Marchand: Oeuvres pour clavier

Featuring

Laurent Stewart
Freddy Eichelberger
Louis Marchand

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Compositional Technique

Marchand's organ works, like the Quatuor, required four keyboards and a wide pedal range, demanding the most complete organs available at the time.

Composer Biography

Marchand's marriage to Marie-Angélique Denis, daughter of harpsichord maker Louis Denis, was a failure, leading his wife to obtain a separation of property and residence in 1702.

Composer Biography

Louis Marchand, born in Lyon in 1669, was considered one of the most appreciated keyboard virtuosos of his time, particularly on the organ.

Composer Biography

Marchand is famously associated with an anecdote where he allegedly avoided a musical duel with J.S. Bach in Dresden in 1717 by discreetly leaving after spying on Bach's rehearsal.

Composition History

Louis Marchand's harpsichord pieces, dedicated to King Louis XIV, were engraved in 1699 as part of an ambitious project to publish a suite of harpsichord pieces and an organ suite every three months.

Instruments

The harpsichord used for this recording is an unidentified French instrument from the late 17th century, featuring initials DF on its Flemish-style rosette and a richly decorated case.

Instruments

The organ used, the Scherrer/Aubertin organ of Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye, was chosen because it meets Marchand's requirements for a large instrument (4 keyboards, 30-note pedalboard) and is tuned to A=415 Hz with a mesotonic temperament, like the harpsichord.