This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FRENCH ORGAN CAROLS
Organist at the Eglise St Merry in Paris and much sought after as a teacher, Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue was a prolific composer and the spiritual father of that major school of French music whose most illustrious representatives were François Couperin and Nicolas de Grigny. His noëls, inspired by the rich vein of French folklore of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, started the fashion for “Variations sur des Airs Populaires” which were popular at all the main church festivals.
The noëls of Jean-François Dandrieu are miniature French suites. In his desire to celebrate that annual spirit of rejoicing with which we associate Christmas, the
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composer does not hesitate to introduce the sound of tambourins, galoubets and birdsong, in addition to the more usual oboes, trumpets and cornets.
The happy rival of Rameau in the organ loft at St Paul’s in Paris and the successor of Louis Marchand at the Cordeliers, Louis-Claude Daquin was showered with honours from his earliest youth. An undisputed virtuoso, he was gifted with exceptional dexterity and attracted crowds of listeners who came to acclaim his brilliant improvisations, His
Variations sur des Airs de Noëls show us the extraordinary advantage to which he was able to turn these old “timbres”, rewriting them for different registrations.
Claude-Benigne Balbastre was another of the great French organ virtuosos of the end of the eighteenth century. A famous improvisator, he was equally fêted in the salons of the aristocracy. He played every kind of keyboard instrument, passing with equal facility from the organ to the harpsichord and to the fortepiano. The improvisations on noëls which he played at St-Roch were so popular that the Archbishop of Paris was obliged to take steps to prevent unruly scenes and congestion in the streets surrounding the church: Balbastre was forbidden to play the organ at Midnight Mass, so that the organist and his noëls took refuge in the salons, most notably in that of Mm du Deffand.
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Works on This Recording
1.
Troisième livre d'orgue: Ou s'en vont ces gays Bergers by Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1685; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 3 Minutes 0 Secs.
2.
Troisième livre d'orgue: Pour l'amour de Marie by Nicolas-Antoine Lebègue
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1685; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 3 Minutes 20 Secs.
3.
Or, dites-nous, Marie by Pierre Dandrieu
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 3 Minutes 22 Secs.
4.
Noëls for Organ: no 6, Chantons de voix hautaine by Jean-François Dandrieu
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: ?1721-23; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 4 Minutes 59 Secs.
5.
Noëls for Organ: no 5, Joseph est bien marié by Jean-François Dandrieu
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: ?1721-23; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 4 Minutes 15 Secs.
6.
Noëls for Organ: no 3, Noël de Saintogne by Jean-François Dandrieu
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: ?1721-23; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 2 Minutes 30 Secs.
7.
Nouveau livre de noëls (12), Op. 2: no 10, Noël grand-jeu et duo, Quand Dieu naquit à Noël by Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1740; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 5 Minutes 40 Secs.
8.
Nouveau livre de noëls (12), Op. 2: no 11, Noël en Récit, en taille by Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1740; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 6 Minutes 14 Secs.
9.
Nouveau livre de noëls (12), Op. 2: no 12, Noël suisse, o Dieux de clémence by Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1740; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 4 Minutes 28 Secs.
10.
Nouveau livre de noëls (12), Op. 2: no 9, Noël sur les flûtes, Noël, pour l'amour de Marie by Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1740; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 6 Minutes 3 Secs.
11.
Nouveau livre de noëls (12), Op. 2: no 6, Noël sur les jeux d'anches, Adam fut un pauvre homme by Louis-Claude Daquin
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Baroque
Written: circa 1740; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 4 Minutes 33 Secs.
12.
Recueil de noëls formant 4 suittes: Suite no 1 in D major - Où s'en vont ces gais bergers by Claude-Béninge Balbastre
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Classical
Written: by 1770; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 5 Minutes 46 Secs.
13.
Recueil de noëls formant 4 suittes: Suite no 1 in D major - Joseph est bien marié by Claude-Béninge Balbastre
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Classical
Written: by 1770; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 5 Minutes 22 Secs.
14.
Recueil de noëls formant 4 suittes: Suite no 1 in D major - Tous les bourgeois de Châtre by Claude-Béninge Balbastre
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Classical
Written: by 1770; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 3 Minutes 38 Secs.
15.
Recueil de noëls formant 4 suittes: Suite no 1 in D major - A la venue de Noël by Claude-Béninge Balbastre
Performer:
Marie-Claire Alain (Organ)
Period: Classical
Written: by 1770; France
Date of Recording: 04/1989
Venue: Saint Cécile Cathedral, Albi, France
Length: 5 Minutes 21 Secs.
Featured Sound Samples
Troisième livre d'orgue (Lebègue): Pour l'amour de Marie
Recueil de noëls formant 4 suittes (Balbastre): Suite no 1: Tous les bourgeois de Châtre
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