Balbastre: Pièces de Clavecin (1759)

Claude Balbastre was a prominent French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He studied under Claude Rameau, the brother of Jean-Philippe Rameau, whose influence is evident in his music.

Composer: Claude Balbastre
Artists: Marek Toporowski (harpsichord)

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Claude-Benigne Balbastre (1727-1799) published his first book of harpsichord pieces in 1759, nine years after a decisive move from his home city of Dijon to the metropolis of Paris. France had been inundated with Italian music and musicians for more than 50 years, and Balbastre’s style is inflected by the latest Italian trends, while remaining unmistakably and deliciously French.
The titles of the individual works refer to the surnames of distinguished and influential figures in the Parisian world of the mid- to late18th century. They are not necessarily portraits; the point here is rather the dedication, although this music indubitably represents a wonderful picture of the world surrounding Balbastre. One of the composer's biographers has remarked that 'More than portraits without words supposed to musically evoke a personality, the harpsichord pieces constitute a tribute or a sign of gratitude with regard to said personality. The portrait thus painted is only allusive and mysterious.'
For example, one of Balbastre’s most famous and spectacular works, the Italian-style gigue La Lugeac (F major), is probably a portrait of Louis XV’s close companion, the Marquis Charles-Antoine de Guérin (1720–82), who had been born at the Chateau de Lugeac and was described by his contemporaries as ‘Le beau Lugeac’.
In his own booklet introduction to Balbastre’s life and work, Marek Toporowski extols the First Book as ‘a true masterpiece’, combining French elegance of Classical style; imagery alluding to the operas of Rameau; virtuosity reminiscent of Scarlatti, Mozart and Rameau; mastery of form and textural richness. Compared to other surviving music by Balbastre, Toporowski finds these pieces ‘less simple in the sense of Classical economy of texture, more sophisticated and Baroque.’
The Polish harpsichordist, organist, chamber musician, and conductor Marek Toporowski was a pupil of both Bob van Asperen and Daniel Roth, He has made this new recording on a copy of a French harpsichord, completed in 1984 for harpsichordist, pianist and painter Julitta Slendzińska by Zygmunt Kaczmarski. ‘It is a fascinating, exceptional instrument,’ he says, ‘in terms of timbral class, with a full, juicy sound and enchanting dynamic capabilities.’

Tracklist:
00:00:00 Prélude de Monsieur Balbastre (1777)

Pièces de clavecin, premier livre:
00:02:38 I. La de caze
00:08:21 II. La d’héricourt
00:13:54 III. La ségur
00:18:42 IV. La monmartel ou la brunoy
00:22:21 V. La boullongne
00:29:13 VI. La castelmore
00:34:17 VII. La courteille
00:37:37 VIII. La bellaud
00:42:23 IX. La lamarck
00:47:48 X. La berville
00:52:51 XI. La lugeac
00:56:11 XII. La Suzanne
01:03:01 XIII. La genty
01:07:13 XIV. La malesherbe
01:12:17 XV. La berryer ou la lamoignon
01:18:09 XVI. La laporte
01:21:57 XVII. La morisseau

01:28:31 La d’esclignac (1787, BnF)
01:33:27 Le coucou extrait de la sonate IV

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