French Harpsichord Music

Richrad Lester has been at the center of early keyboard music for fifty years with a professional career that began in 1966. His teacher, George Malcolm generously promoted his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall, and from that followed concerts including the Royal Festival Hall Purcell Room, master classes and recitals at Dartington International Summer School, Bruges Festival and the Bath International Festival. As a Fellow of the London College of Music, he has given many organ recitals in King’s College, Cambridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, Coventry, and in 2013 he was invited to perform in St. Mark’s, Venice, and Bergamo Cathedral. His vast discography for Nimbus Records is acclaimed worldwide.

The most beautiful concertos by François Couperin for oboe, oboe d'amore, cor anglais and basso continuo.

François Couperin was the greatest keyboard composer of the French Baroque, and his achievement, in both quality and quantity, is comparable only to Scarlatti's and Bach's. His fourth (and last) book of harpsichord music was published in 1730, a few years before the composer's death, and it represents a summing up of his career as a composer for his favorite instrument. These eight suites (or "ordres") contain fewer works than in the earlier books, but each one is a gem. Christophe Rousset's performances are simply the finest available, both in terms of interpretation and sound. These two discs are a fitting conclusion to a sensational series.

Couperin's First Book of harpsichord pieces is a sort of musical house cleaning, representing the publication of a large number of pre-existing works that had already achieved a measure of popularity in manuscript copies. Couperin followed up his success with three more books published at intervals until the very end of his life. Collectively, these 27 suites of pieces (which the composer called "ordres") represent the pinnacle of French keyboard music, and they had a huge influence on subsequent composers, right down to Debussy and Ravel in our century. Christophe Rousset's series is a landmark in Baroque keyboard performance, and a splendid tribute to one of the epoch's greatest masters.

I got this 10 cd set from a friend last christmas. This is truly a wonderful collection of works from very well known composers. The 10 cds cover a wide range of classical eras and styles, and they come in excellent packaging. Each disc is in its own seperate case, and all ten cases are put in a small yet sturdy cardboard box. The length of playing time on each disc varies from ~57 min to ~67 min, with most discs lasting longer than an hour. In addition, the inner flap of the cover case also provides a short yet informative biography of each composer. This disc set serves as a great way to begin for new classical music listeners. All the composers are well known and also new listeners of classical music may have even listened to a few pieces of the works.
J.W. "thak007" – Amazon

The 'tablature of Jan of Lublin', as this significant collection is commonly known, belonged to the monastery of Canons Regular in the Polish city of Krasìnik near Lublin, and was bound in 1540. The owner and primary scribe was this Jan, or Johannes, of whom very little is known or can be surmised, but the contents of his book are a treasure trove of compositions and musical instruction illustrating what keyboardists of the region in the 16th century would have learned and played, including counterpoint, composition, organ-tuning, liturgical music and — perhaps richest of all — intabulations (arrangements) for keyboard of polyphonic vocal music from across Europe and original compositions for keyboard including 'preambula' (improvisatory preludes) and dances under the generic title 'corea' or with more specific names, several of them Polish.

Schiff’s performances are, as expected, profound, masterful, and not flashy at all. While he ornaments the works creatively, he doesn’t exaggerate. He is sometimes serious, sometimes playful, yet it’s clear just how much he understands and appreciates this music…