Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe

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Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe (le père / the elder) (* around 1640; † between 1690 and 1700) was a famous, but not exactly known, French viol player and composer of the Baroque era .

Life and work

The actual identity of Sainte-Colombes has not yet been clearly established. However, the latest research suggests that he lived and taught in Paris for at least a while, his first name Jean and the theorbist Nicolas Hotman probably not being his only teacher.

Otherwise, little is known about him, as there are hardly any contemporary sources. Exact dates of birth and death are missing, as is information on the place of birth and death. Nevertheless, he is considered one of the most gifted gambists of his time. His student Jean Rousseau described his game as "perfect". His student Marin Marais created a musical obituary for his teacher in 1701 with the composition " Tombeau pour Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe ".

Sainte-Colombe is attributed to the addition of the seventh string (Contra-A) to the bass viol , the most important solo instrument of the viol family; This gave the instrument a larger range and more expressiveness.

student

Sainte-Colombe was the teacher of Marin Marais , who later became principal gambist at the court of the "Sun King" Louis XIV . He also taught Danoville , Jean Desfontaines , Pierre Méliton , and Jean Rousseau .

Works

Preserved works by Sainte-Colombes (including 67 “ Concerts à deux violes esgales ” and six “ Suites pour basse de viole seule ”) give an idea of the virtuosity of his playing.

progeny

Sainte-Colombe had at least two daughters (Françoise and Brigide) whom he most likely taught himself and with whom he occasionally gave concerts at home. He also had a son known as Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe the Younger , who later also worked as a viol player in Great Britain.

Cinematic editing

In 1991, the French director Alain Corneau made the film The Seventh String (original title: Tous les matins du monde ) based on the novel of the same name by Pascal Quignard with Jean-Pierre Marielle in the role of Sainte-Colombe, Gérard Depardieu in the old and Guillaume Depardieu in that of the young Marin Marais. The highly acclaimed music for this film was recorded by the Catalan gambist Jordi Savall with his ensemble Le Concert des Nations .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sainte-Colombe, Monsieur de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sainte-Colombe, Jean de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French gambist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1640
DATE OF DEATH between 1690 and 1700