André-Cardinal Destouches (1672-1749): Première Suite des Eléments

Описание: Première Suite des Eléments (arranged by Jacques Feuillie)
00:00 Ouverture
02:41 Minuet 1 & 2
05:10 March
06:15 Air for the hours and zephirs (Passepied)
08:23 Air 1 & 2 for the Nereids
11:29 Chaconne

Orchestre de Chambre de Rouen - Jean-Sébastien Béreau, conductor

André Cardinal Destouches is a rather unusual character in the history of music. After a trip to Siam, he enlisted in the Musketeers and participated in the siege of Namur. However in 1696, music triumphed over his military bend. From simple dilettante, he began studying with Campra, and already in 1697, enjoyed his first operatic success. Numerous other operas were to follow which established his name in the opera world of his time. In 1728, he was named General Manager of the Opera of Paris, which did not prevent him from also writing church music.

Destouches had a very personal melodic gift, supported by a true harmonic invention which served a strong dramatic sense. The seed of many innovations seen later in Rameau, Spontini, Gluck and Wagner, can be found in his works.

Les Eléments (1721), his most important opera-ballet, which was also danced by young Louis XV, is a score of the highest quality, which can be compared to the works of Lully and Campra. The first Suite, arranged by Jacques Feuillie, uses only strings. The Ouverture in the French style begins with a slow noble section, whose rhythmic designs are supported by sublime harmonies. The Vivement which follows is a contrapuntai development with a finely elegant fugue. A slow episode based on deep, rich harmonies ends the movement.

The piece which follows includes two Minuets, the first sweet and veiled in melancholy, the second with three voices, and Trio-like in its shortness. It ends with a repeat of the first Minuet.

The March, with clear lines, proceeds with a certain good-naturedness, while the following Arias, which are filled with operatic «divertissements», show a fine skill at descriptive detail. The Chaconne is an instrumentai dance in 3-beats, originating in Mexico and then Spain, in which the composer writes continuous variations over a 4 or 8-measure ground bass. Thus in Destouches, we find the first 4-measure theme repeated four times. Then two new melodic elements follow, the first is a transition, the second gives the soloists a certain independence. The second section begins with a gay, rhythmic theme played by all. The theme then passes to the bass. Then the composition develops on the first ostinato or ground bass in d-minor, more or less ornamented, causing very difficult polyphonic work for the higher instruments. The musical thought is developed further with inventions until a return of the gay theme of the second section, in d-minor. Finally, the last part, in D-Major, begins a splendid musical moment which brings the work to its luminous conclusion.