波雷/少數民族修道院手稿十四作品集 S.Paulet/Minoritenkonvent (Manuscript XIV 726 from the Convent of the Minorites) (Muso)

Although even now little studied by musicians, Manuscript XIV 726 of the Convent of the Minorites in Vienna has been known to musicologists for many years. It reveals flourishing violin activity in the period from the late seventeenth century to the North of the Alps, and the most celebrated representative was unquestionably Biber. In this crucial period, the school of instrument making evolved with the style of the sonatas, independently of what was taking place in Italy. The opposition – or complementarity – of the musicians of court and city gave rise to keen rivalry between them, on account of the regular 'competitions' for their positions. The sonatas performed here are thus highly advanced as regards violin technique of the time; the works are virtuosic, many passages are written as improvised preludes; the violin plays a succession of runs, diminutions… Everything is written, yet in the style of an improvisation.

Although the Manuscript includes a great number of them, only two sonatas on this disc are written in scordatura, a violin technique considered typically German and consisting of modifying the violin's tuning - G D A E - and proposing new tuning for each of the sonatas. This can create an extravert character and reinforce a spirit of dance (Faber's sonata), or create a darker, melancholic tone-colour, with a veiled, less resonant sound, as with Vojta.

As nothing was indicated for the instrumentation of the continuo, the organ seemed the ideal partner for exploring these sonatas: as the music is by turns meditative, illustrative or dancelike, it called for a continuo that was varied in regard to tone-colour and dynamics, capable of moving from the intimate to the majestic. And what is the organ in question? It is the only 'positive' (i.e. placed on the floor, unlike organs in lofts) of the organ builder Andre Silbermann that still exists, restored in 2011 to its original condition and possessing an exceptional sound.

After a first disc devoted to Guillemain, released in 2012, and already very highly praised by the press, Stephanie Paulet has once more scored a hit with this Minoritenkonvent. Her lyrical violin is always spot on. This disc, the aural beauty of which makes

1.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 84, Sonata in E Major & No. 77, Sonata in A Major-8:14 
2.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 87, Sonata in F Minor-6:58 
3.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 4, Sonata in D Major-5:32 
4.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 90, Sonata in A Minor-8:24 
5.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 75, Sonata in C Minor-9:10 
6.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 70, Sonata in B Minor-8:37 
7.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 2, Sonata in E Major-5:49 
8.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 11, Sonata in E Mino-11:12 
9.Minoritenkonvent, Manuscript XIV 726: No. 94, Toccata in A Minor & No. 88, Sonata in D Minor 8:31-