Abstract
Marin Marais (1656 –1728) was a French composer and viol virtuoso who wrote five books of Suites with close to 600 movements for one viol or several viols and basso continuo. In addition to its use as a melodic instrument, the viol was the primary continuo instrument used in Marais’ music and because its range is quite close to the cello’s, the modern instrument is a good candidate for transcriptions of Marais’ suites.
The goal of this doctoral essay is to outline the process of making a critical performance edition of selections of Marais’ "Pièces de Viole." Performance practices of the French Baroque style and Marais’ unique use of ornamentation were examined in detail and the end result is an edition that is accessible to all cellists. This is especially important since transcriptions of Marais’ music are scarce and the primary sources that inform the performance practice of his music are not readily available. Marais was an innovator of the Baroque dance suite and of virtuosic writing for bowed string instruments, making access to his music important for expanding soloistic Baroque cello repertoire.
The transcription process used here was modeled on Johann Sebastian Bach, who was a prolific transcriber of his own music, and will entail an analysis of his transcriptions to inform crucial transcription decisions for this edition. In addition, a realization of the basso continuo part for keyboard is provided as a convenience. This doctoral project is the first step of a lifelong project for the author of transcribing all five books of Marais’ Suites