COUPERIN: Mass for the Parishes, Mass for the Convents GUILAIN: Suites on the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd tones Couperin Masses & Guilain Suites The superb organ built 1734-36 for St. Cecily’s Cathedral at Albi in France by Christophe Moucherel is an ideal instrument for Bernard Coudurier’s performance of these Masses published by François Couperin in 1690. Composed to alternate between sections of the Mass as dictated by the style of liturgy prevalent at the time, the organ parts are recorded with brief solo plainchant between the verses. To complete the 2-CD set, the Suites on the first, second, and third tones of Jean-Adam Guislain are also included. It was a good time for church music, as exemplified by a church directive of the period, “. . . Henceforth, people should not only listen to the sermons but to the music which is performed. . . . such fine and delicate organ music as that composed by the young François Couperin could not possibly be played amidst noises and general chatter.” |