2 3

aspect of the natural world with a graphic depic-tion of rushing winds in the second reprise of thisrondeau.

Other titles in the collection are less finite intheir meaning or are whimsical in nature. That ofLe Lardon literally means salt pork, but colloqui-ally can mean a spoiled child or a brat. Themusic is a rather polite and brief menuet whichdoes not seem to suggest that the child is toonaughty! The somewhat halting rhythms of theequally brief La Boiteuse would seem appropriatefor its depiction of someone who is lame. LesTendres plaintes (The Tender Complaints) providesthe name of this recording. This is a subtle moodpiece which is rather languorous. The music isgraceful and plaintive rather than overtly com-plaining, but it manages to cast a considerablespell on the listener.

Also found in this 1724 collection are the pair ofRigaudons. This was a lively dance in duple time.It appears to have originated as a seventeenth-century French couples dance. Rameau providestwo contrasting rigaudon dances in his collection,one in e minor and the other in e major. He alsoprovides a double or variation of the secondrigaudon which greatly increases the rhythmicactivity. Finally, there is a Menuet en rondeau thatis not a part of the collection proper, but isincluded in the preface of the edition as a teach-ing piece. When Rameau published the collec-

tion he had included a detailed discussion of fin-ger technique to aid in the proper execution ofhis music. This brief menuet is presented with fin-gering indications for beginners.

From the Nouvelles Suites de pièces de clavecin(1726/27), Sylvie Proulx has chosen two danceswithout descriptive titles: the two Menuets andthe Gavotte and its six Doubles. The tradition ofcreating Doubles or variations to a tune was ameans to extend the music in performance. TheCanadian harpsichordist Kenneth Gilbert haspointed out the strong resemblance betweenRameau variations and that of the air with fivedoubles which can be found in Handel’s keyboardsuite no. 3. Given that the structure of Rameau’sGavotte is similar to Handel’s Air and thatRameau’s first three variations also bear strikingsimilarities to those of Handel, it would seemRameau knew Handel’s music and was perhapseven trying to demonstrate superior virtuosity inthe final three variations. Rameau’s variations area tour de force and pose challenges to the per-former. Of the movements with descriptive titles,La Triomphante is a duple-time dance cast as arondeau with two reprises. Les Tricotets (TheKnitters) begins the second suite of this collec-tion. This piece, along with the next in collec-tion, L’Indifférente, is rather like a study in con-trasts. The leaping melodies of Les Tricotets, in gmajor, creates an entirely different mood fromthat of the many scale passages in L’Indifférente,

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Les Tendres plaintes

Although Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) isbest remembered today as the pre-eminent com-poser of operas in eighteenth-century France, hefirst made his name as an organist, theorist andcomposer of keyboard music. Rameau was born inLyon, the son of an organist. He followed in hisfather’s footsteps, becoming the organist at thecathedral in Avignon briefly in 1702 before mov-ing to the cathedral in Clermont. He was largelyunknown when he moved to Paris in 1706. Pariswas home to many fine keyboard players who alsocomposed, including Louis Marchand, Gaspard leRoux, Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre andFrançois Couperin. In the face of such stiff com-petition, Rameau had to establish himself quicklyas a force to be reckoned with, and this mayaccount for the publication of his Premier livre depieces de clavecin in 1706.

The pieces in this collection reflect the Frenchkeyboard tradition of suites of dances which haddeveloped in the seventeenth century. Initiallyconsisting of four principal dances, allemande,courante, sarabande, and gigue, the basic suite wasextended by the addition of dances such as theminuet, gavotte, passepied, and bourrée. There wasgreat public demand for keyboard music andRameau followed up his first collection with sub-sequent collections in 1724 and 1726/27. Six

individual pieces were to follow in the 1740s.Often, the various movements bear descriptivetitles that reflect a mood or emotion, such as LesSoupirs (The Sighs) and Les Tendres plaintes (TheTender Complaints), or a character study such Lavillageoise (The Village Girl). Standing somewhatapart from these works is the large collection ofdances transcribed from his opera-ballet Les Indesgalantes (1735). Given the opera’s great populari-ty, it was to Rameau’s benefit to transcribe thevarious dances in keyboard score when the com-plete opera was published.

Rameau composed no music for solo guitar; as aresult, all of the music on this recording is tran-scribed from his harpsichord music. It thusbecomes the task of the arranger to make themusic sound idiomatic for the guitar, while at thesame time maintaining the integrity of the key-board original. The arrangements heard in thisrecording have been undertaken by noted gui-tarists, including Jose Ortega, Andrés Segovia,Jean-François Delcamp, John William Duarte,Venancio Garcia Velasco, Stéphane Nogrette andSylvie Proulx. While the sound of both the guitarand the harpsichord results from the strings beingplucked, all similarities stop there.

On the harpsichord, the strings are pluckedmechanically by a plectrum housed in a jack con-nected to the keyboard. The notes on the classi-

cal guitar are plucked by hand, and the six stringsof the classical guitar limit the density of the fig-uration that can be played. The range of the clas-sical guitar is three and one-half octaves whilethat of the harpsichord will usually be betweenfour and five octaves, depending upon the maker.The harpsichordist can play ten (or more) notesat a time, while the guitarist is limited to six.Sustaining notes on both instruments can be dif-ficult, especially in slower and more languorousmelodies. French baroque music also containsmany ornaments which can be difficult to repro-duce on the guitar. Sylvie Proulx writes that “inmost pieces, the selection and frequency of orna-ments are more limited on the guitar. For thesake of preserving as many ornaments as possible,compromises such as weakening voice leading byhaving to change octaves and by having to omitnotes in chordal passages were explored.” Whatmight be seen as losses in some areas by the sub-stitution of instrument is amply compensated inother areas. The guitar, for example, is capable offar more expressive devices than can be repro-duced on the harpsichord. These include vibrato,rapidly changing dynamics, different levels ofaccentuation and textural contrast. Rameau’skeyboard music thus emerges vibrantly andexpressively when heard in the hands of a capa-ble guitarist.

The works on this recording are drawn from

Rameau’s published collections of 1706, 1724 and1726/27. The two Sarabandes are drawn from theearliest collection. These are brief contrastingmovements with the first in A minor and thesecond in A major. In performance the first ofthe dances is repeated after the second, making aternary form. The sarabande was a dance in tripletime that originated in the sixteenth century inSpain or Mexico. Originally a vigorous kind ofcastanet dance, it became slower and more state-ly when it was introduced to the French court. LaVénitienne may be a reference to a comédie-balletby the same name that had been produced inParis in 1705, rather than to a particular individ-ual. The triple-time music is cast as a rondeauwith two reprises (episodes).

Several pieces with descriptive titles are takenfrom the Pièces de clavecin avec une méthode pourla mécanique des doigts of 1724. Rameau was influ-enced by aspects of the world around him, bethey animal, human or nature. This interest isreflected in titles such as Le Rappel des Oiseaux(The Calling of Birds). The music is much con-cerned with the depiction of bird song with itrepeated leaping intervals of a fourth in theopening. Here, Rameau may have been influ-enced by a collection of birdsongs calledMusurgia universalis (1650) to which he had beenintroduced by Louis-Bertrand Castel. LesTourbillons (The Whirlwinds) describes a different

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Les Tendres PlaintesWorks by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Sylvie Proulx, guitar

1 La Triomphante** (transcr. Sylvie Proulx) 2:31

2 Rigaudons 1,2 & Double*** (transcr. Jean François Delcamp) 3:08

3 Menuets 1 & 2 **** (transcr. Andres Segovia) 4:34B. Schott’s Sohne, Mainz, Copyright 1939

4 La Vénitienne * (transcr. John Duarte) 2:03Edizioni BERBEN Copyright 1972

5 Le Rappel des Oiseaux*** (transcr. Jean François Delcamp) 4:20

6 Les Tourbillons ***(transcr. Venancio Garcia Velasco) 3:39UNION MUSICAL ESPANOLA, Editores, Madrid, 1980

7 Les Tendres Plaintes*** (transcr. Sylvie Proulx) 4:01

8 L’Indifférente** (transcr. John Duarte) 3:12Edizioni BERBEN Copyright 1972

9 Sarabandes 1 & 2 * (transcr. Venancio Garcia Velasco) 4:02UNION MUSICAL ESPANOLA, Editores, Madrid, 1973

10 La Boiteuse*** (transcr. John Duarte) 1:00Edizioni BERBEN Copyright 1972

11 Les Tricotets** (transcr. Jean François Delcamp) 2:49

12 Les Sauvages** (transcr. Stéphane Nogrette) 2:45

13 Le Lardon*** (transcr. Jean François Delcamp) 0:43

14 Gavotte avec les Doubles de la Gavotte**(transcr. Sylvie Proulx) 11:44

15 Minuet en Rondeau*** (transcr. John Duarte) 1:18Edizioni BERBEN Copyright 1972

Total Time: 51:59

* from: 1er livre de pièces de clavecin

** from: Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin

*** from: Pièces de clavecin avec une méthode pour lamécanique des doigts

**** from: Platée, comédie lyrique, Act 2, scene 5

Recorded July 2014 at Suncor Energy Hall, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Produced byAdrian Hoffman. Engineered by Richard Blenkinsopp. Photo: Ned Pratt. The support of theMemorial University School of Music and the Newfoundland and Labrador ArtsCouncil is greatly appreciated.

!" 2017 Centaur Records, Inc. www.centaurrecords.com4

which is in g minor. The impetus behind LesSauvages was likely the native Indians fromAmerica who danced at the Théâtre Italien inParis in 1725. Rameau’s keyboard piece was sopopular that he re-used in his 1735 opéra-ballet,Les Indes galantes, where the music was used toaccompany the ceremony of the Great Pipe ofPeace in the fourth entrée (act) also called LesSauvages.

Paul F. Rice

Canadian virtuoso guitarist, Sylvie Proulx has con-certized throughout Canada, the United States andEngland. A champion of new works for the guitar,she has presented numerous Canadian world-pre-mieres. Acclaimed for her exceptional musicality andremarkable technique, her repertoire reflects a widerange of periods and styles. In addition to solo andorchestral work, Ms. Proulx always enjoys the collab-orative aspect of chamber music, welcoming new andchallenging pieces for that genre.

A busy recitalist, Ms. Proulx is also a well- knownbroadcast personality in Canada, and a respectedpedagogue at the university level. Her talents forinstruction and performance were combined in herpopular television program, Guitare en Mains, whichintroduced students to the rudiments of guitar play-ing. A frequent guest on both English and Frenchnetworks, engaging commentaries often accompanyher recital appearances in which Sylvie Proulx shares

her knowledge and her passion for the guitar.

Her affinity for South American music was brilliant-ly apparent in her recording, Tango Nuevo - TheMusic of Astor Piazzolla which features solo guitar,guitar and flute (with flutist Robert Aitken) andPiazzolla’s concerto for guitar and bandoneon(recorded with members of Symphony Nova Scotia).Her critically acclaimed solo recording, Sirocco, washailed by the Toronto Star as a rare guitar albumwhere flawless technique is superceded by even finermusicianship. Ms Proulx currently teaches guitar atMemorial University’s School of Music.

Les Tendres PlaintesWorks by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Sylvie Proulx, guitar