François COUPERIN (1668-1733)
Messe à l’usage ordinaire des paroisses, por les fêtes solennelles (1690)
[51:00]
Marc-Antoine CHARPENTIER (1643-1704)
Messe pour plusieurs instruments au lieu des orgues (1674) [15:58]
David Ponsford (organ)
rec. 1-4 July 2012, Prytanée National Militaire, La Flèche, Sarthe, France
NIMBUS ALLIANCE NI 6225 [66:54]
The rocket-launch opening to Francois Couperin’s Messe à l’usage ordinaire
des paroisses, por les fêtes solennelles is one of my favourite moments
in organ music, so I was well up for experiencing it as a follow-up to David
Ponsford’s excellent previous volume on NI
6213.
The reedy, throaty tones of the historical Levasseur/Dangeville organ at the
Prytanée National Militaire certainly do not disappoint, with plenty of character
and power and all of that French pungency which makes glorious music into
something which can insinuate itself into your very soul. There is no lack
of subtlety or contrast in this piece or the way it is performed however,
and even at 51 minutes I still come away feeling rejuvenated. As an organist
of long experience – he inherited his father’s post as organist at St Gervais
in Paris at the age of eleven – Couperin would have known what kind of music
would keep his congregations awake, and this Messe is full of secular
dance styles and ingenious adaptations of the Mass’s plainchant origins. David
Ponsford’s booklet notes also point out the contrast in performance styles
between Italian and French influences, so that rhythmic inégalité
is not eternally pervasive.
Charpentier’s Messe pour plusieurs instruments au lieu des orgues
is related to Couperin’s work in more ways than one, and the questions of
cross-pollination between the two composers is raised by Ponsford in his notes.
This work was originally not for solo organ as the title suggests, and alternative
recordings use instrumental ensembles of winds and strings. David Ponsford
has transcribed Charpentier’s Messe for organ and this is its première
recording in this form. The score is incomplete in any case, but the echo
effects of the Offertoire were considered impossible for performance
on a solo organ and so this has been dropped from this version. The remaining
Kyrie and Gloria do however make highly convincing organ
pieces in the context of this genre, and as Ponsford points out, the chance
is good that these 14 movements represent something like the daily improvised
organ masses of the period.
These two volumes from Nimbus Alliance, NI 6213 and NI 6225 belong very much
together, and with excellent recordings and performances I can’t recommend
them too highly. The historic organ sound is perhaps an acquired taste if
you are used to the more woolly and generous tones of later instruments, but
if you really like your Couperin then you know in your heart of hearts that
this is where his music really belongs. Once you’ve heard these I suspect
you will soon be hooked, and after that there’s no turning back.
Dominy Clements
The real deal when it comes to Churchy Couperin.
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