Suite du 4me ton

One of the "specialties" of the Tickell organ at the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow in London, is its effectiveness in the performance of French classic literature. So, I felt that a complete suite would be a useful demo, and looked for something I had never done, and found this...

However, I just found out that I played it before, which is odd, because it seemed completely "new" to me when I did it today!

What does that say? However, I did it play it faster this time.

The sounds and wonderful acoustic speak for themselves.

Jean-Adam Guilain (real name Jean Adam Guillaume Freinsberg) (c. 1680 – after 1739) was a German organist and harpsichordist who was mostly active in Paris during the first half of the eighteenth century.

Little is known about his life. He was born in Germany, possibly around 1680 (the exact dates of birth and death are unknown). For an unknown reason he moved to France some time before 1702, and almost certainly became one of Louis Marchand's pupils - Guilain's organ collection is dedicated to Marchand, by then a prominent organ teacher. Guilain died some time after 1739, the year when he published a collection of harpsichord pieces.

Although he came from Germany, Guilain's musical style appears to be in the pure French tradition.

A single collection of organ pieces (Pièces d'orgue pour le Magnificat sur les huit tons différents de l'église) was published in 1706 in two volumes, of which only one is now extant. The full collection included eight suites of pieces for use with the Magnificat, one suite for each church mode. Each suite contained seven short movements that were to alternate with the vocal parts of the liturgy.

The score is attached below, as well as a portrait of Guilain, and a photo of the organ in St. Mary-le-Bow.

Individual movement timings are as follows:

0:00 - Plein jeu
1:23 - Cromhorne en Taille
4:36 - Duo
6:56 - Basse de cromhorne
9:33 - Trio
11:50 - Dialogue
15:35 - Petit plein jeu