Melancholy Grace Jean Rondeau

• Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583 - 1643):
• 1 Frescobaldi: Toccate e partite d'intavolatura, Libro II: Toccata settima 05:03
• Laurencinius di Roma (1567 - 1625):
• 2 Di Roma: Fantaisie de Monsieur de Lorency 03:23
• Luigi Rossi (1597 - 1653):
• 3 Rossi: Passacaille del seigneur Louigi 02:15
• Gregorio Strozzi (1615 - 1687):
• 4 Strozzi: Capricci da sonare cembali, et organi, Op. 4, Pt. 1: Toccata quarta per l’elevatione 05:53
• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562 - 1621):
• 5 Sweelinck: Fantasia cromatica, SwWV 258 09:26
• Giovanni Picchi (1571 - 1643):
• 6 Picchi: Intavolatura di balli d’arpicordo: No. 5, Ballo alla polacha con il suo saltarello 02:27
• John Bull (1563 - 1628):
• 7 Bull: Melancholy Pavan 06:42
• 8 Bull: Melancholy Galliard 03:07
• Anonymous:
• 9 Anonymous: Pavana lachrymae, WV 106 (Formerly Attributed to Heinrich Scheidemann) 06:09
• Giovanni Picchi:
• 10 Picchi: Intavolatura di balli d’arpicordo: No. 5, Ballo alla polacha con il suo saltarello (Alternate Version I) 00:49
• Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545 - 1607):
• 11 Luzzaschi: Il transilvano, dialogo sopra il vero modo di sonar organi & istromenti da penna, Pt. 1: Toccata del quarto tuono 02:52
• Bernardo Storace (1637 - 1707):
• 12 Storace: Selva di varie compositioni d'intavolatura per cimbalo ed organo: No. 22, Recercar di legature 05:02
• Girolamo Frescobaldi:
• 13 Frescobaldi: Toccate e partite d'intavolatura, Libro I: Toccata quarta 05:47
• 14 Frescobaldi: Toccate e partite d'intavolatura, Libro I: Toccata prima 06:32
• Giovanni Picchi:
• 15 Picchi: Intavolatura di balli d’arpicordo: No. 5, Ballo alla polacha con il suo saltarello (Alternate Version II) 00:53
• Antonio Valente (1520 - 1580):
• 16 Valente: Intavolatura de cimbalo, Book I: Sortemeplus, con alcuni fioretti (Sortez mes pleurs) 03:19
• Orlando Gibbons (1583 - 1625):
• 17 Gibbons: Fitzwilliam Virginal Book: Pavana No. 292 in A Minor 03:30
• John Dowland (1563 - 1626):
• 18 Dowland: Lachrimae, or Seven Tears: No. 7, Lachrimae verae 05:24
• Total Runtime 01:18:33

Info for Melancholy Grace

“Melancholy” is the fil rouge of the new album of the French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, with repertoire by European composers from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries including Rossi, Frescobaldi, and Dowland.

It has been recorded on two harpsichords, one of which is a historical “Virginal” from 1527, one of the first harpsichords ever made, manufactured in Naples in 1527 and property of a private collection.

Melancholy Grace is a poetic collection of keyboard music from the 16th and 17th centuries by composers from Italy, the Netherlands, England and Germany, including Frescobaldi, Luigi Rossi, Picchi, Luzzaschi, Sweelinck, Dowland, Bull and Gibbons. The French harpsichordist Jean Rondeau has conceived the album as a sombre, but eloquent dialogue between two contrasting voices: melancholy conveyed through chromaticism and melancholy conveyed through the musical expression of tears and weeping. Each voice finds expression through a different instrument: a 16th century Italian virginal (a compact harpsichord) for the ‘tears’ and a modern replica of an 18th century harpsichord for the ‘chromatic’ pieces.

Jean Rondeau, harpsichord

Jean Rondeau
studied harpsichord with Blandine Verlet for over ten years, followed by training in basso continuo, organ, piano, jazz and improvisation, and conducting. He pursued further studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris, graduating with honours, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

In 2012, at just 21 years old, he became one of the youngest performers ever to take First Prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges (MAfestival 2012), also winning the EUBO Development Trust prize; an accolade bestowed on the most promising young musician of the European Union. The same year, he claimed second place in the Prague Spring International Harpsichord Competition (64th edition of the Festival, 2012), along with a nod for the best interpretation of the contemporary piece composed specially for that contest. In 2013, he also won the Prix des Radios Francophones Publiques.

Rondeau is in demand for solo, chamber music and orchestral appearances throughout Europe and in the United States. He frequently performs with the Baroque quartet Nevermind. Quite apart from his activities as harpsichordist, he founded the ensemble Note Forget, presenting his own jazz-oriented compositions and improvisations on piano.

Rondeau is signed to Erato as an exclusive recording artist. January 2015 sees the release of his debut solo album, Imagine, dedicated to the music of J.S. Bach on harpsichord.

Booklet for Melancholy Grace