Marais: "La Folia" and other music for viols and violins (The Purcell Quartet with William Hunt)

Marin Marais (1656 - 1728) 是法國中期巴洛克的作曲家，是古中提琴(viol 或 viola da gamba)的大師。任何有在拉古中提琴曲子的音樂家，不可能不知道他的。可惜問題是，古中提琴以外的人，就連音樂家，也幾乎沒人知道。


其中有兩個主要原因。一，他寫的音樂，絕大多數都是為了古中提琴寫的。二，古中提琴在十九世紀之後，就鮮少人在表演了。另外，進入二十世紀，許多巴洛克音樂可用現代樂器表演，如大鍵琴 - 鋼琴，魯特琴 -吉他，但Marais古中提琴的了解甚深，需善用古中提琴全部六，七條絃，因此許多曲子非得在它上表演不可。

有人可能會問到，巴哈不是寫了三首古中提琴奏鳴曲(BWV 1027 - 1029)，不是今天大家用大提琴拉得好好的？事實上，巴哈本身不是拉古中提琴的，因此寫的古中提琴曲子，並不能展現出樂器全部的本領。

愛看電影的人，可能對1992有一部法國片叫"Tous les matins du monde"，台灣翻為「日出前讓悲傷終結」，又有其他中文翻譯為「世界的每一個早晨」，講Marin Marais向Sainte-Colombe學習古中提琴的故事。片中，法國巨星Gérard Depardieu飾演老的Marin Marais，而他兒子飾演年輕的Marais。這部電影的原聲帶非常有名，當然也很好聽，也使Jordi Savall一躍成為古樂的巨星。重點是，原聲帶裡有兩首Marais很棒的作品，一為La Folia，一為Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris (Sainte-Geneviève教堂之鐘聲)，都是我非常喜歡的曲子。第二首在網上有個不錯的錄音在此。

大家對Marais早期的生平並不了解，只知道他早期曾向當時最有名的古中提琴家Sainte-Colombe學琴。聽說Sainte-Colombe因為擔心Marais的琴藝會超越他，取代他「古中提琴第一把交椅」的地位，因此六個月之後就拒絕再教他了。相傳，他為了一窺老師不願傳授的技巧，躲在地板下面，看他老師練琴。在他年僅二十歲的時候，他老師擔心的事果真發生了。他進了法國皇宮，成為了國王專屬古中提琴家(ordinaire de la musique de la chambre du roi pour la viole)。在宮中，他和盧利(Lully)學習作曲，之後也成為一位出色的作曲家。他在宮中的50年好像沒發生什麼特別的大事，只知道他為古中提琴所寫的音樂，有到達五大冊這種驚人產量，同時也生出了19位小孩 :)

除了上述的五冊作品之外，Marais還出版了一套給雙長笛(或小提琴)還有數字低音的三重奏曲集(Pièces en Trio)，是法國第一位出版這種曲子的作曲家。當時表演法國音樂相當隨性，可自行將曲子排列組合，增加刪減，湊成自己的組曲來表演，並不需要照著作曲的原先順序。今天一般來講，大家會將同樣調性的曲子排成一塊兒，因為這樣拉起來比較容易。

這張CD上收錄了Marais為古中提琴寫的室內樂和三重奏曲集。三重奏音樂集，組成C大調和E小調兩首組曲。另外，還有古中提琴一首來自第三冊的D大調組曲，和第二冊那首La Folia (Les Folies D'Espagne)(佛利亞)的變奏曲。

講到這兒，不得不好好提一下這首La Folia。La Folia是源自西班牙的舞曲，但從盧利(Lully)開始，就變成了有名的主題與同樣合聲演進下的變奏曲。今天最有名的La Folia，應該是Corelli作品五小提琴奏鳴曲裡的最後一首，共有二十三個變奏，是巴洛克音樂的代表作之一。Lully之後，不斷有人寫La Folia的變奏，就連拉赫曼尼諾夫(Rachmaninoff)，寫那首Variations on a theme of Corelli，其實是因為他自己功課沒做好，才會以為那是Corelli的主題。

不過，Marais的La Folia，比Corelli的規模還要大，給古中提琴的這首總共有三十二個變奏。他們出版作品的時間幾乎是同時候，因此互相抄襲或引用的可能性微乎其微。在我心目中，Marais和Corelli的La Folia是巴洛克時期寫得最好的兩首La Folia。 後來許多作曲家因為像是向Corelli致敬而寫的La Folia，感覺失去了原創性~~

三重奏曲子，Purcell Quartet高音部都用小提琴拉，而不像許多錄音會部份交給長笛或直笛吹。本人對於法式樂曲的詮釋，喜歡小提琴勝過長笛/直笛，因此，Purcell Quartet的編制，讓我聽起來舒服點。兩首組曲最後都安排了Chaconne和Passcaille，是典型用來做結尾的曲子。大體上，Purcell Quartet的風格是英式典型的穩健派，一切恰如其分，但時常也覺得他們的表演中缺少了點熱情。特別是Marais這種曲子中，有些很多細膩的部份，或是有趣的合聲效果，給我的感覺像是公務員在領薪水，輕描淡寫就這樣拉過了，很容易曲子就顯得無趣。

古中提琴的D大調組曲和La Folia，請來了William Hunt，是英國的古中提琴家，曾拜師Wieland Kuijken，而且後來還成立了Fretwork樂團，專門研究表演文藝復興英國的viol consort音樂。說句老實話，古中提琴的音色和音樂，一般來說我接受度是不高的。一來，音色有點悶。二來，因為樂器本身拉法上的限制，所以音樂起伏上相較於大提琴小很多。很多古中提琴音樂，過於內斂含蓄，聽久了，我的睡意會馬上上來。只能說，寫這篇文章的時候，我對於這個樂器的認識可能還是很膚淺吧。

但是，這張CD上William Hunt所拉的曲子，我其實意外地非常喜歡。他的琴音比一般聽到的還要響亮，而且他對於樂句線條的處理也鏗鏘有力。D大調組曲裡，不同性格舞曲，Hunt也都能在音色上做適當的調整。最後一首La Folia，那更是不用說地精彩了，雖然整首長達十六分多鐘，但變奏曲層出不窮，曲子經過許多意境的變化，哀傷、沉重、悲憤、以及高亢，到要結束了，仍意猶未盡。如其餘的曲子不聽，光是聽Marais這首La Folia就值得了！

Marin Marais is arguably the most important composer on the viol, period...  no discussion really.  No viol player can get away without playing his music.  The problem to that is, anyone outside of the viol circle is probably not going to have a clue on who he is.  Two main reasons constitute to this.  (1) Most of his music is written for the viol.  (2)  The viol quickly became out of fashion after 1800.  To make matters worse, Marais's viol music needs to be played on the viol.  The cello simply won't do.  Bach was not a viol player, and his viol sonatas carry well over to the cello.  Not Marais......

Marais's brief moment of fame to the public came in 1992, when the French movie "Tous les matins du monde" (All the mornings of the world) came out.  It is highly fictionalized account of Marin Marais's studies with his teacher Sainte-Colombe.  The film is known for a great soundtrack, which launched viol player Jordi Savall into international stardom.  Two of Marais's gorgeous pieces are featured in the soundtrack:   "Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris" and the "La Folia" variations. 

Not much is known about Marais's early life.   While it is true that he did study with Sainte-Colombe, considered one of the greatest viol players of the time, it was said that his teacher feared that Marais would surpass him as the No.1 viol player and so refused to teach him after just 6 months.  There are stories of Marais hiding under the wooden floors to peek at his master practicing to learn some of the finer parts of viol playing.  In 1676, though, what Sainte-Colombe feared did come true:  Marais, at the young age of 20, became the ordinaire de la musique de la chambre du roi pour la viole (king's personal chamber viol player).  He studied music composition with the great Lully, where he was to become a talented composer himself.  In his close to 50 years of royal court service, nothing spectacular was known about him, other than his enormous output of musical works for the viol (5 books) and number of progeny (19 kids, one less than J.S. Bach).

This CD contains one suite for the viol, two suites compiled from his collection of Pièces en Trio (a first in French chamber music), and the great "La Folia" variations.  The Purcell Quartet plays both high voices with the violin, whereas it was customary to have one or more of the parts given to the recorder, flute, or oboe.  Personally, I do prefer the violin sound when it comes to French music.  This probably goes against the natural order, but it's something about that combination that really doesn't do it for me.  The Purcell Quartet's playing of the trio pieces are solid, as they always are.  My complaint is that their playing is on the safe side, which could use some passion.  Sometimes, they can sound like a government official behind a 9-5 desk job.  There are some finer points in the music that could have been accented somehow.

The viola da gamba suite and the "La Folia" is played by William Hunt, student of Wieland Kuijken and founder of Fretwork.  Normally I am not very keen on viol music, mainly because of its introverted expressiveness, as compared to the cello.  To be honest, I can't recall any instance where I actually sat through a complete English viol consort recording.  However, Hunt's playing is vibrant and expressive, and his tone is brighter, which I do like.  The Suite in D is well done, but the real killer is the last track, the "La Folia."  Comprising 32 variations, this slightly dwarfs the famous Corelli "La Folia," and there are vast array of mood changes in the piece alone.  Hunt varies his tone color to match the different moods, and you rarely lose interest in the music.  Even when the music ended, I wanted it to keep going. Warm recommendation.  The last track itself is well worth it.


Suite in D
Prelude - Fantasie - Allemande - Plainte - Chrivary


La Folia Part 1


La Folia Part 2