From the Artist
Conscious of the difficulties less versatile performers might encounter, Mondonville offered the following alternatives: "People who play the harpsichord but who have no voice could have the vocal part played on violin. In the absence of both violin and voice, the accompaniment alone will suffice." Hence the title "Pieces for harpsichord with voice or violin."
Product Description
If Mondonville did compose Opus 5 for his wife, her voice was certainly more than merely pleasing, because the vocal line is of a virtuosity that makes it difficult to imagine someone simultaneously performing both voice and harpsichord parts. In fact, the composer himself recommends studying the parts separately and, in the vocal part to carefully "distinguish phrases having a French flavour from those requiring an Italian flavour" - another example of this piece's fusion of styles. Indeed, one will note how the vocal part tends to alternate between French-style passages, which are more syllabic and punctuated with short, incisively accented ornaments, and Italian-style passagi, virtuosic phrases of many notes sung over a single syllable of text.
