Couperin, F: Messe à l'usages des Couvents (Organ Mass for Convents)

Dame Gillian Weir's first and seminal recordings were made for Argo/Decca. They have systematically been issued in Australia and the final instalment brings her recording of the two Couperin Organ Masses, expertly and enchantingly performed on the organ of the Prediger-Kirche, Zurich. The Couperin scholar David Tunley provides the engaging liner notes.

French organ music from the period of Louis XIV to the Revolution has always held fascination for performers and listeners alike. The kaleidoscope of colours, the rich and varied styles, and the sheer exuberance of the music never fail to captivate. Yet, performance practice of this music has never been fully understood. David Ponsford has spent much of his career studying this repertoire, resulting in his book French Organ Music in the Reign of Louis XIV (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The present series of recordings, including the music of Louis Couperin, André Raison, Jacques Boyvin, François Couperin, Nicolas de Grigny, Louis Marchand, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, up to composers of the Revolution such as Balbastre, Beauvarlet Charpentier and Lesceux, is therefore the fruit of many years of research by a seasoned performer whose aim is to combine technical brilliance with intellectual understanding, to bring the music alive with authority and meaning.

The complete organ Masses of the Grand master of French Baroque, Francois Couperin.

Couperin was a keyboard virtuoso, both on the harpsichord and organ; he wrote these Masses as principal organist of the St. Gervais Church in Paris. The ornamental French style of Couperin is blended with Italian influences with the emphasis on fluent melodic lines and daring chromaticisms in harmony.

New recording, by international prize winning organist Adriano Falcioni (who already recorded the organ works of Cesar Franck, BC 94349) and the female vocal group Armoniosoincanto.

François Couperin, the most important member of the renowned Couperin dynasty, is the foremost composer of the French Baroque. A prodigiously talented keyboard player, he inherited the post of organist at the church of St Gervais in Paris when he was just eleven years old, subsequently dividing his time between the capital and Versailles upon becoming organiste du Roi in 1693. Spanning two CDs, this recording focuses on two works associated with the organ in the former church: Messe pour les couvents and the Messe pour les paroisses. The florid ornamentation that is so characteristic of the French Baroque is present in much of Couperin’s work.

However, Couperin was heavily influenced by the Italian style which, as well as the influences of opera and the cantata, can be heard throughout the Messe pour les couvents. In Couperin’s time, composition for the Mass was heavily regulated, but a lack of regulation with regard to the Offertory allowed the composer more freedom to explore chromaticism in this work. The Offertories of both Masses are treated on a particularly grand scale, and are highlights of this recording.

Adriano Falcioni, a leading European organist, has been a finalist and prizewinner of many international competitions. Having already recorded Cesar Franck’s Complete Organ Music for Brilliant Classics, he is joined on this recording by female vocal ensemble Armoniosoincanto, whose voices are renowned for their pure and distinctive tones. This winning combination of performers makes the recording a must-buy.

To persuade and move - such was the aim of the preachers and church musicians who vied with one another in eloquence in the 17th century. Bossuet and Bourdaloue gave their orations from the pulpit, while Couperin, at the organ of St Gervais, depicted with strength and conviction the ‘divers passions’ aroused by the liturgy. To persuade and move - such was the aim of the preachers and church musicians who vied with one another in eloquence in the 17th century. Bossuet and Bourdaloue gave their orations from the pulpit, while Couperin, at the organ of St Gervais, depicted with strength and conviction the ‘divers passions’ aroused by the liturgy. Aude Heurtematte, resident organist since 1989 of the historic seventeenth-century organ of the church of St Gervais was able to record these two masses in 2004. This recording is a unique testimony of François Couperin’s works on the Couperin’s instrument.

Two of Couperin’s sacred choral works for chant and organ are presented on this release. Messe des Paroissse (Mass for ordinary use by parishes for solemn feasts) and Messe des Couverts (Mass for convents of religious orders of both sexes). French organist, Pierre Bardon plays the magnificent instrument of the Basilica of the Royal Convent of Saint-Maximin. These sumptuous masses are beautifully performed and sung by Ensemble Vox Cantoris.