Daquin was considered the greatest improviser of his day, surpassing Rameau, but wrote very little of his music down.
This album presents Louis-Claude Daquin's Twelve Noëls in a new format, first performed by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama in 2002.
Louis-Claude Daquin, a prodigious keyboard talent, played for King Louis XIV at age six and became assistant organist at Saint-Chapelle by age 12.
The arranger, Simon Wright, matched Daquin's keyboard original to the original late medieval carol melodies before orchestrating it.
This recording embraces Daquin's invitation to perform the Noëls with diverse instrumentation, including uilleann pipes and natural horns.
Daquin's Noëls have an open invitation on their title page to be performed on various instruments like violins, flutes, and oboes.
Only two of Daquin's works have survived to the present day: these Noëls and a collection of harpsichord suites.
