''Suitte d'un Goût Étranger'' is a composition for bass viola da gamba and continuo by

Marin Marais Marin Marais (; 31 May 1656, in Paris – 15 August 1728, in Paris) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe ...

Origins

The ''Suite in a Foreign Style'' was included in Marin Marais's Livre IV of pieces for

viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

and continuo, and which also included the pieces for three viols, which Marais referred to in the ''Avertissement'' as 'a completely new departure in France.' The first suites in Livre IV are charming and simple and closely resemble Livre III, where Marais had endeavored to present pieces of an easy and accessible nature for the less proficient players. However, these suites are followed immediately by the ''Suitte d'un Goût Étranger'', which is famous for its technical and musical demands.

Style

The suite is remarkable in many aspects. For one, in it Marais did away with conventional forms and structures and instead presented the public with a collection of what are essentially ''pièces de charactère'', a clear departure from his previous suites which were built around the typical dance forms preferred and upheld by his contemporaries. The thirty-three pieces are arranged by keys, but not as separate suites in the traditional sense. Rather, they are a succession of small groups of pieces in thirteen different keys . In addition to this formal and structural iconoclasm, the suite is filled with music that is supremely virtuosic, descriptive, and adventurous—both melodically and harmonically . One might expect that, in an effort to 'fill in' Livre IV, Marais inserted some especially difficult or highly favored pieces that he had been saving, and put them all into their own suite. It might also be postulated that Marais was responding to the French penchant for highly descriptive and idiomatic orchestral music—a tradition upheld by the likes of

Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theory, music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of ...

and

Jean-Féry Rebel Jean-Féry Rebel (18 April 1666 – 2 January 1747) was an innovative French Baroque composer and violinist. Biography Rebel, a child violin prodigy, was the most famous offspring of Jean Rebel, a tenor in Louis XIV's private chapel. He late ...

—with virtuosic chamber music, as opposed to his earlier works which mimic the older generation of

French Baroque French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

composers. The Suitte also bears some resemblance to

François Couperin François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque music, Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musi ...

's intimate style cultivated in his music for the harpsichord. In any case, the ''Suitte d'un Goût Étranger'' with all of its garish flair and supreme elegance, might be viewed as a culmination in French Baroque chamber music.

# Marche Tartare (March of the

Tartars Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China ...

) # Allemande # Sarabande # La Tartarine (The Tartar Girl) # Double (of La Tartarine) # Gavotte # Feste Champêtre (Rustic Festival) # Gigue la Fleselle # Rondeau le Bijou (The Jewel) # Le Tourbillon (The Whirlwind) # L'Uniforme (The Uniform) # Suitte (with L'Uniforme) # Suitte (with L'Uniforme) # L'Ameriquaine (The American) # Allemande (Sujet) & Gigue (Basse)—contained in one piece, the soloist plays an Allemande before switching parts with the continuo, transforming it into a Gigue. # Allemande L'Asmatique (The Asthmatic) # La Tourneuse (The Spinner) # Muzette # Caprice ou Sonate # Le Labyrinthe (The Labyrinth) # La Sauterelle (The Grasshopper) # La Fougade # Allemande La Bizarre # La Minaudière (The Affected) # Allemande La Singulière # L'Arabesque # Allemande La Superbe # La Rêveuse (The Dreaming Girl) # Marche # Gigue # Pièce Luthée (Piece in a

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

style) # Gigue La Caustique (The Caustic) # Le Badinage (The Banter)

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suitte D'un Gout Etranger Compositions by Marin Marais Compositions for viol Suites (music)

Origins

Style

Contents

References