Le manuscrit de Talcy | menus-plaisirs

The Talcy Manuscript

Entering the Château de Talcy is bound to provoke an intense and strange emotion... While the image of the Age of Enlightenment is omnipresent in this place steeped in history, thanks to a remarkable museological effort, the voices of its former inhabitants seem curiously absent, as if nowadays only the eyes can resurrect the past. Sometimes, however, the chance to restore meaning to other senses (hearing, in this case) presents itself, and it's one that shouldn't be missed. Under the delicate guise of a manuscript devoted to the hurdy-gurdy (a manuscript written for one of the Burgeat ladies in the early decades of the eighteenth century and recently rediscovered by Paul Fustier), the sonic iconosphere of the Talcy estate is finally revealed: ample, rich, diverse and colourful. Compositions by Marais, Lully and Rameau sit happily alongside the contredanses of the time, as well as the airs and brunettes that were the delight of Paris and the provinces. The real opportunity to see a special place and the musical practice that once flourished there reunited will come to fruition from next September, under the fingers of the musicians of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roy, who will bring back to life an extraordinary testimony to the musical vitality of the time. By confronting Couperin's original pieces for harpsichord with the transcriptions made for the hurdy-gurdy in the manuscript, for example, by offering to listen to the tasty lyrics of the vaudevilles contained in the collection, or even by linking fashionable contredanses in the style of the balls held in the patrician residences of the 18th century, the Menus-Plaisirs du Roy hope to get the senses beating in unison once again.

Les Menus-Plaisirs du Roy

Stéphan Van Dyck: tenor

Riccardo Delfino: hurdy-gurdy

Catherine Daron: traverso

Kaori Uemura: viola da gamba / Edouard Catalan

Luc Vanvaerenbergh: harpsichord

Jean-Luc Impe: theorbo and musical director

Press article in La Nouvelle République

Anne Rousset, administrator of the Château de Talcy, has succeeded in her gamble with Sunday's concerts in the church and the château to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the château by restoring it to its 18th-century sound world: full, rich, diverse and colourful. To do this, it has invited an ensemble from Belgium made up of Belgian, German and French musicians and singers, Les Menus-plaisirs du Roy, a company founded in 1989 by the current conductor, Jean-Luc Impe (theorbo) and his wife Catherine Daron (traverso or transverse flute). Initially specialising in comic operas for puppet theatres, Jean-Luc Impe discovered the Talcy Manuscript, written between 1730 and 1740 and containing music by renowned composers such as Lully, François Couperin, Caix d'Hervelois, Mouret, Blamont, Clérambault and Boismortier, as well as anonymous composers. After changing owners several times, this manuscript is now in the hands of Jean-Luc Impe, who deposited it with the Château de Talcy under an agreement. The same manuscript exists at Château de Cheverny.

The concert given in the church in front of a hundred or so people was sumptuous, with very good acoustics. The five musicians and tenor Stéphan Van Dijk performed gavottes, minuets, bourrées, rondeaux and marches. Not to mention the sound of the hurdy-gurdy in the capable hands of Germany's Riccardo Delfino, not to mention France's Edouard Catalan on cello and Luc Vanvaerenbergh on harpsichord. Afterwards, they received a standing ovation. At 6 p.m., another concert took place at the château for around thirty people, all of whom had been introduced to the music or the period.

Programme

Le contexte musical

Suite en mim, opus 35 J. B. de Boismortier

Prélude

Allemande

Rondeau

Vaudeville : Dormir est un temps perdu Anonyme

Gavotte

Menuet

Le manuscrit de Talcy

La noce de village Jean Hotteterre

Prélude

Marche

Bourrée

Rondeau champêtre

Brunette Anonyme

Marche des bergers

Entrée du bal

Ronde chantée : D’où venez-vous belle Anonyme

La Provençale J.J. Mouret

Tambourin

Menuet

Deux musettes des Fêtes grecques et romaines C. de Blamont

Chantez ma musette L.N. Clérambault

Suite de pièces Fr. Couperin

Air de vielle 1 et 2

La voluptueuse

Les gris-vêtus

Les nonnettes : La Blonde et La Brunette

Les pèlerines

Suite de pièces Caix d’hervelois

L’Henriette

Les petits doigts

Suite de pièces Anonyme / Lully

Prélude

Les rats

Menuet