Louis MARCHAND (1669 – 1732)
Livre des Pièces de Clavecin
« Livre de Suittes pour le clavecin composé par Monsieur de Charman(t) cordelier, et arrangé par Renard, à Paris, 1754 »
Recueil des Airs pour le clavecin (excerpts)
« Recueil des Airs différents pour le clavessin composés par plusieurs auteurs, collectés par P. Renard, avec les parties en concert, et la basse, à Paris, [illegible date] »Anonymous
Louis-Claude DAQUIN (1694 – 1772)
Anonymous
Anonymous
Louis MARCHAND
Jean-Baptiste FORQUERAY (1699 – 1782)
The works contained in the present CD belong to a mid-18th century manuscript book discovered in 2003 in a private French music collection. The 132-page manuscript has been inherited by the present owners in 1976 from the dissolved Forestieri-Steiner fund and constitutes an additional hand-written source of 18th century French harpsichord music. The book includes copies of well known music collections of early 18th century, namely by François Couperin, Jean-Phlippe Rameau, Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, Louis-Claude Daquin, Louis Marchand and other minor composers active in Paris around 1740, such as de Bury and Royer.
An early assessment of the Forestieri-Steiner manuscript suggests that the whole book should have been assembled for personal use by a single musician, probably a close friend, a colleague or a pupil of Louis Marchand. This assessment is supported by the presence of unpublished works to be undoubtedly attributed to Louis Marchand and his school [Rosenthal, 2005]. The manuscript includes a series of nineteen pieces not known from other sources or registered in public or private accessible archives and collections. These nineteen compositions are split in two different collections contained in the manuscript, which are at the centre of the present recording: the Livre de Suittes pour le clavecin composé par Monsieur de Charman(t) cordelier, et arrangè par Renard, à Paris, 1754 and the Recueil des Airs différentes pour le clavessin composées par plusieurs auteurs, collectées par P. Renard, avec les parties en concert, et la basse, à Paris, [illegible date].
Livre de Suittes pour le clavecin composé par Monsieur de Charman(t) cordelier, et arrangé par Renard, à Paris, 1754
Louis Marchand is today known as one of the most famous and skilled organists of the beginning of the 18th century. His fame was spread well outside the French borders, and accompanied him during the four years of travel throughout Germany he was forced to undertake in 1713 after a dramatic confrontation with King Louis XIV during a public musical event in Paris [Marpurg, 1754]. His published harpsichord compositions consist of two short books published by Ballard respectively in 1699 and 1703 and the air La Venitienne, a single piece part of a collection of Pièces choisis pour le clavecin also published by Ballard in 1707. The rest of his remaining output is made up of a limited number of organ pieces, all composed before 1710. No other keyboard music by Marchand survives, including the largest part of the five organ books. Claims of several contemporary sources [Titon du Tillet, 1732] [La Borde, 1780], however, report that he did not stop being active as a composer over the last thirty years of his life.Despite his widespread fame as a celebrated organist, the harpsichord did not play a secondary role in Marchand’s musical interests. Contemporary chronicles report that he was an excellent teacher, an outstanding performer and a brilliant improviser at the harpsichord. In addition, the variety of keyboard instruments he kept at home during the last years of his life is surprisingly long. The inventory made by his wife after his death includes, among other instruments, three harpsichords and seven spinets. This number must be regarded as very large, when considering for example the legacy of François Couperin, consisting of just one harpsichord, three spinets and a “cabinet d’orgue” [Lescat, 2003]. In this context, it shall not therefore be considered surprising that other works by Marchand are finally being rediscovered today.
Contrary to what is reported in the heading of the Forestieri-Steiner manuscript, the Livre consists of a single very extended suite of fourteen pieces, all in c minor, except the Prélude and the Musette en rondeau, both in C major. The collection reflects the typical organisation of the harpsichord suite of early 18th century in France. The standard series of dances, established in the late 17th century by Lebègue and made up of allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue, is integrated with several galanteries, according to an established practice of that age. The order of the pieces as presented in this recording however differs from the original sequence of the manuscript. This choice has been autonomously made by the performer in order to maximise formal homogeneity and consequent musical impact.
A more accurate scrutiny of the structure of the Livre reveals complex stratifications of music, attributions and composition dates [Rosenthal, 2005]. Roughly, the Livre may be subdivided into two different groups of compositions:
- A first group of works made consists of the first eight entries in the Forestieri-Steiner manuscript, namely: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue d’orgue, Autre courante, Gavotte en rondeau, Chaconne, Air tendre. This first group of compositions constitutes per se a complete suite according to the established formal patterns of early French 18th century music. This body of compositions probably belong to a never published book of harpsichord works and should be attributed to Louis Marchand for its largest part, with possible side interventions and additions of his pupils and other musicians [Rosenthal, 2005]. A summary of the arguments leading to this assessment is reported below. It is likely that all these pieces were written in different periods before Marchand left France, i.e. roughly between 1705 and 1713. The reason why this magnificent suite has never been published during Marchand’s life is not known.
- A second group of compositions is made of the last six entries in the Forestieri-Steiner manuscript and appears in the following sequence: Prélude, Musette en rondeau, Badinage en rondeau, Menuet, Autre allemande, Loure en sicilienne. This set is less homogeneous in style than the first, and it includes compositions of different origin, including possible transcriptions from chamber music settings. The authorship of this second section of the Livre is doubtful. The manuscript attributes the Prélude to Renard, an author whose identity remains to date completely obscure. Stylistic evidence leads one to consider a few pieces, such as the bi-partite(?) air L’Angéline, works of non-French derivation. Les Regards has the bass line figured, suggesting a possible performance in trio. L’Indifferente is most likely the transcription of a duet for two treble instruments or viols. It is questionable whether these works derive from late unpublished compositions by Marchand rather than late elaborations on his works or, alternatively, entirely spurious additions.