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Though the prehistorical "man of nature" is out of reach, every written trace of the premodern man is of potential importance to Rousseau, who constantly drew on the thought and moral model of the Ancients. In particular, the Greeks and Roman heroes, philosophers and legends appear frequently in Rousseau's writings, often through the prism of more recent mediators, notably Plutarch and Montaigne. To that one must add the Biblical culture -- again, in terms both of original sources and modern interpretation -- that so informed the thought of this former Calvinist. All dimensions of the relationship, mediated or direct, between Rousseau's writings and the ancient world are appropriate subjects for this colloquium. Provisional program.
Quoique l'homme préhistorique à « l'état de nature » soit hors de portée, toute trace écrite de l'homme pré-moderne est potentiellement importante pour Rousseau, qui puisait constamment dans la pensée et le modèle moral des Anciens. Les héros, philosophes et légendes grecs et romains en particulier apparaissent fréquemment dans ses écrits, souvent à travers le prisme de médiateurs plus récents, notamment Plutarque et Montaigne. Il faut y ajouter la culture biblique -- encore, en termes à la fois des sources originales et des interprétations modernes -- qui informa tant la pensée de cet ancien Calviniste. Toutes les dimensions du rapport, direct ou médié, entre les écrits de Rousseau et le monde antique fait matière appropriée pour ce colloque. Programme provisoire.
1
5:00 Reception
6:00 Welcoming remarks
Nannerl O. Keohane President, Duke University
Keynote address
Robert Wokler (University of Exeter): "Ancient Postmodernism
in the Philosophy of Rousseau"
FRIDAY May 21
9:0010:45
2 Chair: Ruth Grant (Duke U)
Nicole Fermon (Fordham U)
Rousseau and the paradox of filiation
Zev Trachtenberg (Oklahoma U)
Rousseau's platonic distrust of democracy
Jason Neidleman (Harvard U)
Rousseau's general will: anachronism, contradiction, tragedy
11:0012:15
3 Chair: Philip Stewart (Duke U)
Christopher Kelly (Boston College)
L'histoire de cette fatale doctrine: Rousseau and the background
of the "Doctrine intérieure"
Michel Schmouchkovitch (Université de Bretagne Occidentale)
Phryné ou le modèle de l'éloquence muette
chez Rousseau
2:003:15
4 Chair: Pamela Mason (John Carrol U)
Melissa Butler (Wabash College)
Rousseau and Plato on women: an analysis of Book V of the Republic
and Book V of Émile.
Brigitte Weltman-Aron (U of Memphis)
You make me feel like a natural woman: gender roles in Plato
and Rousseau
3:305:15
5 Chair: Catherine Lafarge (Bryn Mawr)
Paule-Monique Vernes (Université de Provence)
L'impossible retour vers l'origine: la langue et la cité
grecques
Michael O'Dea (University College, Dublin)
Rousseau et Condillac, sur la tragédie ancienne et l'opéra
moderne
Claude Dauphin (Université du Québec à Montréal)
L'origine du conflit Rameau-Rousseau dans les théories
de Pythagore et d'Aristoxène
5:45 Reception and book exhibit at Rare Book Room, Perkins Library
6:30 Jupiter and Saturn, or Toutes les soirées
du monde. A drama by Brent Wissick, based on the lives of
Antoine and Jean-Baptiste Forqueray. Music of the Forquerays, Marais, and
Rameau, performed by the Barococo ensemble: Brent
Wissick, viola da gamba, Elaine Funaro, harpsichord,
David Abbott, viol, Ruth Johnsen, violin, John Pringle and
James Rolleston, readers. Program notes.
SATURDAY May 22
9:0010:45
6 Chair: John Scott (U of Houston)
Alexandra Cook (Victoria U. Wellington)
Rousseau, Theophrastus, and the question of telos in nature
Patrick Coleman (UCLA)
Rousseau, the Ancients, and anger
Martin Rueff (Università di Bologna)
Le stoicisme de Jean-Jacques Rousseau
11:0012:15
7 Chair: William Reddy (Duke U)
Patrick Riley (U of Wisconsin)
Rousseau, Fénelon, and the "Quarrel of the Ancients and
the Moderns"
Ourida Mostefai (Boston College)
Rêves d'un citoyen: mythe et mémoire de l'Antiquité
chez Rousseau
2:003:15
8 Chair: N. Gregson Davis (Duke U)
Catherine Volpilhac-Auger (Université Stendhal, Grenoble)
Dialogue de Jean-Jacques et de Sénèque aux enfers
Moishe Black (U of Saskatchewan)
De rerum natura and the Second Discourse
3:305:15
9 Chair: Lorraine Clarke (Trent U)
James Mitchell Lee (U of Wisconsin)
Rousseau's idea of perfectibility: a Platonic source in a seventeenth-century
moralist, Benard Lamy
Laurence Cooper (Carleton College)
Émile, or on Philosophy? Rousseau's modified Platonism
Eve Grace (Colorado College)
Justice in the soul: the Rêveries as Rousseau's answer
to Plato's Glaucon.
7:00 BANQUET
Parizade, Erwin Square (220 W. Main St.)
SUNDAY May 23
9:0010:15
10 Chair: Jenny Batlay
Pamela Gay-White (Louisians State U)
The lyric self, the performative self: Rousseau and the Greek
myths
Julie Boch (Warburg Institute)
Valeur esthétique et portée politique du paganisme
chez Rousseau
10:3011:45
11 Chair: Michael Ferejohn
Byron Wells (Wake Forest U)
Rousseau's legislators and the exemplar of Sparta
Mira Morgenstern (Brooklyn, CUNY )
Between Ancients and Moderns: women as citizens in the uvre
of Rousseau
12:00
BUSINESS MEETING / ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE
Berchtold, Jacques. "Jean-Jacques dans le taureau de Phalaris: mythologisation du moi-victime et modèles d'identités dans Rousseau juge de Jean-Jacques." Verena Ehrich-Haefeli et al., Antiquitates Renatae: deutsche une französische Beiträge zur Wirkung der Antike in der europäischen Literatur (Festschrift für Renate Böschenstein zum 65. Geburtstag). Königshausen & Neumann.
Besse, Guy. "Le sage et le citoyen selon Jean-Jacques Rousseau." Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale nº 78 (1973): 18-31.
Beyerle, Dieter. "Rousseaus zweiter Discours und das goldene Zeitalter." Romanistisches Jahrbuch 1961: 105-123.
Bretonneau, Gisèle. Stoicisme et valeurs chez J.-J. Rousseau. Paris: SEDES, 1977.
Cassini, Paolo. "L'antichità et la ricerca della patria ideale", in Rousseau secondo Jean-Jacques: actes du colloque de Rome (1978). Université de Genève, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1979, p. 87-95.
DeBooy, J. "Autour d'une dédicace à Jean-Jacques Rousseau: un épisode de l'histoire du platonisme au XVIIIe siècle." Neophilologus 1961: 286-304.
Eigeldinger, Frédéric S. "Rousseau et Tacite: documents inédits." Bulletin de l'Association des Amis de J. J. Rousseau, nº 39 (1989).
Eigeldinger, Marc. Jean-Jacques Rousseau : univers mythique et cohérence. Neuchâtel: La Baconnière, 1978).
Eigeldinger, Marc. Lumières du mythe. PUF, 1983: p. 17-34.
Ellis, Madeleine B. Rousseau's Socratic Æmelian myths: a literary collation of "Émile" and the "Social Contract". Ohio State U P, 1977.
Gouhier, Henri. "Socrate et Caton vus par Jean-Jacques." Studi Francesi nº 13 (1968): 412-418.
Gouhier, Henri. Les méditations métaphysiques de Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Paris: J. Vrin, 1970.
Goyard-Fabre, Simone. "Rousseau et les législateurs grecs." Diotima nº 12 (1984): 17-28.
Grell, Chantal. Le dix-huitième siècle et l'antiquité en France, 1680-1789. Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, nº 331-331 (1995).
Guerchi, L. Libertà degli antichi et libertà dei moderni. Naples, 1979.
Hepp, Noémi. Homère en France au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Klincksieck, 1968.
Hulliung, Mark. The autocritique of Enlightenment : Rousseau and the philosophes. Harvard U P, 1994.
Kelly, Christopher. "Rousseau's Philosophic Dream." Interpretation nº 23 (1996): 417-435.
Launay, Michel. "J.-J. Rousseau dans la sphère d'influence platonicienne." Approches des Lumières: mélanges offerts à Jean Fabre (Paris: Klincksieck, 1974): 283-294.
Leduc-Fayette, Denise. J.-J. Rousseau et le mythe de l'Antiquité. Paris: Vrin, 1974.
Leigh, Ralph A. "Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the myth of antiquity in the eighteenth-century". R. R. Bolgar (ed.), Classical influences on Western thought, 1650-1870 (Cambridge U P, 1979), 155-168.
Malkin, Edward Ezekiel. "Rousseau and Epictetus." Studies on Voltaire nº 106 (1973): 113-155.
Marshall, Terence. "Perception politique et théorie de la connaissance dans l'uvre de Jean-Jacques Rousseau." Revue Française de Science Politique 29 (1979): 605-64.
Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale nº 29 (1979): 605-64.
Masters, Roger. The political philosohy of Rousseau. Princeton U P,1968.
Masters, Roger. "The duties of humanity: legal and moral obligation in Rousseau's thought," in Fred Eidlin (ed.), Constitutional democracy: essays in comparative politics, Boulder, Colo.: Westview, pp. 83-105.
Masters, Roger. "Nothing fails like success: development and history in Rousseau's teaching," in Jim MacAdam, Michael Neumann, and Guy Lafrance (eds.), Trent Rousseau papers, Ottawa: U of Ottawa P (also published as University of Ottawa Quarterly, vol. 49, Nos. 3-4) pp. 357-376.
Millet, Louis. "Le platonisme de Rousseau." Revue de l'enseignement philosophique, 1967.
Moreau, Joseph. "Rousseau platonicien." Revue de Théologie et de Philosophie nº 21 (1971): 323-341.
Müller, Reimar. Anthropologie und Geschichte: Rousseaus frühe Schriften und die antike Tradition. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1997.
Orwin, Clifford. "Rousseau's Socratism." Journal of Politics, nº 60 (1998): 174-187.
Perrin, Jean-François, article sur Homère dans l'Émile, à paraître dans Homère en France après la Querelle, éd. Françoise Létoublon et Catherine Volpilhac-Auger (Champion).
Pichois, Claude, and René Pintard (eds). Jean-Jacques entre Socrate et Caton: textes inédits de Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1750-1753). Paris: Jose Corti, 1972.
Pire, Georges. "De l'influence de Sénèque sur les théories pédagogiques de J.-J. Rousseau. Annales de la Société J.-J. Rousseau nº 33 (1953-1955): 57-92 .
Pire, Georges. "Du bon Plutarque au citoyen de Genève." Revue de Littérature Comparée 1958: 510-547.
Roche, F. Kennedy. Rousseau stoic and romantic. London: Methuen, 1974.
Shklar, Judith N. "Rousseau's two models: Sparta and the age of gold." Political Science Quarterly nº 81 (1966): 25-51; reprinted in Men and citizens: a study of Rousseau's social theory (Cambridge U P, 1969).
Silverthorne, M. J. "Rousseau's Plato." Studies on Voltaire nº 116 (1973): 245-249.
Stewart, Philip. "Le bon usage de l'histoire selon Rousseau." Recherches et Travaux, UFR de Lettres de l'Université Stendhal, nº 49 (1995): 97-109.
Touchefeu, Yves. "Jean-Jacques Rousseau et ses grands hommes: Brutus, Caton et le petit Spartiate." Le culte des Grands Hommes au XVIIIe siècle : actes du colloque, 3-5 octobre 1996. Nantes: Entretiens de la Garenne Lemot, 1996.
Touchefeu, Yves. L'antiquité et le christianisme dans la pensée de Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Thèse HESS, 1992, à paraître dans Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century.
Touchefeu, Yves. "Rousseau et Homère." Dix-Huitième Siècle n° 27 (1995), p. 179-190.
Trousson, Raymond. Socrate devant Voltaire, Diderot, et Roussea: la conscience en face du mythe. Paris: Minard, 1967.
Trousson, Raymond. "Grandeur et décadence de Socrate chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau." Studies on Voltaire nº 58 (1967): 1659-1669.
Trousson, Raymond. "Jean-Jacques Rousseau traducteur de Tacite." Studi Francesi 16 (1970): 231-242.
Trousson, Raymond. "Rousseau traducteur de Sénèque." Travaux de Littérature 3 (1990): 139-151.
Trousson, Raymond, et Frédéric Eigeldinger (éd.) Dictionnaire de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Champion, 1996. Plusieurs articles, dont : d'Yves Touchefeu: Antiquité, Platon, Écrivains latins, Caton d'Utique, Plutarque; de Raymond Trousson: Socrate, Traduction de l'Apolokyntosis de Sénèque, Traduction du premier livre de l'Histoire de Tacite; de Marie-Hélène Cotoni: Bible, Jésus-Christ.
Volpilhac-Auger, Catherine. Tacite en France de Montesquieu à Chateaubriand. Studies on Voltaire nº 313 (1993).
Volpilhac-Auger, Catharine. Jean-Jacques Rousseau traducteur de Tacite. Publications de l'Université de Saint-Etienne, 1995.
von Stackelberg, Jürgen. "Rousseau, d'Alembert et Diderot traducteurs de Tacite." Studi Francesi nº 6 (1958): 395-407.
Wisner, David. The cult of the legislator in France 1750-1830. Studies on Voltaire 352 (1997).
Program Information
Enclosed you will find registration forms, a preliminary program, and general information regarding the conference. All program sessions will be held at the Sanford Center on the Duke University West Campus. An opening reception and the keynote address will begin about 5:30 on Thursday 20 May. Sessions will run through Sunday noon, 23 May, after which will be held the business meeting of the Association, adjourning about 2:00. The Saturday evening banquet is by reservation only.
We will have a small exhibit of works on or by Rousseau, and encourage
you to bring copies of your publications, or have your publisher send them,
so they can be seen.
Renseignements généraux
Voici les renseignements essentiels concernant le colloque, avec le formulaire à remplir et le programme provisoire. Toutes les sessions auront lieu au Sanford Center situé au « West Campus » de Duke University. Une réception et conférence d'ouverture auront lieu vers 17h30 le jeudi 20 mai. Les séances de travail continueront jusqu'à midi dimanche, après quoi aura lieu l'assemblée générale de l'Association Rousseau, qui doit se terminer vers 14h. Le banquet samedi soir est sur réservation.
Comme il y aura une petite exposition d'ouvrages rousseauistes, nous
vous encourageons à apporter des exemplaires de vos publications
(ou à demander à votre éditeur de nous les expédier)
afin de les faire connaître.
Accommodations
Logement
Registrants are responsible for securing their own hotel accommodations. There are many hotels around the airport, Durham, and Chapel Hill. Two hotels are holding blocks of rooms for us at special rates:
Les participants doivent s'occuper de leur propre réservation d'hôtel. Il y a de nombreux hôtels dans la région de l'aéroport, de Durham, et de Chapel Hill. Deux hôtels nous réservent un certain nombre de chambres à des prix spéciaux:
Regal University Hotel, 2800 Campus Walk Ave.m Durham NC 27705, phone 919 383-8575; fax 919 383-6035 (toll-free reservations: 800 633-5379). Room rate is $98 per night, plus taxes. A new, fairly elegant hotel about a mile from campus near Interstate 85; free airport shuttle. Tarif $98 US par jour, plus les taxes. Hôtel relativement neuf et élégant, situé à 1,5 km du campus près de l'autoroute I85; navette gratuite depuis l'aéroport.
Brookwood Inn. 2306 Elba St, Durham NC 27705, phone 919 286-3111 (toll-free reservations: 800 716-6401). Room rate is $59 per night, plus taxes. Adjoining the medical center end of campus, about ten minutes' walk from the Sanford center. Tarif $59 par jour, plus les taxes. À côté du centre médical de Duke, à dix minutes à pied du Sanford Center.
You are advised to reserve as soon as possible; please remember to mention that you are attending the Rousseau conference in order to obtain the appropriate rate. Please be aware that the Regal hotel shuttle is not a convenient walk from the university, but a shuttle service will be provided from the reservation hotels to the Sanford center; the schedule for the shuttle will be available at the hotels.
Il vous est conseillé de réserver le plus tôt possible,
en mentionnant votre participation au colloque Rousseau afin d'obtenir
le tarif négotié. L'université n'est pas aisément
accessible depuis l'hôtel Regal mais une navette circulera entre
les hôtels réservés et le Sanford center; vous en trouverez
l'horaire à l'hôtel.
Arrival in Durham
Arrivée à Durham
Air Travel
Par Avion
The Raleigh-Durham Airport is served by several airlines with direct flights to Toronto and many US cities. The airport is located approximately 20 minutes away from the Duke University Campus.
L'aéroport Raleigh-Durham (RDU) est desservi par plusieurs lignes
aériennes avec des vols directs de Toronto et de nombreuses villes
américaines. Il est situé à une vingtaine de minutes
du campus de Duke.
Shuttle Service
Navette
R&G Transportation Service offers transportation between the airport and the Durham hotels. Its ticket counters are located in the baggage claim areas of each terminal; the cost is $17 one way per person. You may call R & G Transportation Service Reservations at 800/840-2738 or 919/840-0262 beginning two weeks prior to your arrival. Calls for pick-up to return to the airport must be made at least three hours in advance. The Regal University Hotel also runs its own free airport shuttle.
R&G Transportation Service fournit un service de navette entre l'aéroport
et les hôtels. On trouvers son guichet près de la réclamation
de baggages dans les deux terminaux; le prix est de $17 aller simple. On
peut réserver par téléphone auprès de R &
G au numéro 800/840-2738 ou 919/840-0262 à partir de quinze
jours avant l'arrivée. Pour le retour à l'aéroport,
appeler avec au moins trois heures d'avance. L'hôtel Regal University
a sa propore navette mise au service de ses clients.
Automobile Rentals
Location de voitures
Many rental agencies have offices located in the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Shopping, cultural and entertainment areas in Durham and the Research Triangle Park are geographically dispersed.
De nombreuses agences de location sont représentées à l'aéropore de Raleigh-Durham. Les centres d'achats et centres culturels de Durham et du Research Triangle Park sont géographiquement assez dispersés. Parmi les agences: Rental Agencies include, but are not limited to:
Avis 800-831-2841
Dollar Rent a Car 800-800-4000
Enterprise Rent-a-Car 800-325-8007
Hertz 800-654-3131
National Car Rental 800-227-7368
Thrifty 800-367-2277
Triangle Rent a Car 800-643-7368
Area Maps
To view maps of the campus or the local area you may visit the Duke
University Website for local information at:
http://www.adm.duke.edu/maps
The location of the the Sanford Center (no. 25) is reached by selecting Area Maps, then West Area, followed by choosing grid 2. Science Drive, where the Sanford Center is located, is reached by selecting Streets and Roads. The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau is reached by selecting Visitor Information.
Cartes de la région
Pour voir le campus ou la région, visitez le site suivant sur la Toile :
http://www.adm.duke.edu/maps
Pour situer le Sanford Center (nº 25), choisissez Area Maps, puis
West Area et la section 2 de la grille. Choisissez Streets and Roads pour
identifier Science Drive, qui est sa rue. Sous la rubrique Visitor Information
vous trouverez également le Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau.
PAPERS
In order that there be sufficient time for discussion, as is the tradition at these meetings, oral presentations must not exceed 25 minutes.
As a courtesy to attendees who have some difficulty following oral presentations in French or English, please bring some copies of you paper to make available to them. This will allow for a much more productive exchange among all participants.
In preparing your paper, please use MLA style. French references to Rousseau's works should be made to the Pléiade edition; English references to the current Collected Writings at University Press of New England. Use standard references (and/or translations) for classical writers.
In order for papers to be included in the acts to be published in Pensée Libre no. 8, it must reach us in unformatted diskette file form (or by e-mail attachment), accompanied by a printed copy, before 1 August 1999. The written text should not exceed 6000 words, or about 15 pages at 25 lines per page.
Please remember that to be on the program you must be member of Rousseau Association; if you are not presently a member, please add the $22 dues ($7.50 US for students and retired persons) to the registration form. Or contact John Scott, Department of Political Science, University of Houston, Houston TX 77204-3474; tel. 713-743-3905, fax: 713-743-3927; e-mail jtscott@uh.edu.
Questions? Contact jjrousseau@duke.edu
or Dana Ellington 919 660-4304 Fax 919 660-4330
COMMUNICATIONS
Afin de respecter les traditions de l'Association qui laissent une bonne place à la discussion de chaque communication, on vous rappelle que les présentations ne doivent pas dépasser 25 minutes.
Il serait souhaitable que vous mettiez quelques exemplaires de votre communication orale à la disposition de ceux qui auront du mal à vous suivre en français. Cette petite attention facilitera les débats pour tous.
En rédigeant votre communication, respectez les normes MLA dans la mesure du possible. Pour les Anciens, utilisez des références ou traductions les plus conventionnelles. Toute citations de Rousseau se réféerera à l'édition de la Pléiade.
Nous vous rappellons aussi que pour que votre texte apparaisse dans les actes du colloque (Pensée Libre nº 8), il doit nous parvenir sur disquette (ou par appendice de courriel) sans mise en page, accompagnée d'une copie-papier du texte, avant le 1er août 1999. Les textes écrits ne doivent pas dépasser 6000 mots, soit 15 pages à raison de 25 lignes par page.
Veuillez vous rappeler que pour participer au programme il faut
être membre de l'Association Rousseau. Si vous ne vous êtes
pas encore abonné(e), vous pouvez ajouter la cotisation de $22 US
au formulaire d'inscription ($7.50 US ou $10 C pour
étudiants et retraités). Ou mettez-vous directement
en contact avec John Scott, Department of Political Science, University
of Houston, Houston TX 77204-3474; tel. 713-743-3905, fax: 713-743-3927;
e-mail jtscott@uh.edu.
Des Questions? Contactez jjrousseau@duke.edu
ou Philip Stewart 919 660-3122 fax 919 684-4029
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La Forqueray Jean-Phillipe Rameau (1683-1764)
La Laborde
Antoine Forqueray ("le père") (1671-1745)
Jean-Baptiste Forqueray ("le fils") (1699-1782)
La Forqueray Forqueray
Tombeau les regrets Le Sieur de Ste Colombe (fl. 1675)
Tombeau pour Lully Marin Marais (1656-1728)
La Cottin Forqueray
La Folia Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Folies d'Espagne Marin Marais
La Leclair Forqueray
Forqueray la superbe François Couperin (1668-1733)
La Couperin Forqueray
La Buisson Forqueray
La Marella Forqueray
Le Caprice Bellemont Marin Marais
Le Tourbillon Marin Marais
La Bellemont Forqueray
La Portugaise Forqueray
La Marais Jean-Phillipe Raineau
Allegro Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764)
La Regent Forqueray
La Bouron Forqueray
La Rameau Forqueray
Le Carillon de Passy Forqueray
Jupiter Forqueray
Back in the late 1980s I began to hear rumors that an art film (not a documentary) was being produced in France dealing with the 17th- and 18th-century viola da gamba players Marin Marais and Antoine Forqueray. Like many of my esoteric gambist friends, I looked forward to seeing how the film-makers would deal with this subject, which I assumed would focus on the rivalry between Marais, who was said to play like an angel, and Forqueray, who was said to play like a devil. When the film finally came out in the 1990s, it turned out that Forqueray was not even mentioned and the plot focused on the imagined relationship between Marais and the family of his viol teacher, Ste Colombe.
Taking two historical anecdotes as a premise, one that young Marais hid under his teacher's tree-house to listen to Ste Colombe practice and another that the old man had several daughters whom he taught to play, the film invented a romance between Marais and one of the girls. Tous le matins du monde starred Gerard Depardieu as the adult Marais and his own son Guillaume as the teenage Marais. The story was at times beautifully portrayed, although the pathos was often a bit much, even for an old "softy" like me. The faked viol playing was actually ludicrous, although all the members of the cast had been required to learn some viol technique as part of their preparation. (I am told that young Guillaume Depardieu, later in prison for cocaine possession, continued to practice viol for pleasure.)
The real star of the show was Jordi Savall, who played the viol for the soundtrack. In fact, the recording he made of various Marais and Ste Colombe pieces for this film actually hit #1 on the pop charts in France, surpassing even Michael Jackson. The film and the soundtrack inspired many people to learn the viol and also got me thinking about a dramatic setting of the life and music of the other guy Forqueray.
While I admit that some of what I present in this evening's "entertainment" is historical fiction, the core of a really good story exists in documents, paintings, and the music itself. I did not have to invent a stormy relationship between Antoine Forqueray (1671-1745) and his son, Jean-Baptiste (1699-1782). That survives in letters, newspapers, and official accounts, since they were both associated with the royal chamber music establishment at the highest level and also played in public concerts.
Two paintings record the physical appearance of the Forquerays. One from 1737 by Frédou shows a mature Jean-Baptiste playing his viol. (Frédou also painted one of Jean-Baptiste's second wife Marie-Rose seated near the harpsichord in 1745.) The only painting to show Forqueray père is ascribed to Robert Tournières and is titled La Barre and Other Musicians. In this famous painting we presume that of the two flutists shown, La Barre is the one seated in front. But who is the viol player, and who is the young man standing behind him? Musicologist Pierre Jacquier argues that this player is Antoine Forqueray, partly because he does not look like the famous painting of Marais holding his viol sideways, but also because his viol bridge is placed differently. Marais's bridge is centered with the C-holes, while both the instrument in the La Barre group and the one in the Frédou portrait of Jean-Baptiste show a bridge placed lower on the belly. What a sound that must have produced! Jacquier thinks that the young man standing behind Antoine is the young Jean-Baptiste, and it does look like a youthful version of the Frédou portrait. If so, is he listening to a rehearsal? Have he and Dad started fighting yet? Jacquier dates the painting to around 1715.
There are other portraits of Forqueray and Marais surviving from the 18th century! I believe that many musicians and individuals were portrayed in the compositions dedicated to them. Here I am on subjective ground, for allegory in Baroque music is complex stuff. Still, I can't help but note that Rameau's piece titled "La Marais" is a sunny gavotte in D major, while his "La Forqueray" is a bold fugato in D minor. The piece titled "La Forqueray" in the 1745 print of Antoine's music is a wild Italianate (not an elegant French) corrente, also in D minor. I believe that Antoine composed the music but that his son added the title, observing that the piece portrayed his father's devilish playing style.
Other pieces in the Forqueray print can be seen in this portrait light. "La Couperin" is grand, while "La Leclair" is a brilliant Italian gigue, referring I am sure to the violin playing of Jean-Marie Leclair, who had learned from a pupil of Corelli. "La Regente," the Duke of Orl6ans, was, we know, an arrogant fellow. Yet in a print dedicated to the Princess Henriette, daughter of Louis XV and Jean-Baptiste's viol student, we are not likely to hear an insulting sound portrait of her deceased relative. But does the portrait come from father or son? Antoine was close to the Regent, while Jean-Baptiste was almost banished because of him. Maybe the piece is simply a noble (and worldly-wise) portrayal of royal dignity and patronage. Jean-Baptiste knew who buttered his baguette. "La Laborde" probably refers to Benjamin Laborde, an I Sth-century polymath who had been a child prodigy. As the opening piece in the 1745 set, does this symbolize the youthful Forquerays as prodigies?
The viol player Bellemont was known to have accompanied both Marais and Forqueray. He must have realized chords on the viol, rolling his arpeggios slowly across the strings, for both rivals include this technique in their Bellemont pieces. And what about Marais? I think he was grateful to his composition teacher, Lully. But Marais's "Tombeau," while probably sincere, also captures some of the self-importance of this brilliant but ruthless man. Lully was mean! Much has been written comparing and contrasting the music of Marais and Forqueray. I wish only to add that some of Marais's later pieces in Books IV and V might be viewed as responses not only to Italian musicians but to Forqueray himself. "Le Tourbillon" is certainly as "devilish" as anything written by the other guy.
The fifth and last of the published Forqueray suites is also the most difficult to play. "La Rameau" contains what Nicholas Hamoncourt and many others have called the most difficult passage in the solo viol literature, a sequence of seven chords perhaps referring to Rameau's own harmonic language. The piece also opens and closes with a triad, unusual for Forqueray as well as Marais and his school. Does it refer to Rameau's theoretical writings on triads?
For years I wondered about "Jupiter," the last piece in this suite. No feminine "La" (la Musique) is given in this title. John Hsu helped me learn how to play the "thunderbolt" passages, but it was in reading Greek and Roman myths to my own children that I was reminded of the story of Saturn devouring the children. (It's not 18th-century, but remember the disturbing Goya painting?) Jean-Baptiste saw himself as survivor and victor in his complex relationship with his father, aided by his mother. Tough to play and hard to swallow, this music and story are too good to ignore. How much will I make on the movie version? Can I persuade Francis Ford Coppola to direct? If we get Leonardo di Caprio to play Forqueray, will he learn the viol?
Brent Wissick is Associate Professor of Music at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Elaine Funaro recently recorded a CD of 20th-century harpsichord
music.
Ruth Johnsen is conductor of the Piedmont Youth Orchestra.
David Abbott is a graduate student in Physics at North Carolina
State University.
John Pringle builds viols in Efland NC.
James Rolleston is professor of German at Duke.