Jean-Marie Leclair: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-4, Book 1 (2009)

by Adrian Butterfield (baroque violin), Alison McGillivray (viola da gamba), Laurence Cummings (harpsichord)

Jean-Marie Leclair was the first composer to truly establish a French style of playing for the violin and elevate the instrument to its rightful place as soloist. He also successfully merged his native French style with the very popular Italian school in which he immersed himself. Though he wrote four books of violin sonatas, only the latter ones are heard with any regularity, making this Naxos recording of the first book of sonatas. The pervasive and understandable influence of Corelli in these sonatas is impossible to ... Read More

Jean-Marie Leclair was the first composer to truly establish a French style of playing for the violin and elevate the instrument to its rightful place as soloist. He also successfully merged his native French style with the very popular Italian school in which he immersed himself. Though he wrote four books of violin sonatas, only the latter ones are heard with any regularity, making this Naxos recording of the first book of sonatas. The pervasive and understandable influence of Corelli in these sonatas is impossible to miss, yet Leclair still maintains the austere sophistication associated with the French Baroque. The first four sonatas of book one heard here are performed on Baroque violin (Adrian Butterfield), harpsichord (Laurence Cummings), and viola da gamba (Alison McGillivray). All three musicians unite in a singular interpretive vision of Leclair's early writings. Articulation and ornamentation match closely, and the sparingly and appropriately used moments of tempo rubato are seamlessly... Read Less