Pieces de viole

Pièces de viole were collections of suites for bass viol and usually continuo written by several French Baroque composers, most notably Marin Marais, whose five books of 596 pieces published between 1686 and 1725[1]: 483  form a core of the viol repertoire.[2]

Early pièces did not include continuo parts; examples of these may be found in the oeuvres of Sieur de Sainte-Colombe and Nicolas Hotman. Derived from lute and theorbo music, they often featured preludes non mesurés,[3]: 195–207  and virtuosic bowed trills, whilst remaining French in their dance rhythms and melodies. Formally they also mirrored the pièces de clavecin being written by virtuoso harpsichordists.[1]: 486 

Marais and his contemporaries further established a uniquely French tradition of virtuosic pieces for viol and continuo. The pièces were typically written in dance forms like the Allemande, Gavotte, Sarabande, and Gigue, augmented by a Prélude or a Fantaisie and with additional character pieces like Plaintes and Tombeaux.[1]: 486 

The French pièce de viole is also recognizable by the trend, brought to perfection by Marais, of the composer including detailed directions for performance in the score.[4] Ornaments, bowings, dynamics, and incredibly specific fingerings make this repertoire a veritable time capsule for modern performers to explore.[5]: 63  Marais generally did not provide realisations or instruction regarding his ornamentation, but further understanding of his intentions as a composer can be gained by consulting the works of his contemporaries Danoville and De Machy, among others.[6]

Marais went so far as to distinguish between two different kinds of vibrato and direct which chords should be “broken”.[7]: 40–41  This particular repertoire is one of the first to have such consistent attention paid to giving directions for technical execution, in contrast to the vast majority of contemporaneous compositional practices. It is all the more remarkable given the inherently costly and labour-intensive business of printing and publishing sheet music at that time.

Notable composers

Composers who wrote pièces de viole:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thompson, Clyde H. (1960). "Marin Marais's Pieces de Violes". The Musical Quarterly. 46 (4): 482–499. ISSN 0027-4631.
  2. ↑ Woodfield, Ian; Robinson, Lucy (2001). "Viol [viola da gamba, gamba] (Fr. viole; Ger. Gambe; It. viola, viola da gamba)unlocked". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.29435.
  3. ↑ Bernstein, Chelsea (2020). Bach's Cello Suites and the French Bass Viol Tradition (PhD thesis). University of Maryland, College Park. doi:10.13016/ye6i-3wgq. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Robinson, Lucy (2006). "Forqueray Pieces de Viole (1747): A rich source of mid-eighteenth century French string technique". Journal of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. 43.
  5. ↑ Hsu, John (2005). "The First Modern Edition of the Instrumental Works of Marin Marais (1656—1728)". Fontes Artis Musicae. 52 (1): 60–64. ISSN 0015-6191.
  6. ↑ Ng, Shaun Kam Fook (2013-10-16). Ornamentation In Marin Marais’ Pièces de Viole (PhD thesis). Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
  7. ↑ Hermida Ito, Juan Tadao (April 2024). "Lost in Transcription?": A Critical Performance Edition of Selections from "Pièces de Viole" by Marin Marais Transcribed for Violoncello and Basso Continuo (PhD thesis). University of Miami. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
  8. ↑ Sainte-Colombe, Sieur de (1973). Concerts à deux violes esgales (in French). Heugel.
  9. ↑ De Machy (1685). Pieces de violle en musique et en tablature , differentes les unes des autres, et sur plusieurs tons. Jérôme Bonneuil. Paris.
  10. ↑ Thompson, Shirley (2004). "Marc-Antoine Charpentier and the Viol". Early Music. 32 (4): 497–510. ISSN 0306-1078.
  11. ↑ Cyr, Mary (2021). "The 'air of mystery' in François Couperin's Pièces de violes (1728)". The Musical Times. 162 (1956): 3–20. ISSN 0027-4666.
  12. ↑ Caix d'Hervelois, Louis de (2005), Quatre suites de pièces pour la viole avec la basse-chiffrée en partition 1731, Courlay, France: Éditions J.M. Fuzeau, retrieved 2026-07-28
  13. ↑ Boismortier, Joseph Bodin de (1730). Trente et unième oeuvre contenant diverses pièces de viole avec la basse chifrée (in French). Chez l'auteur ... et Le Clerc.
  14. ↑ Forqueray, Antoine; Forqueray, Jean-Baptiste (1984), Pièces de viole avec la basse continue, Fribourg (Suisse): Guilys, retrieved 2026-07-28
  15. 1 2 Broude, Ronald; Cyr, Mary (2019). "Keeping the customers satisfied: updating older music in Bourbon France". The Musical Times. 160 (1949): 3–24. ISSN 0027-4666.
  16. 1 2 Robinson, Lucy (2006). "Forqueray "Pieces de Viole" (Paris, 1747): An Enigma of Authorship between Father and Son". Early Music. 34 (2): 259–276. ISSN 0306-1078.
  17. ↑ Marais, Roland (1983), Premier et deuxième livre de Pièces de viole avec la basse chiffrée en partition, Genève: Minkoff Reprint, ISBN 978-2-8266-0802-8, retrieved 2026-07-28
  18. ↑ Morel, Jacques (1980), Premier livre de pieces de violle, Genève: Minkoff Reprint, ISBN 978-2-8266-0704-5, retrieved 2026-07-28
  19. ↑ Sadie, Julie Ann Vertrees (1978). "Marin Marais and His Contemporaries". The Musical Times. 119 (1626): 672–674. doi:10.2307/959143. ISSN 0027-4666.
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