BARRICADES - THOMAS DONFORD, JEAN RONDEAU

The repertoire on the album features music from the court at Versailles during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV: François Couperin (1668 - 1733), Robert De Visée (v. 1650-1665 - after 1732), Michel Lambert (1610-1696), Marin Marais (1656 - 1728) Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704), Jean-Henry D’Anglebert (1629- 1691) Antoine Forqueray (1672-1745) Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764).

“Both of us have grown up with this music from the cradle of our earliest infancy; […] It is music that allowed us to become what we are, while at the same time encouraging us to question things constantly. […] Now, playing the music – because, as we all know, we play rather than make music – has become a part that each of us plays, played here as a double act. Each one for himself, with his instrument as a crucible, and at the same time each of us for the other, since after all we are engaged in a performance. We don’t know how to play alone. This is the paradox of the game of music: a cross between extremely precise rules for how to play – how to read this cryptic language we spend our life deciphering, like hieroglyphs – and the magic to which it leads us – its at once organic and dreamlike dimension. This is where we find our shared expression: in a shared ordeal, we still don’t fully understand. […] Our playing goes far beyond dialogue: for us, it is not about responding to each other so much as it is about questioning and inviting our listeners to join us in this exploration with no answer or resolution. […] So we brood over this music, we play it endlessly, and we play endlessly. That is precisely what we do in this programme composed almost exclusively of rondos (refrain–verse–refrain–verse), and pieces with repeats in binary form.” - Jean Rondeau

Though still both around 30, Dunford and Rondeau are already steeped in this rich and subtle repertoire, and play it like they own it …Both also like to indulge in some slowish tempos, but Dunford’s way with a piece like Marais’s Les voix humaines captivates with its intense tenderness, while Rondeau has a habit of placing every note with immensely satisfying rightness, sweetness and precision. --GRAMOPHONE

1 COUPERIN, F: Second Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, Sixième Ordre: Les Baricades Mïstérieuses

ROBERT DE VISEE
2 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: I. Allemande "La Royale
3 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: II. Courante I
4 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: III. Sarabande
5 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: IV. Gavotte
6 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: V. Chaconne
7 Pièces de Théorbe Et de Luth, Suite No. 7 en RÉ Mineur: VI. Mascarade, Rondeau

MICHEL LAMBERT
8 Mes Jours S'en Vont Finir

MARIN MARAIS
9 Pièces de Viole, Livre II, Suite No. 3 en RÉ Majeur: Les Voix Humaines

FRANCOIS COUPERIN
10 L'art de Toucher Le Clavecin: Premier Prélude
11 Second Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, Septième Ordre: I. La Ménetou. Rondeau, Gracieusement, Sans Lenteur

MARIN MARAIS
12 Pièces de Viole, Livre IV, Suite D'un Goût Étranger: La Rêveuse

FRANCOIS COUPERIN
13 Troisième Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, Quinzième Ordre: II. Le Dodo Ou L'amour Au Berceau. Rondeau, Sur Le Mouvement Des Berçeuses

MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER
14 Sans Frayeur Dans Ce Bois, H. 467

JEAN-HENRI D'ANGLEBERT
15 Suite No. 3 en RÉ Mineur: I. Prélude
16 Suite No. 3 en RÉ Mineur: VI. Sarabande Grave. Lentement

ANTOINE FORQUERAY
17 Pèces de Viole, Suite No. 1 en RÉ Mineur: V. La Portugaise. Marqué Et D'aplomb
18 Pièces de Viole, Suite No. 5 en Ut Mineur: VI. La Sylva. TRÈS Tendrement
19 Pièces de Viole, Suite No. 5 en Ut Mineur: VII. Jupiter. Modérément

JEAN PHILIPPE RAMEAU
20 Les Fêtes D'HÉBÉ, Act I: "Je Vous Revois" (Le Ruisseau, la Naïade)