L'Achéron

Sainte-Colombe le Fils, Viol pieces

François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gamba
L'ACHÉRON

The Sainte-Colombe family remains a source of mystery to this day: the first name and the origins of the father, who taught Marin Marais and composed numerous pieces for one or two viols, remains hidden in the mists of time. The same obscurity surrounds his son or sons: records show a few traces of him in London and Edinburgh around 1700, although all that is really known of him comes from the Pieces de viole recorded here; these five suites of dances in the French style, including a Tombeau pour Mr de Sainte-Colombe le pere, have survived in a non-autograph manuscript. The version presented here breaks with the usual interpretations of these Pieces de Viole, as it includes a reconstruction of a basso continuo part as was common in works by composers of the son's generation.