Stlukesguild

I've been exploring the French Baroque for a while lately... and made a number of marvelous discoveries. I am especially struck by the grand orchestration of the operatic and choral works... including dramatic drums and brass. Of course, this was the era of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil... and the composers working in Paris were working for the most grandiose court in the whole of Europe. Bach, by comparison, was forced to compose and orchestrate with the limited resources of the largely amateur orchestra players and soloists in mind. Repeatedly, he drew criticism for composing music beyond the abilities of his players and choir. Rameau, Lully, Charpentier, etc... on the other hand... had far greater resources at hand resulting in grandiose orchestrations only found in Bach in the B-minor Mass, composed following the death of Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony and the assumption of Augustus III.

In spite all this marvelous grandiose and monumental work for orchestra and chorus and soloists, there is another... more intimate side to the French music of the period. A few days ago I picked up a marvelous disc of works for solo keyboard by François Couperin. Interestingly enough, even Couperin's choral and vocal music is composed in a strip-down, intimate manner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5SX0bL6Bik

His works for keyboard, however, are something quite special. Anyone familiar and admiring of the keyboard works of Bach, Scarlatti, and Handel should love these. While I tend to lean toward HIP (Historically Informed Performances) recordings which employ historically accurate instrumentation and performance practices in the presentation and recording of Baroque music, I have long preferred the piano to the harpsichord for the performance of solo keyboard works. Perhaps its just that the best performances of this music... such as the recordings of Bach by Glenn Gould, Rosalyn Tureck, Angela Hewitt, and most recently, Murray Perahia, have all been played upon piano. Or perhaps its just that an extended period spent with the tinkly and jangly sounds of the harpsichord becomes somewhat irritating... or as the great conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham suggested, it begins to sound like "two skeletons copulating on a tin roof in a thunderstorm".

Whatever the case may be, I greatly enjoy this latest recording of Couperin played upon piano by Alexandre Tharaud:



There are some lovely little video presentations of some of the highlights of this recording... including the title piece, Tic Toc Choc... which is presented as something of Tic Toc Hip Hop:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMD6xBIXSWo

Most of Couperin's keyboard works are based upon dance forms and are given poetic titles so that many (including Richard Strauss, who later orchestrated some) thought of them as miniature tone poems. Tic Tic Choc is an especially challenging work... as difficult to play well as some of the most virtuosic piano works of the Romantic era. The promary difficulty lies in the continual demand upon the performer for "crossing over" of hands. A video of the great Russian pianist, Grigory Sokolov, performing the same piece gives a clear idea of the difficulty of the work as his hands continually cross... fingers closely jammed together... in a blur of blinding speed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glg99Zc0JjU

Other performances on this disc include the famous Les barricades mysterieuses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDavx0eyjUY

Still another work entitled Bruit de guerre clearly conveys a martial air:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEZjJSGSqpo

This disc closes with a performances of four brief keyboard pieces entitled La Pothouïn, by the rarely recorded peer of Couperin, Jacques Duphly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq8MfVQByW4

As absolutely enchanted as I am by this recording, I will certainly be looking into Angela Hewitt's three volume set of Couperin's keyboard works: