de Visée Theorbo Solos
In this album by well-known lute player Jakob Lindberg we are treated to a concert of solos for the theorbo by Visée. The theorbo is a large bass lute with a more or less typical course of strings that get manipulated via frets on the lute’s body; extended strings are set at a single pitch and add bass extension to the chordal playing across the shorter strings.
Robert de Visée was a prominent French Baroque composer, lutenist, guitarist, theorbist, and viol player. Serving at the court of Louis XIV and later Louis XV, he was a central figure in the royal musical establishment. Visée is noted for his contributions to the repertoire of the guitar, lute, and theorbo, publishing significant works such as the “Livre de guittarre dédié au roi” in 1682 and “Livre de pièces pour la guittarre” in 1686, which comprise some of the best examples of French Baroque music. His compositions often included suites of dance movements like the allemande, courante, and sarabande, reflecting the refined tastes of the French court. Additionally, he was appointed as the official guitar teacher to Louis XIV in 1719, underscoring his esteemed position at the court. (For more, [check out his entry on Classical Guitar](Robert de Visée : Sheet Music by Robert de Visée)).
BIS has been recognized for a number of excellent recordings with regard to natural sound. This album is among the best they’ve produced, with a very close presence of Lindberg’s instrument by Michael Lowe, which is endearingly discussed in the liner notes. This very much feels like a personal concert, with the lutenist presented larger than life in front of us, to revel in all the textual details that Visée’s music presents on what is ultimately a luxurious, sensual instrument. Props go to Matthias Spitzbarth, the album’s recording engineer. The recording was made in a church in Lännaby, Sweden, but shows no sign of being recorded in too-large a space.
Lindberg writes:
I have recorded three suites, one in A minor, one in D major, and one in E minor. These attractive and artful works show de Visée’s musical style; tuneful melodies with flowing bass lines (often in stepwise motion) emerge form the structures of the different dance forms.
The notes speak the truth in terms of tunefulness. These are not written in the form of chorales, with a limited view of just harmonies; instead these could be sung songs, but written in such a way that’s idiomatic to the instrument. As the notes support, de Visée made full use of the compass of the theorbo in these works.
One should note that some of the tracks are de Visée’s own arrangements of pieces by his colleagues Lully and François Couperin. Purcell is also parodied. Across the entire recital I was mesmerized by the bass notes on Lindberg’s instrument which seem to resonate especially clearly; in some cases (Track 22, Les Sylvains) I could have tolerated a faster tempo, but for the most part, Lindberg’s solutions seem to fit the harmonic rhythm of the pieces well.
The issue for why this music is not better known is that despite all its charm, it lacks enough variation in tempo, style, and format to approach the masterpieces by other composers of the era (dare I say Biber, Handel, and Bach as three?). Add to that the instrumentarium, which frankly wouldn’t get well exploited until the HIPP movement took hold.
In this case, I think the recording was well-organized, ending in a set of Follia variations. The piece doesn’t go on for terribly long, but exploits one of the Baroque era’s more popular tunes in the dressing of the French court of Louis XIV. I would have expected Lindberg to devise a nice crescendo to exploit variations of increasing inventiveness, and he does not disappoint.
The instrument here, and composer, may not pull-in mainstream audiences, however I think the result left on record probably has not been better represented. The overall vibe is chill, relaxing, and I imagine even some non-baroque specialists would enjoy this as music to temper the soul in the histrionics of modern society.
