Sainte-Colombe le Fils: Pièces de viole

The Sainte-Colombe family remains a source of mystery to this day: the first name and the origins of the father, who taught Marin Marais and composed numerous pieces for one or two viols, remains hidden in the mists of time. The same obscurity surrounds his son or sons: records show a few traces of him in London and Edinburgh around 1700, although all that is really known of him comes from the Pièces de viole recorded here; these five suites of dances in the French style, including a Tombeau pour Mr de Sainte-Colombe le père, have survived in a non-autograph manuscript. The version presented here breaks with the usual interpretations of these Pièces de Viole, as it includes a reconstruction of a basso continuo part as was common in works by composers of the son's generation. The non-autograph source that has survived gives a general feeling that something is missing in the harmonic structure, a lack that is here filled by this new basso continuo part. Reconstructed in the musical language and style of the time, the music of Sainte-Colombe's son here seems to come back to life; these pieces have not only recovered their full meaning but also reveal a sublime music.