4 Character Pieces

Marais wrote for the Viola da Gamba and was active in the baroque period in France. The release of the 1990s film Tous Les Matins Du Monde, a quasi-fictional account of Marais' life, exposed his music to a wider contemporary public, resulting in publications such as this latest one. There is, interestingly, a very detailed and useful six-page preface explaining the transcription process Duruoz used. The first piece is quite an alarming one and highly unusual. Called Le Tableau De L'Operation de la Taille, its 34 bars document an operation to remove a gallstone. This ultimate character piece has 16 descriptions alongside the music explaining the process from beginning to end. Everything in the music is subservient to the descriptive action and include. some unusual moments including a point where the music goes beyond the fretboard to picture the moment when the patient loses his voice at the critical moment of the «incision«. Les Relevailles is a happy major key piece meant to describe the recovery of the aforementioned patient. Left to speak musically for itself, it is uncomplicated and fits very well on the guitar although its considerable use of ornament takes it out of reach of less able players. Chaconne En Rondeau is the lengthiest work in the book and has a noble style that works very well on the guitar, although the considerable ornamentation again makes this piece far from easy. Marche à La Turque is the final one-pager. Arranged in D major with the 6th string tuned to D it is perhaps the easiest piece of the bunch. To be fair there are not any noticeable «eastern« elements in the music so I wondered slightly at the title. That said it is a friendly sort of piece and is less complex than the others. If you have heard this man's music before and wonder how well it fits onto the guitar, this is your first port of call, but beware for it really is a book only for the moderately advanced players amongst you. Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)