Mondonville - Sonata for Harpsichord & Violin in C - Mov. 2&3/3

JEAN-JOSEPH CASSANÉA DE MONDONVILLE (1711-1772)

Sonata No. 4 for harpsichord and violin accompaniment in C Major

2. Aria (gracioso)

3. Giga (allegro)

Performed by Luc Beauséjour, harpsichord
Hélène Plouffe, violin

*Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, also known as Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, was a French violinist and composer. He was a younger contemporary of Jean-Philippe Rameau and enjoyed great success in his day. Pierre-Louis Daquin (son of the composer Louis Claude Daquin) claimed: "If I couldn't be Rameau, there's no one I would rather be than Mondonville.

Mondonville was born in Narbonne in Southwest France to an aristocratic family which had fallen on hard times. In 1733 he moved to Paris where he gained the patronage of the king's mistress Madame de Pompadour and won several musical posts, including violinist for the Concert Spirituel.

His first opus was a volume of violin sonatas, published in 1733. He became a violinist of the royal chapel and chamber and performed in some 100 concerts; some of his grands motets were also performed that year receiving considerable acclaim. He was appointed sous-maître in 1740 and then, in 1744, intendant of the Royal Chapel. He produced operas and grands motets for the Opéra and Concert spirituel respectively, and was associated with the Théatre des Petits-Cabinets, all the while maintaining his career as a violinist throughout the 1740s. In 1755, he became director of the Concert Spirituel on the death of Royer. He died in Belleville near Paris at the age of sixty.

Between 1734 and 1755 Mondonville composed 17 grands motets, of which only nine have survived. The motet Venite exultemus domino, published in 1740, won him the post of Maître de musique de la Chapelle (Master of Music of the Chapel). Thanks to his mastery of both orchestral and vocal music, Mondonville brought to the grand motet -- the dominant genre of music in the repertory of the Chapelle royale (Royal Chapel) before the Revolution -- an intensity of colour and a dramatic quality hitherto unknown.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• baroque
• classical
• grand
• motet
• rameau
• couperin
• lully
• marais
• pieces
• de
• clavecin
• concerts
• french

[damdarch]

awesome slow movement

[HARMONICO101]

Indeed. It's wonderfully melodious, and bittersweet.

[umbrellano]

It's warming....

[HumanWeasel]

I'm a musical ignoramus by every sense of the term... But oh my god.

[rko461]

WOAH !!!!!!

[VivaldiLucio]

Slow movement is very beautiful.

[HorusHeresy50]

The augmented seconds give to this piece a subtile bitter touch !

I'm french and yet I didn't know this composer, pleasant discovery !

[sparky2955]

Yes, where can the score be purchased?

[Cosifantuttee]

Can someone tell me where I can find the scores ? Many Thanks.

[ThomasJan1976]

Magnifique!

[mirandasization]

Sublime



[SamueLordcrumpet]

It's as if Mondonville is showing us his heart. He lets us hear just how beautiful and pure music can be.

[MysteriousMe44]

Harpsichord and violin together - I just love this combination! Very beautiful piece. :3