La Petite Bande
Encyclopedia
La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in Baroque music
played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli
, Rameau, Handel
, and Bach
.
, originally for the one-off purpose of recording Lully
's comédie-ballet, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
, conducted by Gustav Leonhardt
for the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label. The ensemble was given its name from Lully's Petite Bande des Violons du Roi
, an orchestra of 21 string players
at the court of Louis XIV
. The nucleus of the original group was the Leonhardt Consorte along with Sigiswald Kuijken and his brothers Wieland
and Barthold
. Following the recording, the group continued to give concerts throughout Europe and became a permanent ensemble based in Leuven
under the directorship of Kuijken. Their initial repertoire concentrated on French Baroque music, but soon branched out into Italian and German composers, including Corelli, Handel and Bach. They also branched out from the Baroque to the Classical period
with performances and recordings of works by Mozart and Haydn. The ensemble's 1982 recording of Haydn's The Creation was the first time the work had been recorded using period instruments. Their UK debut was at the 1982 BBC Proms, with a concert of pieces by Bach, Handel, and Rameau. The critic Barry Millington described the performance in The Musical Times
:
La Petite Bande's recordings of opera
tic rarities during their first ten years include Rameau's Zoroastre
, Zaïs
, and Pigmalion
as well as Campra
's L'Europe galante
and Grétry's Le jugement de Midas
. From 2006 to 2009, the ensemble has largely concentrated on Bach, especially his cantatas with the goal of recording a complete liturgical year, but also his St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor. Singers in these projects, each part sung by one singer, have included sopranos Gerlinde Sämann
, Barbara Schlick
, Elisabeth Scholl
and Siri Thornhill
, altos René Jacobs and Petra Noskaiová
, tenors Christoph Genz
, Christoph Prégardien
and Marcus Ullmann
, and basses Jan van der Crabben
, Max van Egmond
and Harry van der Kamp
.
On 2 February 2009, Sigiswald Kuijken was awarded the Prize for Cultural Merit by the Belgian government. The following day, the advisory committee of the Ministry of Culture made a recommendation that La Petite Bande's 600,000 euro
annual subsidy be removed. Kuijken's students started an internet petition to save the subsidy which received 21,000 signatures. The Minister of Culture at the time, Bert Anciaux
, ignored the advice of the committee and restored the subsidy until 2012 (reduced to 590,000 euro). The ensemble has since started a charitable foundation, Support La Petite Bande, to make up the shortfall.
Although some funding was granted for 2013 to 2016, Kuijken plans to leave the direction to younger musicians. He has chosen the organist Benjamin Alard to direct a new Handel project which will begin in April 2013..
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
, Rameau, Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
, and Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
.
History
The ensemble was brought together in 1972 by Sigiswald KuijkenSigiswald Kuijken
Sigiswald Kuijken is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on authentic instruments.-Biography:Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of Brussels between 1964 and 1972 and formed La Petite Bande in 1972...
, originally for the one-off purpose of recording Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
's comédie-ballet, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Le Bourgeois gentilhomme is a five-act comédie-ballet—a play intermingled with music, dance and singing—by Molière, first presented on 14 October 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors...
, conducted by Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt
Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...
for the Deutsche Harmonia Mundi label. The ensemble was given its name from Lully's Petite Bande des Violons du Roi
Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi
The Vingt-quatre Violons du Roy were a famous five-part string orchestra at the French royal court, existing from 1626 to 1761.-History:...
, an orchestra of 21 string players
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
at the court of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. The nucleus of the original group was the Leonhardt Consorte along with Sigiswald Kuijken and his brothers Wieland
Wieland Kuijken
Wieland Kuijken is a Belgian musician and player of the viola da gamba and baroque cello.Kuijken started his career in music in 1952 with the Brussels Alariusensemble of which he formed part until 1972...
and Barthold
Barthold Kuijken
Barthold Kuijken is a Belgian flautist and recorder player, known for playing baroque music on authentic instruments and particularly known for pioneering this manner of performance with his brothers, cellist and viol player Wieland Kuijken and violinist Sigiswald Kuijken and the harpsichordist...
. Following the recording, the group continued to give concerts throughout Europe and became a permanent ensemble based in Leuven
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
under the directorship of Kuijken. Their initial repertoire concentrated on French Baroque music, but soon branched out into Italian and German composers, including Corelli, Handel and Bach. They also branched out from the Baroque to the Classical period
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
with performances and recordings of works by Mozart and Haydn. The ensemble's 1982 recording of Haydn's The Creation was the first time the work had been recorded using period instruments. Their UK debut was at the 1982 BBC Proms, with a concert of pieces by Bach, Handel, and Rameau. The critic Barry Millington described the performance in The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
:
"The group has an endearing attitude of indifference to concert platform ritual: each player is dressed for a different occasion. But there is nothing casual about their playing: this is some of the best-disciplined Baroque playing to be heard today."
La Petite Bande's recordings of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic rarities during their first ten years include Rameau's Zoroastre
Zoroastre
Zoroastre is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, first performed on 5 December 1749 at the Opéra in Paris. The libretto is by Louis de Cahusac. Zoroastre was the fourth of Rameau's tragédies en musique to be staged and the last to appear during the composer's own lifetime...
, Zaïs
Zaïs
Zaïs is an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 29 February 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. It takes the form of a pastorale héroïque in four acts and a prologue. The librettist was Louis de Cahusac....
, and Pigmalion
Pigmalion (opera)
For the opera by Georg Benda see Pygmalion Pigmalion is an opera in the form of a one-act acte de ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau first performed on 27 August 1748 at the Opéra in Paris. The libretto is by Ballot de Sovot. The work has generally been regarded as the best of Rameau's one-act pieces...
as well as Campra
André Campra
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.Campra was one of the leading French opera composers in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau. He wrote several tragédies en musique, but his chief claim to fame is as the creator of a new genre, opéra-ballet...
's L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra, The French text was by Antoine Houdar de la Motte....
and Grétry's Le jugement de Midas
Le jugement de Midas
Le jugement de Midas is a French comédie mêlée d'ariettes , in three acts by André Grétry first performed privately at the Palais-Royal, Paris on 28 March 1778. The libretto is by the Irish playwright Thomas Hales with additional contributions by Louis Anseaume...
. From 2006 to 2009, the ensemble has largely concentrated on Bach, especially his cantatas with the goal of recording a complete liturgical year, but also his St John Passion, St Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor. Singers in these projects, each part sung by one singer, have included sopranos Gerlinde Sämann
Gerlinde Sämann
Gerlinde Sämann is a German soprano known for her performances in concerts and operas. She is particularly associated with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach...
, Barbara Schlick
Barbara Schlick
Barbara Schlick is a German soprano who is particularly admired for interpretations of the concert literature of the baroque era.-Career:...
, Elisabeth Scholl
Elisabeth Scholl
- Professional career :Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden...
and Siri Thornhill
Siri Thornhill
Siri Karoline Thornhill, born in England, is a Norwegian classical soprano for concert and opera, known for singing music of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...
, altos René Jacobs and Petra Noskaiová
Petra Noskaiová
Petra Noskaiová is a Slovak classical mezzo-soprano, active in the field of Baroque music.- Professional career :Petra Noskaiová studied studied music at the conservatory of Bratislava from 1988 to 1994 and voice with Ružena Illenbergerová...
, tenors Christoph Genz
Christoph Genz
- Biography :Christoph Genz was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied at the King’s College, Cambridge where he was a member of the King’s College Choir. He studied voice with Hans-Joachim Beyer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig and with Elisabeth...
, Christoph Prégardien
Christoph Prégardien
Christoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...
and Marcus Ullmann
Marcus Ullmann
- Professional career :Marcus Ullmann received his first musical training as a choir boy in the Dresdner Kreuzchor. He studied at the Dresden Music Academy and graduated with honours in Lieder, Choral Work and Opera...
, and basses Jan van der Crabben
Jan van der Crabben
Jan van der Crabben is a Belgian baritone singer.Born in 1964 in Ghent, Belgium, van der Crabben studied music at the Etterbeek Academy under the direction of Aquiles Delle Vigne and subsequently at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels...
, Max van Egmond
Max van Egmond
Max van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...
and Harry van der Kamp
Harry van der Kamp
Harry van der Kamp is a Dutch bass singer in opera and concert.- Singing career :Van der Kamp studied first law and psychology in Amsterdam...
.
On 2 February 2009, Sigiswald Kuijken was awarded the Prize for Cultural Merit by the Belgian government. The following day, the advisory committee of the Ministry of Culture made a recommendation that La Petite Bande's 600,000 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
annual subsidy be removed. Kuijken's students started an internet petition to save the subsidy which received 21,000 signatures. The Minister of Culture at the time, Bert Anciaux
Bert Anciaux
Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux is a Belgian politician, a founder and former member of Spirit...
, ignored the advice of the committee and restored the subsidy until 2012 (reduced to 590,000 euro). The ensemble has since started a charitable foundation, Support La Petite Bande, to make up the shortfall.
Although some funding was granted for 2013 to 2016, Kuijken plans to leave the direction to younger musicians. He has chosen the organist Benjamin Alard to direct a new Handel project which will begin in April 2013..
Sources
- Chapin, Anna Alice, Makers of Song (originally published in 1904), Read Books, 2008. ISBN 1408671298
- Clements, Dominy, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Cantatas for the complete liturgical year, Vol.V, Musicweb-international, July 2007 (accessed 25 June 2010)
- Continuo, "Joseph Haydn: Die Schöpfung (The Creation)", Volumes 6-7, 1983
- De StandaardDe StandaardDe Standaard is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio . Circulation was about 102.280 in 2007. It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen...
, "Een prijs, maar ook een slecht rapport" (A prize, but also a bad report), 4 February 2009 (accessed 25 June 2010, in Dutch) - Fiske, Roger, http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/January%201984/55/818925/HAYDN.+Die+SchOpfung.+Krisztina+Laki+%28sop%29+Neil+Mackie+%28ten%29+Philippe+Huttenlocher+%28bass%29+Ghent+Collegium+locale+La+Petite+Bande++Sigiswald+Kuijken.+Accent++Harmonia+Mundi+%28P%29+ACC8228+%28two+records%2C+nas%29.+Notes%2C+text+and+translation+included.+Recorded+at+a+concert+in+the+Conservatoire+Royal+de+Musique+de+Liege+on+October+7th%2C+1982."Haydn: Die Schöpfung"], Gramophone, January 1984, p. 55
- Het NieuwsbladHet NieuwsbladHet Nieuwsblad is a Belgian newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports.-Mission statement:...
, "La Petite Bande zoekt 600.000 euro per jaar" (La Petite Bande seeking 600,000 per year ), 3 December 2009 (accessed 25 June 2010, in Dutch) - Kemp, Lindsay, "Happy 25th birthday", Gramophone, November 1997, pp. 21-22
- Kenyon, NicholasNicholas KenyonSir Nicholas Roger Kenyon CBE is an English music administrator, editor and writer on music. He was responsible for the BBC Proms 1996-2007 following which he was appointed Managing Director of the Barbican Centre, Europe's largest multi-arts centre.-Education and career:After attending St Bede's...
, Authenticity and Early Music, Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0198161530 - KnackKnack (magazine)Knack is a Belgian weekly newsmagazine covering local news, sports, business, jobs, and community events.It was founded in 1971 and quickly grew out to be a leading Belgian magazine. Currently it has a circulation of about 121.780....
(13 September 2011). "Sigiswald Kuijken bereidt opvolging voor" - Littler, William, "Virgin Classics' early music series includes superb Byrd third mass", Toronto StarToronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, 23 March 1990, p. D18 - Millington, Barry, "Music in London: Proms", The Musical TimesThe Musical TimesThe Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
, Vol. 123, No. 1676, October 1982, pp. 706-708 - Watchorn, Peter, Isolde Ahlgrimm, Vienna and the Early Music Revival, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007. ISBN 0754657876
External links
- La Petite Bande: Discography 1972-2009 (official website)
- La Petite Bande on bach-cantatas with photographs of the ensemble