Search - Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, Ensemble Mirable, Elizabeth Blumenstock (violin), Joanna Blendulf (viola da gamba), William Skeen (cello), JungHae Kim (harpsichord) Greer Ellison (flute) :: Conversations Galantes

Ensemble Mirable Conversations Galantes The quintessential light and graceful French quality of this music comes from the tradition of elegant dance music invented for the court of Louis XIV, although Guillemain?s Italian training as a violinist added an emotional vigor that delighted mid-eighteenth century Paris. These ?quartet sonatas? of Louis-Gabriel Guillemain?s opus 12 (1743) are praised by Grove?s Dictionary of Music as some his most charming music. The idea of an ensemble of flute, violin, viola da gamba and basso continuo was inherited from Georg Philipp Telemann?s six ?Parisian? quartets presented in Paris, 1738. Telemann?s performers, flutist Michel Blavet, and violist da gamba Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Forqueray le fils, joined Guillemain in this conversation exchanging brilliant witty phrases and sotto-voce background comments. In the eighteenth-century the impressive virtuosity needed to maintain this light touch and apparent ease of performance was found only in Paris. The impressive skills of Greer Ellison, flutist, Elizabeth Blumenstock, violinist, and Joanna Blendulf, violist da gamba, are readily appreciated as they shape and explore the delicate balances and intricate exchanges among their conversing parts. The support that they receive from the continuo ensemble of JungHae Kim, harpsichord, and William Skeen, violoncello, can be appreciated in the supple flow that matches the mood and spirit of every phrase. The members of Ensemble Mirable, all specialists in baroque performance from the San Francisco Bay Area also perform with Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists (San Francisco), Musica Angelica (Los Angeles), and the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Ensemble Mirable won honorable mention in the second Dorian Group/Early Music America International Recording Competition.