

The French violinist Hugues Borsarello draws this programme of miniatures from the repertory of his instrument and from the great operatic arias, transcribed for violin and orchestra: ‘My idea was to relate a French history of music over the course of three centuries, in the form of short pieces.’ Lully’s Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs rubs shoulders with arias by Bizet, Saint-Saëns and Offenbach, Satie’s Gymnopédie no.3 and Gounod’s Ave Maria. All these universally known pieces ‘are perfectly suited to the soul of the violin’, says Borsarello, who is joined by prestigious guests: cellist Gautier Capuçon for Vieuxtemps’s Duo Brillant, guitarist Thomas Dutronc for Django Reinhardt’s celebrated Nuages, pianist Frank Braley.

And this programme doesn’t neglect the classics of the violin, including Ysaÿe’s magnificent Berceuse de l'enfant pauvre. Vieuxtemps’s famous set of variations on Yankee Doodle is here performed for the first time in its version with orchestra.