Issue 24 - The French Classical

If ever there was a musician to bask in the radiant wealth of the Sun King, it most certainly would be Louis Marchand (1669-1732), composer of this week's postlude. Appointed organiste du roi in 1708, Marchand dazzled not only Versailles and Paris with his virtuoso technique, but later toured Germany –thus impressing a young Bach at Weimar in 1713. Unfortunately, Marchand’s reputation would be eternally scarred four years later when he was invited to a musical challenge with Bach in Dresden; it was reported that Marchand, intimidated by his competitor’s prowess, fled Dresden before the contest to avoid embarrassment. Another happening which questions Marchand’s artistic taste was his promotion of his pupil, Daquin, to receive the organist post at St. Vincent-de-Paul – a faux-pas, considering that Rameau (a more favorable musician and composer) was also in contest for the post.

While Marchand’s seemingly arrogant attitude did not serve him well in history’s pages, the Dialogue in C Major certainly proves his craft. The piece opens with a triumphant fanfare on the Grand Jeu (a chorus of boisterous reed stops), after which ensues an actual “dialogue.” First, a call and answer between the Trompette in the dessus (right hand) and the Trompette in the basse (left hand). Second, a statement and echo from a chorus of Trompettes to the distant reeds on the swell. Marchand closes the piece with a lively gigue and a final fanfare. (This piece is about 9 minutes - so I cut several sections out for the postlude to shorten it!)

Although the birth year of Nicolas de Grigny (1672-1703) nearly coincides with Marchand’s, these two composers’ output could not be more contrasting. Both composers utilized the same building blocks to create their music: pieces that accentuated the grandeur and subtleties of the French Classical organ… trios of flutes, basse de trompettes and dialogues on the superbly balanced manuals of the organ. But these traditional forms marked a breaking point for the young de Grigny – only twenty-nine years of age when his only works were published in his Premier livre d’orgue. It is in his five hymnes for organ that his highly innovative writing shows its majesty – his subtle use of the plainchant melodies in the hymn movements and his complex contrapuntal writing are a departure from typical French Classic composition - so much so that J. S. Bach copied the entire work by hand so he could study and play it.

The title of the prelude, Récit de tierce en taille, literally tells the performer that the melody is in the tenor voice (or left hand) and requires a specific solo sound. While the meter of the recit is usually slower to accommodate the highly melismatic nature of the melody, Gaspar Corrette, in 1707, challenged organists to achieve the true nature of the piece. “The tierce en taille demands languidness and nuance, then sweeping passages, full of movement …imitating the singing voice as far as possible.” De Grigny’s extensive ornamentation and superior writing make this recit one of the greatest masterpieces in the French Classic repertoire.

(Image: Organ at the Royal Chapel, Versailles)