Major technological advances often have unsuspected consequences. When the printing press was invented in the 15th century, it was immediately clear how important it would be for the spread of ideas and books such as the Bible. But did we foresee that all Western music would be permanently transformed by the printing of popular songs? Probably not.
But that’s exactly what happened. Once they were readily available in printed scores, the most famous tunes of their time could be used by numerous musicians (flautists, gambists, keyboardists), who transformed them into instrumental versions from which all manner of experimentation was possible. The nascent polyphony inspired the superposition and interweaving of voices, leading to counterpoint. All Western music is built on this foundation. And this foundation is to be found first and foremost in Italy, a land steeped in song, whether in simple or polyphonic form, from the canzonetta to the madrigal.
The Flûte alors! quartet, made up of Vincent Lauzer, Marie-Laurence Primeau, Alexa Raine-Wright and Caroline Tremblay, explores this rich but little-known repertoire in their album Scherzi forastiari. It includes some very fine fantasias, variations, canzonas, transcriptions and ‘’diminutions‘’, scores that indicate the form of (improvised) ornamentation to be used in certain passages associated with specific arias.
The precision of the four players is excellent, and above all their accuracy, which is not a given in a recorder ensemble.
This is an album of intimate but enjoyable music that will appeal to an audience keen to delve into the distant roots of all Western music.
