À l'espagnole — Ludovice Ensemble: Ph. Courbois - VII ème Cantate: «Dom Quichote» (complete)

Philippe Courbois (fl.1715-1730)
Dom Quichote: VII ème Cantate à voix seule
Prèlude: lentement — gay
Récitatif: Don Quichote enfoncé dans la montagne
[Air] Très lentement: Loin des yeux qui m'on fait captif
Récitatif: Signalons sur ces monts ma flamme infortunée
[Air]: Vous qui travaillés a ma gloire
Récitatif: Le fameux chevalier de la triste figure
[Air]: Mardi faut il pour une ingrate



Cantates françoises à I et II voix [...] (Paris, 1710)

@LudoviceEnsemble
André Lacerda, tenor haute-contre
Joana Amorim, flûte allemande
Ayako Matsunaga, baroque violin
Sofia Diniz, viol
Fernando Miguel Jalôto, harpsichord and artistic direction

Live Recording (not edited) of a concert at the Aula Magna “Tirso de Molina” in Soria, Spain, with our programme «À l'espagnole» — French Baroque Music inspired by Iberian Culture and Art — at the festival Otoño Musical Soriano, on 12th of September 2023.

Philippe Courbois (fl. 1705–1730) was a French Baroque composer associated with musical circle of the Duchess of Maine. Some of his scared music was performed for the King of France at Versailles. Sometime before 1710, Courbois published a book of seven cantatas with texts by Louis Fuzelier, who would later write the libretto of Les Indes Galantes. Ludovice Ensemble recorded in its first CD the cantata Orphée, - «Amour viens animer ma voix» - French Baroque Cantatas, Hugo Oliveira, Ludovice Ensemble, Ramée, 2011. Courbois and Fuzelier resort, in «Dom Quichote» («Don Quixote»), in a loose evocation of Cervantes novel, to that antithesis of heroism, the “knight of the sad figure”, composing a curious and unique, almost burlesque cantata, with a bittersweet flavor, as much ironic as it is affectionate. The version presented here by Ludovice Ensemble is a combination of the original one, for tenor, published in the 1710 collection, with a later one, for soprano, and without publishing date, and probably reflecting an arrangement for orchestra to be performed at public concerts. The original accompaniment, for violin and/or flute, includes, in this second version, parts for trumpet, timpani, bassoons, flutes and violins.

Toledo, Aranjuez and Lisbon: pleasant and peaceful oasis on the banks of the Tagus, a river whose fame spread throughout Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries as the river that irrigates the mythological garden of the Hesperides, and symbol of a gallant, refined and cavalier — but simultaneously passionate and jealous — Iberia. The program «À l'espagnole» by Ludovice Ensemble revisits this fantastic construction of Baroque Iberia, elaborated at the French court. It is based on the beautiful sonata-suite «L'Espagnole» by F. Couperin, in itself sufficient to immortalize all the nuances of colours and aromas of this imagined Hispanic paradise. In it predominates a fine pastel-coloured melancholy, of a refinement far removed from the extravagant and noisy caricatures that later characterize the typical evocations of Ibéria of the 19th century. «À l'espagnole» constitutes an imaginary soundtrack for a pleasant walk along the Tagus...

À l'Espagnole: works by François Couperin (1668-1733), Antoine Boesset (1587 -1643), Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704), André Campra (1660-1744), Philippe Courbois (fl.1715-1730) and Henry Desmarets (1661-1741).

André Lacerda, Tenor Haute-Contre
Joana Amorim, Flûte Allemande copy of Hotteterre
Ayako Matsunaga, Baroque Violin
Sofia Diniz, Basse Viol copy of Michel Colichon
Fernando Miguel Jalôto, Harpsichord (after French models) and Artistic Direction
Pitch: 392Hz

Programme already presented at the Festivals of Aranjuez, San Sebastian, Santander, Sevilla, Soria, Logroño, Jaca and Casalareina.

Contacts:
migueljaloto@ludoviceensemble.com (Artistic Direction)
quiquerubiales@gmail.com (Manager)