Juilliard at Holy Trinity: Leclair, Couperin, Dandrieu and Charpentier

Students from Juilliard yesterday put on their second lunchtime recital of Baroque music at Holy Trinity Church.  This performance featured the works of the French composers Jean-Marie Leclair (Overture in G, Op. 13, No. 1), François Couperin (La Sultane and Huitieme Concert), Jean-François Dandrieu (Sonata VI) and Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Sonata a 8, H. 548).

The focus of yesterday's concert was on the early eighteenth century when Italian musical forms, most notably those formulated by Corelli, made their way to other parts of Europe and were adapted by local composers for their own uses.  In this case, the composers were all Frenchmen who sought to impart their own character to the Italian imports that had so influenced their style.  While doing so, they had to contend with their countrymen's newly developed sense of nationalism.  Couperin, as quoted in the program, was explicit on this point:

"The Italian and French styles have for a long time shared the Republic of Music in France.  For myself, I have always highly regarded the things which merited esteem, without considering either composer or nation..."

Some composers had even studied in Italy.  This was the case with Charpentier who spent several years in Rome where he studied under Giacomo Carissimi before finally returning to France.  Leclair also traveled to Italy when in his twenties and studied both music and dance in Turin.  He eventually moved back to Paris where years later he was stabbed to death, possibly by a family member.

One of the most interesting features of yesterday's recital was the use of period instruments including some, such as the viola da gamba and the theorbo, that are no longer in use.  In this regard, I could not help but be struck by the resources Juilliard has at its disposal.  All these instruments were expertly crafted.  In fact, the program noted that one student, during the performance of the Charpentier sonata, was furnished with a loaned "Baroque Violin from the workshop of Antonius & Hieronymus Amati, Cremona 1625."  I was sitting directly in front of the student playing the Amati and noted that its neck was a much lighter colored wood than the body of the violin.  It also seemed to have a sweeter and more mellow tone, but that might just have been my imagination at work.