Composer: Claude Balbastre, Michel Corrette, Jean-François Dandrieu, Pierre Dandrieu, Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer: Gaétan Jarry, Choir of the Pages du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Château de Versailles Spectacles
Catalogue: CVS025
Release: 2019
Size: 1.25 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Dandrieu P: Laissez paître vos bêtes
02. Balbastre: Où s’en vont ces gays bergers
03. Balbastre: Joseph est bien marié
04. Balbastre: Or nous dites Marie
05. Dandrieu JF: Vous qui désirez sans fin
06. Daquin: Quand le sauveur Jésus Christ
07. Daquin: Une jeune pucelle
08. Balbastre: A la venue de Noël
09. Corrette: Tous les bourgeois de Châtres
10. Daquin: Qu’Adam fut un pauvre homme
A Noel is a French Christmas carol, and the ones here are sung by Les Pages du CMBV (Centre Musique Baroque de Versailles), a children’s choir. Their voices do not soar, but they are not the stars of the show. Instead, the album is part of a series called L’age d’or de l’orgue français, and the main attraction is organist Gaétan Jarry, and even more so, the 1710 organ at the Versailles chapel. It’s a marvelous instrument, clear in all registers, lively, and bracing. The composer-organists here are largely unknown today, at least outside France, but hearing these works, the listener may understand why crowd control police had to show up for performance by the likes of Claude Balbastre (1724-1799). Jarry performs the Noels with the choir singing verses in alternation with the organ. He admits there’s no particular precedent for doing it this way, and indeed the choir tends to interrupt the organist’s momentum a bit. However, the organ variations themselves are fascinating, and the music is both enjoyable in its pleasant pastoral sounds and instructive as to the missing links between the French Baroque organ school and the virtuoso French styles of the 19th century. Clear, rich sound is a bonus on this offbeat French holiday selection.