Muffat: Apparatus musico-organisticus

Featuring

Bernard Foccroulle
Marie Rouquié
Georg Muffat

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Composition History

Georg Muffat's organ works, including the twelve Toccatas on this album, were published in his Apparatus musico-organisticus in 1690 and dedicated to the Bishop of Passau.

Album & Artwork

This album is part of a collection titled "The Golden Age of French Organ," which aims to showcase French musical heritage interpreted on the historic organ of the Royal Chapel at Versailles.

Instruments

The Grand Organ of the Royal Chapel at Versailles, where this album was recorded, was inaugurated in 1711 by François Couperin and is unusually placed above the altar.

Performer Biography

Bernard Foccroulle, the organist on this album, has recorded the complete organ works of J.S. Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Matthias Weckmann, carefully selecting historic instruments.

Composer Biography

Georg Muffat, the composer, was a truly European musician, having studied with Lully in Paris, organ with Bernardo Pasquini in Italy, and worked with Arcangelo Corelli, the greatest violin virtuoso of his time.

Instruments

The current Grand Organ of the Royal Chapel at Versailles is a meticulous reconstruction from 1994, aiming to replicate its condition from 1711, after earlier restorations were deemed inauthentic.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Muffat's Toccatas are inspired by Frescobaldi, featuring a fragmented form with contrasting sections that alternate between stylus phantasticus and contrapuntal writing.