French Harpsichord Music

Skip Sempé, distinguished for many years as a master interpreter of the French classical harpsichord repertoire, has recently been hailed as the quintessential ambassador of French Baroque music. With his ensemble Capriccio Stravagante, Sempé presents a fascinating collection of orchestral repertoire from the seventeenth century. La Belle Danse revives the tradition of the 24 Violons of Versailles the most celebrated orchestra of seventeenth century Europe. The album transports the listener to Versailles at the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV with a dazzling tour of ouvertures and suites by Lully, Marais and Muffat. A selection of rare repertoire that influenced the first generation musicians of the 24 Violons is also included, with dance and theatre music by Michael Praetorius, William Brade and Luigi Rossi.

The French pianist Marcelle Meyer made these recordings of music by Francois Couperin, Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti and Rossini in Paris between 1946 and 1955. Celebrated for her performances of French piano music, notably perhaps that of Chabrier, Debussy and Ravel, Meyer was none the less a zealous champion of the eighteenth-century harpsichordists. Bach's keyboard music played an important part in her daily studies and, together with Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti, occupied a significant place in her public recital programmes.

Although we know little about Robert de Visee (c.1655-1733), he was an important figure in French Baroque music, both as chamber musician to Louis XIV and later as the guitar tutor of Louis XV. He published works, mostly in the form of suites of dances, for guitar, and for the lute and theorbo (a type of bass lute popular in the 17th century).