Composer: François Couperin
Performer: Jochewed , Emer Buckley
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0203
Release: 2014
Size: 419 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Les Nations, 4th Ordre, “La Piemontoise” (version for 2 harpsichords)
01. I. Gravement, et rondement
02. I. Vivement
03. I. Gravement, notes egales et rondement
04. I. Vivement, et marque
05. I. Air, Gracieusement
06. I. Second Air
07. I. Air, Gracieusement
08. I. Gravement, et marque
09. I. Legerement
10. II. Allemande: Noblement, et sans lenteur
11. III. Courante
12. IV. Courante II: Un peu plus gayement
13. V. Sarabande: Tendrement
14. VI. Rondeau: Gayement
15. VII. Gigue: Affectueusement; quoy-que legerement
Pieces de clavecin, Book 2:
16. 6th Ordre in B-Flat Major: Les Baricades misterieuses (vivement) (version for 2 harpsichords)
Concerts royaux
17. Concerto No. 1 in G major: VI. Menuet en Trio (version for 2 harpsichords)
Pieces de clavecin, Book 3
18. 16th Ordre in G Major-Minor: La Letiville (version for 2 harpsichords)
Les Nations, 2nd Ordre, “L’Espagnole” (version for 2 harpsichords)
19. I. Gravement, et mesure
20. I. Vivement
21. I. Affectueusement
22. I. Legerement
23. I. Gayement
24. I. Air tendre
25. I. Vivement, et marque
26. II. Allemande: Gracieusement
27. III. Courante: Noblement
28. IV. Courante II: Un peu plus vivement
29. V. Sarabande: Gravement
30. VI. Gigue louree: Moderement
31. VII. Gavote: Tendrement, sans lenteur
32. VIII. Rondeau: Affectueusement
33. IX. Bouree: Gayement – Double de la Bouree precedente
34. X. Passacaille: Noblement, et marque
Pieces de clavecin, Book 3
35. 14th Ordre in D Major-Minor: La Julliet (version for 2 harpsichords)
Concerts royaux: Concerto No. 3 in A Major
36. VI. Muzette (version for 2 harpsichords)
François Couperin’s two collections of chamber music – the Concerts Royaux (1722) and Les Nations (1726) – use what today would be called open scoring, so that they could be performed by whatever instruments were to hand.
He confessed in a later publication that he himself preferred to perform them on two harpsichords.
That suggestion had to wait for this series of two CDs to be taken up in a recording (the second CD has been recorded and is in preparation).
Here Les Nations and movements from the Concerts Royaux are presented with a number of his Pièces de clavecin, also in rarely heard realisations for two harpsichords.
Emer Buckley was born in Dublin, Jochewed Schwarz in Tel Aviv. Emer lives in Paris, performing as soloist and continuo player, and teaches at the Conservatoire de Lille. After studies in Basel and Paris, Jochewed returned to Israel where she lives today, performing, directing and producing concerts. In spite of living in different countries Emer and Jochewed take every opportunity of making music together.
François Couperin’s chamber collection, Les Nations, is divided into four groups or ordres of trio sonatas and dance suites representing the musical styles of 18th century Europe, under the headings La Françoise, L’Espagnole, L’Impériale, and La Piémontoise. The work is usually played on two violins, cello, and harpsichord, in the manner of the Italian trio sonata, though the score doesn’t specify instrumentation, so performances with oboes, recorders, and various continuo instruments, such as the guitar and theorbo, are possible. In the case of this recording, the first of two volumes on Toccata Classics covering Les Nations and various other pieces, Jochewed Schwarz and Emer Buckley play two harpsichords, following Couperin’s admission in a later publication that he preferred to play the pieces at the keyboard. The music is evenly divided between the two instruments, and it works well in this arrangement, though this is the first recording of Les Nations as a keyboard work and may strike some listeners as a novelty. Yet Couperin was one of the masters of harpsichord music in the Baroque era, so this interpretation, derived as it is from the composer’s own statement, certainly validates the approach. Schwarz and Buckley play with a strong sense of rhythm and full sound, and this is a genuinely exciting performance that should win many supporters.