Luc Beauséjour, Hervé Niquet - Musique française à deux clavecins: Boismortier, Leclair, Dieupart, Duphly (1999)

Posted By: ArlegZ

Date: June 8, 2025

The transcription and arrangement of musical works was common practice in the 18th century. Such illustrious musicians as François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau left remarkable "manners" and examples of transcriptions for one or two harpsichords. In his preface to L'Apothéose de Lulli, published in 1725, François Couperin explains how his music for two dessus (treble parts) and bass can be played on two harpsichords: "I perform them very successfully with my family and pupils with the first dessus and the bass played on one harpsichord, and the second dessus and the same bass-line on another, in unison."
Similarly, Jean-Philippe Rameau proposes, with supporting examples, that his Pièces de clavecin en concert (obbligato harpsichord, one dessus and one viola da gamba) may be transcribed for solo harpsichord. Transcriptions allowed for works–thitherto restricted to the confines of the concert–to attain a wider audience.
We, too, have chosen to have a go at transcription, while keeping in mind the examples and precepts of the great French masters. The experience allowed us to discover all the harmonic and rhythmical wealth made possible by the combination of two harpsichords.
In addition to having been an esteemed composer, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755) met with considerable success and acquired a substantial fortune. Around the age of 35, he chose to live in Paris, where he wrote much chamber music for all sorts of instruments, especially the flute. His Third Sonata, from opus 91, is written for obbligato harpsichord and flute. Among all the sonatas in the set, this one is in our opinion best suited to a performance on two harpsichords. We follow here François Couperin's suggestion in the preface to his Apothéose de Lulli: the left hands play in unison, while the right hands each play a different treble part.
Justly considered the founder of the French violin school, Jean-Marie Leclair, l'aîné, (1697-1764) is perhaps the first French violinist to bear comparison with the Italian virtuosos. In his compositions, he brings about the fusion of the French and Italian styles, an idea advocated in 1724 by François Couperin, in Les Goûts réunis. The work recorded here belongs to the Second Book of Sonatas, published around 1728. The original instrumentation as specified by Leclair has a violin or a German (transverse) flute playing the first dessus, and a viol the second. The bass part is entrusted either to the harpsichord or to the cello. Our realization conforms precisely to François Couperin's rules: two left hands in unison and two right hands playing respectively the first and the second dessus. A few brief passages only in the second dessus had to be transposed up an octave in order to avoid crossing over the left hand.
Charles (? François) Dieupart (?after 1667-c1740) was a composer, violinist and harpsichordist. He established himself in England around 1700, acquiring an enviable reputation as a teacher and virtuoso. His Six Suittes de Clavessin were published in Amsterdam in 1701, and possibly served as models for the English Suites of J.S. Bach, who knew and appreciated Dieupart's music. There are two existing versions of these six suites: one for solo harpsichord, and another for a small ensemble comprising a violin and a flute with a bass viol and an archlute. In the second version, the archlute must realize the chords indicated by the figured bass. Although the solo harpsichord version is perfectly satisfying in its own right, we thought it might be enhanced by the addition of a continuo, taken from the instrumental version. We carefully studied the differences between the two versions, and decided to play them simultaneously (except for the gigue, played without the continuo).
Jacques Duphly (1715-1789) wrote four books of harpsichord pieces. Their publication, between 1744 and 1768, assured the composer a solid reputation. After having been an organist at the cathedral of Évreux and at Rouen, Duphly moved to Paris, working, with no official appointment, as a teacher, harpsichordist and composer. The six pieces of the present recording are taken from the third book. Unlike the other pieces in the book, these require the accompaniment of a violin. On one of the harpsichords, we entrust this "accompaniment" to the right hand, while the left hand generally plays the same bass as the obbligato harpsichord part. The other harpsichord plays the obbligato part originally cast by Duphly.

Performer:
Luc Beauséjour, harpsichord
Hervé Niquet, harpsichord

Tracklist:
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689-1755)
Troisième sonate en sol majeur, Op. 91
01. I. Rondement-Gayement
02. II. Air, gracieusement
03. III. Gayement
Jean-Marie Leclair (1703-1777)
Sonate VIII en ré majeur
04. I. Adagio
05. II. Allegro
06. III. Sarabande
07. IV. Allegro assai
Charles Dieupart (c1667-c1740)
Deuxième Suite en ré majeur
08. I. Ouverture
09. II. Allemande
10. III. Courante
11. IV. Sarabande
12. V. Gavotte
13. VI. Passepied
14. VII. Gigue
Jacques Duphly (1715-1789)
15. Ouverture
16. La De Mary
17. La Madin
18. La De Casaubon
19. La Du Tailly
20. La De Valmallette

EAC LOG

Exact Audio Copy V1.6 from 23. October 2020

EAC extraction logfile from 6. June 2025, 23:42

Luc Beauséjour, Hervé Niquet / Boismortier, Dieupart, Duphly, Leclair - Musique française à deux clavecins

Used drive : ATAPI iHAS124 F Adapter: 1 ID: 0

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Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

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Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
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Filename D:\Music\FL23079\Luc Beauséjour, Hervé Niquet - Boismortier, Dieupart, Duphly, Leclair - Musique française à deux clavecins.wav

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Test CRC AF3B7DEC
Copy CRC AF3B7DEC
Copy OK

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