Love's song of despair, 23 Jun 2006
Who among us was aware of Monsieur Sainte Colombe before Alain Corneau's film and Jordi Savall's musical arrangement? Regrettably few of us. Reading a book after seeing a film adaptation is generally unrewarding. In this case, however, Quinard's style and technique grant this book a special place. Even full knowledge of the tale doesn't erode the power of the narrative he's achieved.

"Monsieur Sainte Colombe" remains the most enigmatic figure in musical history. Much of what we do know derives from the journals of his student Marin Marais, musician in Louis XIV's royal court. Sainte Colombe added a seventh string to the viola da gamba, granting the instrument an extended bass range - almost sepulchrous in tone. That morosity was fully applied in much of Sainte Colombe's work as he played in isolation at the bottom of his garden. Quignard evokes feelings from the hardest heart in his descriptions of the ghost of Sainte Colombe's wife appearing to hear the master's music. "Tombeau des regrets" features large in this tale, and it is now likely Sainte Colombe's most famous work. Listen to it as you read this story.

Quignard uses an "episodic" style in this short work. Although the continuity is clear, time is adroitly jumped over from one chapter to the next. The pressure on Sainte Colombe builds even across the gaps as the time from his living wife grows more distant. Quinard imparts Sainte Colombe's despair and loneliness with eloquence and finesse. The master's mood swings are depicted with effective force. Sainte Colombe, as a Jansenist, was a man of strict character. Quignard draws his responses to challenges with intense imagery, providing us with a complex character. Sainte Colombe loves his music, his departed wife, his daughters and his religion with equal fervour. How would such a man survive?

With so little known about Sainte Colombe the man, one may challenge the value of this book as an "historical" novel. That's a false approach. Quignard portrays a man caught in a swarm of varying influences. Raising his daughters while mourning his wife confronts Sainte Colombe with conflicting priorities. Through all that he is driven by his quest for producing "real" music. Brief as this novel is, it compresses much in a few pages. It's not to be taken up lightly, nor merely to see what caused it to be made into a film. It stands successfully on its own merit. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]