Jean-Marie Leclair l'aîné (1697-1764) Second Livre de Sonates à deux violons sans basse, Œuvre XII Marc Destrubé   -   violon / violin Chantal Rémillard   -   violon / violin ACD2 2241 The son of a lacemaker, amateur musician and amateur dancer, Jean-Marie Ledair l'aine (1697-1764) was originally destined to follow his father's footsteps.   Happily for posterity - regardless of what lace lovers may think - Jean-Marie gradually put aside the thread and ballet shoes for catgut, horsehair and quill, thus becoming recognized, through labour and genius, as the founder of the French violin school, the pillar of the sonata in France and champion of the marriage between the French and the Italian styles.   He has been called the “Corelli of France” and the “French Vivaldi,” yet though he was doubtless the most Italianate of French-born composers (he is said to have studied with the great Giovanni Battista Somis in Turin), his keen attention to harmonic detail, to the exactness of ornamentation, to melodic gracefulness, and to both strong and varied formal construction make him a true representative of French specificity.   The English historian John Hawkins wrote in 1776 of Leclair's instrumental music, “For grandeur and dignity of style, there are no instrumental compositions of the French musicians, not even Lully himself, which merit to be compared with them.” … JACQUES-ANDRÉ HOULE Sonata I, en si mineur / in B minor     9:24 [  1] Allegro ma poco     3:37 [  2] Andante: Amoroso - Altro     3:54 [  3] Allegro assai     2:23 Sonata II, en mi majeur / in E major     14:44 [  4] Allegro ma poco     4:51 [  5] Largo     2:17 [  6] Minuetto: non tropo Allegro - Altro     4:16 [  7] Allegro 3:20 Sonata III, en ré majeur / in D major     9:48 [  8] Un poco Andante     1:54 [  9] Un poco Andante     2:49 [10] Sarabanda: Largo     2;33 [11] Giga: Prestissimo     2:32 Sonata lV, en la majeur / in A major     13:14 [12] Andante     2:13 [13] Allegro moderato     3:04 [14] Largo     2:58 [15] Vivace     4:59 Sonata V, en sol mineur / in G minor     13:14 [16] Allegro     3:45 [17] Aria Gratioso: Andante -         Un poco piû Allegro - Piû Andante     4:30 [18] Allegro assai     3:06 Sonata VI, en si bémol majeur / in B flat major     13:28 [19] Allegro     2:42 [20] Allegro moderato     2:52 [21] Andante: Dolce     5:15 [22] Allegro non presto     2;39 ATMA Classique is distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading PO Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone +61 (0)3 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile +61 (0)3 9444 6879