Having listened to the music without reading your description, I wondered having missed out a new French Baroque set. But what a surprise! Although there are marginal differences between the Rieger and a French original, your finely crafted registrations sound very authentic indeed, especially what you can here from 2:07 on.
Ha ha, very good. Thank you! After Dominique demonstrated that this organ had convincing capabilities to also do Baroque, I didn't hesitate any longer about using it for such.
Beautiful and enthralling, David ! And it's nice to hear Daquin with "fresh" registrations, a welcome change from standardized ones .
You were quite right (and historically faithful too :-))to use the big pedal reeds for the grand jeu. The score indicates several A below our usual lowest C : it's because some big instruments of the late 18th had a "ravalement" , i.e. a pedal with extra-notes below the C (sometimes A, sometimes A and F, sometimes all notes from F to B) precisely to have spectacular basses, mainly in cadenzas. That's why some ancient dispositions mention a 24' bombarde : it means there was a ravalement down to F.
Thank you, Patrick. You know, I only learned of the French "ravalement" very recently, like last week, when doing some reading about historical registrations and French organ construction back then.
I played this from the edition edited by Christopher Hogwood. In his introduction, he not only gives pretty much the same bio for Daquin as David (Agnus_Dei) put together on the right, but he also went into an explanation for these extra low notes that aren't playable on the organ. Apparently this goes for Balbastre's and others, too. Though written essentially on the page as for organ, they could also be played on the harpsichord (hence the low A), but also could be played by groups of instruments. So if there were a version of something available that went so low, it could be used in those spots to great affect.
It was knowing this that I thought it is acceptable to use more of the modern organ than they would have had back then, as it's akin to supplementing the organ with an instrumental ensemble on top. Also, I did have the ravalement in mind, too.
A lively and captivating performance of Daquin's Noel, which relies not on a passive observance of abstract "norms" (known to us from ancient treatises), but on their creative reinterpretation. The goal, achieved, is to reconcile the "historical" nature of the musical text with its still-enjoyable expressive and communicative power.
David, thank you for this….I love this piece….such fun! The “technicolour” presentation works so well & why on earth should we not, especially as it is still within the bounds of good taste!
Many thanks, Will. So glad to read how much you enjoyed this rendition. I asked myself what Lefebre-Wely would do. I did that, and found it super cheesy, fun, but schlocky. So then I backed off about 50% to get to this. I could also hear my dear teacher from UF, Willis Bodine, saying, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." That always tempers my baser instincts and helps me come up with something fresh, and hopefully still in good taste, that Mattheson would approve.
Daquin’s Noël Suisse XII stands among the most animated and theatrical of the French Noël variations, drawing on a rustic Swiss carol filtered through the elegance and wit of the French classical keyboard tradition. The tune’s lively profile invites brilliance and color, yet Daquin’s writing is anything but casual: crisp articulation, rhythmic buoyancy, and sharply etched contrasts are essential to keep the music dancing rather than merely bustling.
In this performance, I embraced the piece’s pastoral exuberance and registered it accordingly. Following Daquin’s indications of grand jeu and the dialogued sections between cornet, cromorne, and grand jeu, I allowed for a fuller palette of color and weight on this French-inspired Rieger instrument at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, as sampled by Evensong (with added IR and a mean-tone temperament this time). Throughout, though, the goal remains clarity and refinement, allowing the character of each variation to merge without overstatement, while articulation stays light and speech-like in keeping with French Baroque keyboard practice. So while this is not a historically accurate performance in all ways, it is historically inspired, with more panache and drama especially in the registration. I just couldn’t resist the glorious pedal reeds for emphasis in the big grand jeu sections. ????
The character indication pesamment—weightily or heavily—guided my tempo choices. Rather than pressing forward for sheer excitement, I let the registration, rhythmic lilt, and inherent elegance of the writing provide momentum and energy.
Noël Suisse XII offers a vivid glimpse into the festive world of 18th-century Parisian Christmas music, where popular melody, courtly style, and instrumental virtuosity meet in joyful celebration. (ChatGPT assisted in the editing of this description.)