Age does not necessarily beget wisdom. But as our ensemble, The Marais Project, enters its “Tweens”, (the term coined by marketers to describe the almost-teenager-yet-no-longer-child), we thought it timely to reflect on where we as a group, and the Australian early music movement more generally, might be headed. Although we are engaged in the professional end of the early music spectrum, we hope that the question of how to keep the historically-informed performance movement vibrant will also be of interest to all of those who love early music.
The Marais Project was founded in 2000 to support Jennifer’s desire to perform the complete works of Marin Marais, the great French viola da gambist, court musician and composer of the mid-French baroque era. Now in its 10th year, that original goal is in sight and will be achieved in about three years. We thus find ourselves in a quandary similar to other more illustrious ensembles that focus on music written before 1800. That is, when we have presented the primary repertoire, what comes next? Do we go back and play all of Marais again for those who may have missed all or some of our efforts the first time around? (Lets be frank, Marais does not have the wide popular appeal of Vivaldi’s “Four Season” or Handel’s “Messiah”!) Do we extend our repertoire outside of the French baroque? Should we play all old viol music regardless of artistic judgments as to its quality and test the commitment of our audience? Having achieved our stated aim of playing all of Marais from end to end, another valid alternative is simply to close up shop and start something new.
Artistic questions of “where to next” are not unique to early music. Nor do we believe that there is one correct answer as to how we, or any other historically-orientated ensemble, might develop in the future. We do have some ideas and experiences to draw upon. While not neglecting the central repertoire, we suggest that there are three broad options early musicians might choose to explore or, in some cases, continue to explore.
Option 1: Create new repertoire
Any number of historical ensembles has commissioned new music and we believe that this is a practice that should be encouraged. However, we acknowledge that there is disagreement on this point. Some critics argue that composing for old instruments is an anachronism at best and an embarrassment at worst. In this view the viola da gamba was superseded by a superior instrument, the cello, in a great Darwinian battle for the survival of the fittest. Having lost that battle around 1780, the viola da gamba and instruments like it are fossils with the status of a musicological footnote. The unarticulated rationale behind this view is more often than not based on the modernist position that art, like living creatures, evolves inexorably from lesser to greater complexity. Palestrina is thus a stepping stone to Bach who lays the platform for Ligeti in a great upwardly ascending evolutionary line. Ideology aside, the creation of new music, whatever the idiom, is in itself renewing. It keeps performers alert, audiences on their toes and contemporary composers in work! Although 21st century music is unlikely to dominate our concerts in future years, we will continue to commission and perform new music as a way of bringing the unique qualities and sonorities of the viola da gamba to audiences. Each new work does not need in itself to be groundbreaking in style or harmony although hopefully some will be. The important thing in our mind is to avoid stagnation and extend artistic and technical horizons.
Option 2: Identify fellow travelers from other musical genres
During the Baroque era professional “classical” musicians were multi-skilled compared to many of their 20th and 21st century counterparts. Most composers also performed on a regular basis. Some like Bach and Mozart played several instruments competently. Musicians, both amateur and professional, were taught to improvise as is clear from the many treatises that have survived; gentlemen and women were expected to be able to realise a thorough bass competently on the keyboard. The present day musical genre with the skill-set most similar to that of the baroque would appear to be jazz, a term that now applies to a very broad set of music from swing through to blues and atonal improvisation. Jazz and baroque musicians have much in common: both play from semi-sketched “charts”, they improvise for a living, use the harmonic cycle of fifths beloved by JS Bach, and many compose as a matter of course. Jazz also maintains the tradition of “sitting in” whereby visiting elite players from overseas, or local junior performers at the start of their careers, can be asked to join the house band from the audience to render a few standards. This wonderful practice has the dual effect of blooding young players and spreading innovation – not via learned articles – but through the practice of art itself.
It seemed natural then, for us to approach renowned jazz pianist, Kevin Hunt, who specialises in “re-composing” and improving on classical music including Bach, Ravel and Messiaen. We initially requested Kevin first to write for us and subsequently to perform in the ensemble on the harpsichord. The latter involving a semi-composed work in which Hunt coached The Marais Project artists to improvise freely. This resulted in a first time performance on harpsichord for Kevin, and the first professional outing as an “improviser” for several of The Marais Project instrumentalists. Similarly, we invited world music greats “Mara!” to do a joint concert with us in 2008 which was subsequently recorded and broadcast by the ABC in May 2009. Mara! double bassist Steve Elphick has been a core member of some of Australia’s most advanced jazz ensembles for almost 30 years but he had never played a baroque bass continuo line in public. He achieved this goal in the music of Marin Marais, of course! Similarly, this program offered singer Mara Kiek, who draws on Eastern European folk music voice production techniques, and classically trained soprano Belinda Montgomery, the opportunity to blend their talents in a 13th century song cycle by Martin Codax. Similarly, percussionist Graham Hilgendorf from Japanese drumming ensemble Taikoz and the Sydney Symphony also joined us for a rare experience of early music repertoire. In one sense, we are trying to modify the jazz idea of “sitting” in by opening the flow of artistic dialogue and not limiting our performances to those who have been trained in baroque techniques.
It is easy to dismiss such activities as “one offs” but our experience is that musicians and audiences alike enjoy the opportunity. As with commissioning new works, partnership experiments are potentially artistically refreshing. They build valuable links between musicians of differing genres and attract new audiences without undermining an ensemble’s commitment to its core repertoire.
Option 3: Combine with other art forms
In recent years multidisciplinary artistic events have become all the rage. Dance ensembles such as “Legs on the Wall” combine with a range of musicians and images in performance. The Australian Chamber Orchestra recently revived a concert of music accompanied by projected images from photographer Bill Henson. Only 70 or 80 years ago live musicians provided the action backdrop to silent films. Chamber music composed before 1800 is very open to multidisciplinary explorations as it was not conceived with a sit down, black-suited concert in mind. Sacred music had its own purpose in formal worship as did secular compositions. Bach moved freely from his Church duties to Civil responsibilities for the City and then on to Zimmerman’s Coffee Shop – as did his colleagues of the time. It is easy to forget that the notion of the formal, secular concert held in a purpose-built concert hall did not come about to any great extent until the industrial revolution spun off a middle class who had time and money on their hands. Prior to that point music was performed in homes and at court, often to the background of chatter, and even while meals were being served. Amateurs and professionals mixed freely. During the time of Marais, ballet was as popular as instrumental music and opera at the Court of Louis XIV and the king himself expected to be assigned a major role as a dancer, a ritual adhered to without question by his court composer, the great Lully. The point being, audiences did not necessarily sit in the same kind of hushed silence we have adopted for a contemporary symphony concert or opera performance. Artistic and other distractions often accompanied the notes played.
If we are prepared to be less precious about what a concert is or is not in the first decade of the 21st century, we are potentially open to an interesting range of artistic possibilities. We hope that early musicians will boldly continue to combine with dancers, poetry, historic readings, PowerPoint slides and film. Why care if some experiments are not successful? Failure is part of life and of art.
For our part, the Marais Project has featured the dancers of The Early Dance Consort on many occasions and even commissioned a short ballet by Stephen Yates which we recently recorded for our new CD. We have held poetry readings from the time of Marais, created a concert based on the book “Tous le Matins du Monde”, and given concerts in collaboration with ceramic and other artists. These kinds of events ensure that early music, and the musicians who perform it, do not sit outside the mainstream in some museum corner, but are dynamic participants in the artistic activities of the communities they live in.
Final thoughts
In closing, after 10 years we still believe that there is much left for us to do. We would like to thank our audience and colleagues for their support thus far. We also wish the next generation of early musicians all encouragement for the future knowing that they must, and will, push the boundaries further. It is their job to make us uncomfortable at times!
Philip Pogson & Jennifer Eriksson
Philip Pogson originally trained as a classical musician in Australia and Europe and now works as a strategic advisor and consultant. He acts as Business Development Manager for The Marais Project. Jennifer Eriksson adopted the viola da gamba after being educated at Sydney Conservatorium as a cellist. She then spent three years in The Netherlands studying the viola da gamba with Jaap ter Linden. In addition to directing The Marais Project, Jennifer is also Director of Sounds Baroque, an ensemble that performs modified versions of baroque operas on historical instruments as part of the Musica Viva In Schools Program. Jenny and Philip have been married for 25 years.