The 'authentic' performance
of the great French Classical organ
repertoire, generally considered to
have peaked with the music of Couperin
and de Grigny, on an 'authentic' instrument
is, unfortunately, more or less an impossibility.
During the 18th century the organ style
developed; 16' reed stops appeared in
both manual and pedal; Couperin of course
had no pedal 16 stop at all, the number
of reeds increases in general, (The
Positif de Dos also has a Trompette,
The Grand Orgue 2, and 2 Clairons),
the Gros Nasard appears, the Gros Tierce
becomes more common. By the time the
last member of the great French organ
building family Clicquot, Francois-Henri,
had completed his masterpiece in Poitiers
Cathedral in 1790, one hundred years
had elapsed since Couperin had written
his organ masses. And while the organ
building tradition in France in the
18th century is certainly a developing
one, rather than a diverging one, some
aesthetic grey-area is inevitable. At
the end of the day this is the music
of the sun-king played on an organ of
the revolution. An interesting parallel
will be very familiar to harpsichordists
used to playing and hearing the music
of Couperin on the instruments (and
their countless copies) of Taskin.
But unfortunately the
best-preserved baroque organs in France
are those of the late 18th century.
And of those perhaps the finest is the
Poitiers Clicquot. The sound is difficult
to describe, the reeds are just so
fine, the Pleins Jeux so sophisticated;
this is the organ-building from the
end of a great era, just forty years
later Cavaillé-Coll would complete
his first masterpiece in St Denis! And
while this is not the organ Couperin
knew, it is a seductive vehicle for
his music. The young titulaire of Poitiers,
Jean-Baptiste Robin, a former student
of Alain, Latry and Robilliard, proves
as much with strong, supple and supremely
musical performances. The masses are
presented without the accompanying Gregorian
chant, "to highlight the purely musical
content, rather than attempt a liturgical
reconstruction" as Robin writes.
The organ is one of
the greatest in Europe, the playing
is fabulous, the price is meagre. Buy
this without a moment's hesitation.
Chris Bragg
see also review
by Ian Bailey
Jean-Baptiste
Robin, organ 
