Couperin, F: Les Nations

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A brilliant exploration of Couperin's Les nations, suites written to capture the temperaments of different nationalities. Each suite is charmingly done. — BBC Music Magazine, January 2013, 5 out of 5 stars

Release Date: 8th Oct 2012
Catalogue No: 94427
Label: Brilliant Classics
Length: 96 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Couperin, F: Les Nations: Premier Ordre 'La Françoise'

Work length19:50

$17.00

$22.10

Musica ad Rhenum
Jed Wentz
Recorded: 2004
Recording Venue: Maria Minor, Utrecht, Netherlands

I. Gravement

Track length0:42

$1.00

$1.30

II. Gayement

Track length0:57

$1.00

$1.30

III. Rondement

Track length0:18

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Gayement

Track length0:42

$1.00

$1.30

V. Gravement

Track length0:44

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Vivement

Track length0:48

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Air: Gracieusement

Track length0:34

$1.00

$1.30

VIII. Gayement

Track length1:17

$1.00

$1.30

IX. Prelude de M. Hotteterre

Track length0:59

$1.00

$1.30

X. Allemande: Sans lenteur

Track length3:11

$1.00

$1.30

XI. Courante I: Noblement

Track length1:25

$1.00

$1.30

XII. Courante II: Un peu plus viste

Track length1:10

$1.00

$1.30

XIII. Sarabande: Gravement

Track length1:42

$1.00

$1.30

XIV. Gigue: Gayement

Track length0:53

$1.00

$1.30

XV. Chaconne ou Passacaille: Moderement

Track length2:52

$1.00

$1.30

XVI. Gavotte

Track length0:45

$1.00

$1.30

XVII. Menuet

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

Couperin, F: Les Nations: Deuxième Ordre 'L'Espagnole'

Work length28:21

$16.00

$20.80

Musica ad Rhenum
Jed Wentz
Recorded: 2004
Recording Venue: Maria Minor, Utrecht, Netherlands

I. Gravement, et mesure

Track length1:42

$1.00

$1.30

II. Vivement

Track length0:56

$1.00

$1.30

III. Affectueusement

Track length1:35

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Legerement

Track length0:53

$1.00

$1.30

V. Gayement

Track length0:30

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Air tendre

Track length0:50

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Vivement, et marque

Track length1:26

$1.00

$1.30

VIII. Allemande: Gracieusement

Track length2:38

$1.00

$1.30

IX. Courante: Noblement

Track length1:32

$1.00

$1.30

X. Courante II: Un peu plus vivement

Track length1:47

$1.00

$1.30

XI. Sarabande: Gravement

Track length2:13

$1.00

$1.30

XII. Gigue louree: Moderement

Track length2:01

$1.00

$1.30

XIII. Gavote: Tendrement, sans lenteur

Track length0:57

$1.00

$1.30

XIV. Rondeau: Affectueusement

Track length2:45

$1.00

$1.30

XV. Bouree: Gayement - Double de la Bouree precedente

Track length1:57

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$1.30

XVI. Passacaille: Noblement, et marque

Track length4:39

$1.00

$1.30

Couperin, F: Les Nations, Troisième ordre 'L'Impériale'

Work length28:43

$16.00

$20.80

Musica ad Rhenum
Jed Wentz
Recorded: 2004
Recording Venue: Maria Minor, Utrecht, Netherlands

I. Gravement

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.30

II. Vivement

Track length1:13

$1.00

$1.30

III. Gravement, et marque

Track length1:11

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Legerment

Track length1:48

$1.00

$1.30

V. Rondement

Track length1:00

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Vivement

Track length2:01

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Prelude de M. Couperin

Track length1:18

$1.00

$1.30

VIII. Allemande: Sans lenteur

Track length2:12

$1.00

$1.30

IX. Courante

Track length1:40

$1.00

$1.30

X. Courante II: Plus marquee

Track length1:40

$1.00

$1.30

XI. Sarabande: Tendrement

Track length2:12

$1.00

$1.30

XII. Bouree: Gayement

Track length0:57

$1.00

$1.30

XIII. Gigue: D'une legerete moderee

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

XIV. Rondeau: Gayement

Track length2:09

$1.00

$1.30

XV. Chaconne

Track length5:00

$1.00

$1.30

XVI. Menuet

Track length0:47

$1.00

$1.30

Couperin, F: Les nations, Quatrième ordre 'La piémontoise'

Work length19:46

$14.00

$18.20

Musica ad Rhenum
Jed Wentz
Recorded: 2004
Recording Venue: Maria Minor, Utrecht, Netherlands

I. Gravement

Track length1:55

$1.00

$1.30

II. Vivement

Track length0:42

$1.00

$1.30

III. Gravement

Track length1:15

$1.00

$1.30

IV. Vivement, et marque

Track length1:07

$1.00

$1.30

V. Air: Gracieusement

Track length0:53

$1.00

$1.30

VI. Air II

Track length0:45

$1.00

$1.30

VII. Vravement et marque

Track length0:34

$1.00

$1.30

VIII. Legerement

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

IX. Allemande: Noblement, et sans lenteur

Track length2:03

$1.00

$1.30

X. Courante

Track length1:28

$1.00

$1.30

XI. Courante II: Un peu plus gayement

Track length1:36

$1.00

$1.30

XII. Sarabande: Tendrement

Track length2:36

$1.00

$1.30

XIII. Rondeau: Gayement

Track length2:14

$1.00

$1.30

XIV. Gigue: Affectueusement, quoy que legrement

Track length1:47

$1.00

$1.30

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About

Francois Couperin was one of the greatest composers of France’s Golden Age. He composed at the Court of Versailles, creating a typically French style (highly ornamented dance forms), in which however certain Italian influences (fluent melodic lines) were interwoven, everything in the most elegant and natural way. In the Suites of “Les Nations”, his most famous work, he expresses the characteristics of several European countries in a highly original style.

Musica ad Rhenum and Jed Wentz play these pieces in chamber music setting, for several string and wind instruments, in the “Authentic Performance Practice”, on period instruments.

This set is a separate issue, drawn from the Complete Chamber Music of Couperin by Musica ad Rhenum, a set that received excellent reviews in the international press and won a Diapason d’Or. Musicweb wrote: “impressive...delicious…wonderful. Recordings are clear and beautifully focused...” Couperin may have been a contemporary of J.S. Bach, but his life stands in marked contrast to that of the great German. A court composer who worked at the fashion capital of the 18th century, Versailles, he was known as a trendsetter – the author of a stylish and refined style where virtuosity and good taste worked in happy coexistence. This is nowhere better exemplified than in his Les Nations, four trio pieces consisting of a sonata followed by a suite.While three of the Italianate sonatas were composed long before their publication date (1726), Couperin rejects his cultivation of Les Goûts-réünis – a fusion of the two most important styles of that period, French and Italian – for the dances. Here, instead, he opts for an overtly French idiom, one where expression and form are one and the same.

Performing Les Nations are the acclaimed early music group Musica ad Rhenum, an ensemble which aims to move, amuse and delight audiences through blending an informed historical perspective with a lively artistic spirit. Using contemporary instrumentation as well as metronome indications and marked freedom of tempo – typical traits of the French style at that time – Jed Wentz directs some highly charged performances.

Reviews

January 2013

A brilliant exploration of Couperin's Les nations, suites written to capture the temperaments of different nationalities. Each suite is charmingly done.

Couperin, F: Les Nations

2 CDs

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