Delair: The Violin Sonatas The Levée

• Denis Delair (ca. 1662 - 1750): Sonata Prima:
• 1 Delair: Sonata Prima: I. [Ouverture: Lentement] - [Gay] - Lentement 04:30
• 2 Delair: Sonata Prima: II. Presto 01:04
• 3 Delair: Sonata Prima: III. Saraband 02:40
• 4 Delair: Sonata Prima: IV. Gavotte: Tendrement 00:42
• 5 Delair: Sonata Prima: V. Rondeau 00:51
• 6 Delair: Sonata Prima: VI. Piano 02:32
• 7 Delair: Sonata Prima: VII. [Presto] 01:12
• Sonata Seconda:
• 8 Delair: Sonata Seconda: I. [Ouverture: Gravement] - [Viste] 02:44
• 9 Delair: Sonata Seconda: II. [Grave] - [Viste] 01:30
• 10 Delair: Sonata Seconda: III. [Viste] 01:10
• 11 Delair: Sonata Seconda: IV. Rondeau 01:41
• 12 Delair: Sonata Seconda: V. [Presto] 02:06
• Sonata Tertia:
• 13 Delair: Sonata Tertia: I. [Prélude: Gracieusement] 01:13
• 14 Delair: Sonata Tertia: II. [Fugue: Gay] 01:24
• 15 Delair: Sonata Tertia: III. Air 01:45
• 16 Delair: Sonata Tertia: IV. Gavotte 00:46
• 17 Delair: Sonata Tertia: V. Saraband 02:34
• 18 Delair: Sonata Tertia: VI. [Viste] 01:53
• Sonata Quarta:
• 19 Delair: Sonata Quarta: I. [Prélude: Lentement] 01:58
• 20 Delair: Sonata Quarta: II. Fugue: Gay 01:23
• 21 Delair: Sonata Quarta: III. Lentement 01:08
• 22 Delair: Sonata Quarta: IV. Saraband 02:10
• 23 Delair: Sonata Quarta: V. Rondeau 00:47
• 24 Delair: Sonata Quarta: VI. [Passacaille] 01:29
• 25 Delair: Sonata Quarta: VII. Piano 02:16
• 26 Delair: Sonata Quarta: VIII. [Gay] - [Grave] 01:36
• 27 Delair: Sonata Quarta: IX. [Viste] 02:01
• Sonata Quinta:
• 28 Delair: Sonata Quinta: I. [Prélude: Lentement] 02:06
• 29 Delair: Sonata Quinta: II. Fugue - Lentement 02:22
• 30 Delair: Sonata Quinta: III. Air 01:55
• 31 Delair: Sonata Quinta: IV. 2de Air 01:22
• 32 Delair: Sonata Quinta: V. 3tie Air 02:23
• 33 Delair: Sonata Quinta: VI. Viste 03:08
• Sonata Sexta:
• 34 Delair: Sonata Sexta: I. [Prélude: Lentement] 02:10
• 35 Delair: Sonata Sexta: II. [Viste] 03:29
• 36 Delair: Sonata Sexta: III. [Gracieusement] 01:30
• 37 Delair: Sonata Sexta: IV. [Presto] 02:59
• Sonata Septima à 2:
• 38 Delair: Sonata Septima à 2: I. [Prélude] 01:15
• 39 Delair: Sonata Septima à 2: II. [Fugue] 02:34
• 40 Delair: Sonata Septima à 2: III. Adagio 01:59
• 41 Delair: Sonata Septima à 2: IV. [Allegro] 02:38
• Total Runtime 01:18:55

Info for Delair: The Violin Sonatas

Seven Sonatas for Violin and Continuo attributed to Denis Delair, performed by Marguerite Wassermann, violin, Josef Laming, harpsichord and The Levée: world première recording released by warblingQUIRE Records on 25 April 2025 (WQ2501), in partnership with Ulysses Arts.

Denis Delair is known today as a theorist and the author of the Traité d’Acompagnement pour le Theorbe, et le Clavessin, first published in 1690. Despite mention of his instrumental compositions in the 1724 edition of his treatise, Delair’s compositions have - until now - fallen into obscurity.

In looking through the catalogue of the Düben Collection, a Swedish musical manuscript collection started in the 1640s, members of The Levée came across seven ‘Sonates à Violino seul’ by a ‘Mr De L’air’. When we began studying these sonatas, we were captivated by Delair’s unique style of composition: the rich harmonies, his rhetorical, vocal writing for instruments, the heavy chromaticism and surprising modulations.

These sonatas are an excellent counterpart to Delair’s theoretical writing: they are the perfect vehicle for the application of ideas from the treatise, and they feature examples of the harmonies that Delair mentions in his chapter on ‘Acompagnemens [sic] extraordinaires’.

The Levée:
Marguerite Wassermann, baroque violin
Martin Jantzen, viola da gamba
Niels Pfeffer, theorbo
Josef Laming, harpsichord
Guest:
Elise Dupont, baroque violin

The Levée
is an early music ensemble formed to bring forgotten music back to life and to explore new stories of music history. They want to interrogate why some music had a continuous performing tradition, and why other music remained untouched. They find that relatively unknown music presents exciting challenges to modern historical performance practice and understanding of music history.

The ensemble takes its name from a painting and engraving of the same title from William Hogarth’s series A Rake’s Progress (1732-5). The Levée depicts the protagonist (Tom Rakeford) indulging in sport and artistic luxuries; present at Rakeford’s levée (morning ceremony) is a harpsichordist thought to represent Handel or Porpora and a dancing master holding a small violin.

The instrumentalists Marguerite Wassermann (violin), Martin Jantzen (viola da gamba), Niels Pfeffer (theorbo), and Josef Laming (harpsichord) studied together in Basel, Switzerland.

This album contains no booklet.