Cromorne sur la Taille (from Mass for the Convents)

The two organ Masses by François Couperin (1668-1733) are his earliest surviving compositions. These consist of organ music for the liturgy; that for the convents is more intimate in character than that for the parishes. Following the practice known as alternatim, singers and organ took turns in performing portions of the Ordinary in plainchant phrase and organ verset.

The classical French organ follows a very distinct tradition, with characterful plenums on the grand orgue and positif and a wealth of expressive solo combinations on the positif, récit, echo and pedal. The pedal division is small compared to contemporary German instruments often only using stops of 8’ pitch, particularly in solo movements. The titles of pieces were often indicative of the stops to be drawn. In the case of this piece, which sets the fifth verse of the Gloria, the cromorne plays a highly ornamented melody in the tenor register.

I’m always a little apprehensive when performing musc from the French baroque. There are so many beautiful peformances featuring exquisite ornamentation and the use of notes inégales. I hope my peformance of this beautiful movement does the piece justice.