Suite No. 1: Pièces de viole, Book 2 in D Minor

Marin Marais’ Pièces de viole (Viol pieces) would have been played in the gilded private chambers of the royal court at Versailles—the perfect setting for these intimate musical conversations featuring the sonorous, velvet tones of the bass viol. While it looks rather similar to a cello, the bass viol has six or seven strings, a different tuning, and an underhand bowing technique that produces a more ethereal sound. Published in 1701, during the reign of Louis XIV, this substantial suite (from which performers can play selections) reflects the Sun King’s love of ballet. Marais uses the standard movements of the Baroque dance suite (Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue) as a framework which he embellishes with fashionable courtly dances, and a mesmerizing set of 32 variations (or “couplets”) based on the popular Iberian dance known as “Les folies d’Espagne” (“Spanish Follies”). This work (which concludes the published suite) begins in Marais’ characteristically brooding style but gradually takes wing with ever-more-virtuosic and improvisatory writing.