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Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

Quinque sur l’octave

Four violins · basso continuo

edited by Michael Elphinstone


The chaconne was particularly dear to French baroque composers, not least Boismortier. In one of his most original works, the Quinque sur l’octave, ou espece de dictionaire harmonique (‘Quintet based on the octave, or a type of harmonic dictionary’), Boismortier employs a chaconne to illustrate and elaborate upon the règle de l’octave (‘rule of the octave’), a formula common in the eighteenth century for the harmonisation of diatonic scales. Using the C major scale as his ground bass, he proposes increasingly varied diminutions over alternative harmonisations, and in so doing he ‘redefines’ the original règle. Scored for four violins and basso continuo, the Quinque is technically accessible, making it an ideal work for amateur violinists and school string ensembles.


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Quinque sur l’octave
hh395.fsp  · ISMN 979 0 708146 12 4 · ISBN 978 1 910359 31 0
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