PACIFIC BAROQUE FESTIVAL 2012
“The Sun King”
9 – 12 February 2012, Victoria BC

SWING, POWER POLITICS & OSCAR
Rediscovering French Baroque Music
10, 11, 17 & 18 January 2012

The Pacific Baroque Festival 2012 introduces a new feature: a series of events to introduce the Victoria audience to French baroque music. Our thanks to La Société Francophone de Victoria for their support which has made these evenings possible.

Music as Propaganda at the Court of Louis XIV
Tuesday, January 10 (7:15pm; Wood Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music)
Dr. Susan Lewis Hammond, Music Historian, University of Victoria

Louis XIV of France

Learn about French baroque music through the eyes of Louis XIV.  More than any other patron, Louis XIV (who took his name “Sun King” from the god Apollo) recognized the power of music to serve political ends. Louis XIV coordinated political, religious, and cultural policies to form a coherent French State Culture marked by a unified message in print, stage, church, and chamber music. He took a direct hand in employing the most talented musicians of the day, among them Jean-Baptiste Lully, Henry Du Mont, Marin Marais, and Michel-Richard de Lalande. Their efforts survive in music, glowing reports of foreign and French dignitaries, letters, memoirs, court diaries and official reports, iconography, and music books issued by royal printer, Christophe Ballard. Supreme musicianship, composition, and royal patronage coalesced to establish the distinct French style that will be celebrated in this year’s Pacific Baroque Festival.
Free admission; seating limited to 100 persons.

Les Notes Inégales and Swing!
Wednesday, January 11 (7:15pm; Wood Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music)
Gord Clements, Department Head, Jazz Studies, Victoria Conservatory of Music

The practice of performing notes of equal rhythmic value as alternating long and short notes in a triplet-like pattern is quite common in many periods of music. Most notably this occurred in the French Baroque at the Notre Dame School and has been referred to as “les notes inégales”. However during the most recent century this practice has been identified with Jazz as “swing.” Unfortunately, we can only guess how Baroque musicians actually played but with Jazz we have recordings and an established pedagogy for teaching this performance style. Gord Clements will compare Jazz and the Baroque and demonstrate this rhythmic style. He’ll explore the importance of rhythmic accent and altering the relationship between long and short notes when changing tempos. He’ll also discuss the role of improvisation in both Jazz and the Baroque.
Free admission; seating limited to 100 persons.

The rediscovery of French baroque music through period performance
Tuesday, January 17 (7:15pm; Wood Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music)
Marc Destrubé, Artistic Director, Pacific Baroque Festival

The lavish music of the French baroque has only achieved a wider listening public relatively recently, spurred on by reawakening interest in the late 20th century in the instruments and playing styles of earlier times. This presentation will explore the extent to which successful performance and appreciation of this music depends on the unique sound qualities of period instruments, combined with the specialized knowledge of performance practice of the time. Even in France it wasn’t until the release of the 1991 film “Tous les matins du monde” (to be shown on January 18 as part of this series), that the beauty of this music was recognized by a wider public. The reaction was immediate however: the soundtrack recording was No. 2 on the French pop charts for several months (after Michael Jackson, yet ahead of Queen…).
Free admission; seating limited to 100 persons.

“Tous les matins du monde”
Wednesday, January 18 (7pm & 9:15pm; Cinecenta, University of Victoria)

An internationally acclaimed film presenting a fictionalized account of the lives of the 17th century French musician-composer Sainte Colombe (Jean-Pierre Marielle) and his brilliant, flamboyant student, Marin Marais (played as a young man by Guillaume Depardieu and as an older man by Gerard Depardieu).  It is a tale of ego, passion, and the clash between the desire for fame and the pursuit of true art. “Taking his cue from his subject – a baroque composer and violist da gamba known only for his reticence and the mournful beauty of his music – the French filmmaker Alain Corneau has fashioned a reserved and elegant portrait coloured by dark romantic longing.”  (New York Times, 1992).  This is the kind of pure drama, energized by character interplay, that Hollywood almost never produces.
Adults $7.50; Seniors/Children: $5.60
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Interested in learning more?  Check out UVic’s Continuing Studies Course on this year’s Festival theme:

Videos of the Festival’s January presentations will be available on-line for those who are unable to attend.