In 1692, Marc-Antoine Charpentier set down his ‘Règles de Composition’ for his aristocratic pupil Philippe d’Orléans. In these ‘rules of composition’, he describes what characterises each key: C minor is ‘gloomy and sad’, D major is ‘cheerful and very combative’, and G minor is ‘serious and magnificent’. These affects structure the concert by viol player Liam Byrne and theorbo player Jonas Nordberg. They have grouped compositions by affect into several ‘key suites’, with works by Marin Marais, Robert de Visée, Mr. de Sainte-Colombe and song arrangements by François Couperin, Michel Lambert and Jean-Philippe Rameau, among others.
According to the British music magazine Gramophone, Nordberg’s lute playing is reminiscent of the great master Paul O’Dette. In turn, the New York Times considers Liam Byrne to be one of the leading viol players of his generation: a specialist in unfamiliar viol repertoire and an innovator who commissions compositions and collaborates with musicians in the world of pop and techno.
Program
Music by M. Marais, F. Couperin, R. de Visée, Mr. de Sainte-Colombe, J-P. Rameau, M. Lambert and others
Performers
Liam Byrne, viol | Jonas Nordberg, theorbo
