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Featuring

Mieneke van der Velden
Fred Jacobs
Marin Marais
Estienne Le Moine
Robert de Visée

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Composer Biography

Marin Marais, a leading figure in the French school of viol music, was also a colleague of Estienne Le Moine and Robert de Visée in The King's Chamber Music in 1680.

Compositional Technique

Marin Marais's viol music features a distinctive "tick-tock" bowing style, emphasizing lifted bow-strokes and the resonance from note attacks, contrasting with the Italian continuous melodic line.

Instruments

The French theorbo, as played by Fred Jacobs on this recording, is a reconstruction based on iconographical sources, as no original large French theorbos from the 17th century have survived.

Performer Biography

Mieneke van der Velden, a leading viola da gamba player, studied with Wieland Kuijken and performs with renowned ensembles like the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Vocale.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Marin Marais's suites, while rooted in dance movements, were not intended for actual dancing but rather to evoke emotions and delight the senses in intimate settings.

Performer Biography

Fred Jacobs, who plays French theorbo on this album, co-founded The Locke Consort and is a member of several prominent early music ensembles, including the Gabrieli Consort & Players.

Instruments

The viola da gamba, which Marin Marais championed, originated in a late 15th-century Spanish cross between the vihuela de mano (for tuning and frets) and the vihuela de arco (for bowing).