L'Achéron / François Joubert-Caillet

François Joubert-Caillet, bass viol
Yoann Moulin, harpsichord

François Couperin (1668–1733) enjoyed great renown in his day: particularly admired by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ordinary of the King's Chamber, author of numerous works for organ and harpsichord, motets and chamber music pieces, he is now considered one of the greatest representatives of French classicism in that pivotal period between the end of Louis XIV's reign and the beginning of Louis XV's.

François Couperin was a fervent advocate of opening French tastes to Italian innovations, wishing to show through numerous works (Les Nations, Les Goûts Réunis, Les Apothéoses de Lulli et Corelli) that musical perfection could only be achieved by blending the styles of different European nations. This type of humanist thinking gives an idea of the honest man that Couperin probably was, with an elegant and refined mind.

His last composed work was probably the Pièces de viole (1728), in which Couperin put these progressive concepts into practice with two suites, the first bringing together the typical dances of the French dance suite and the second imitating Corelli's sonata with four movements following the slow-fast-slow-fast form. These Suites were probably performed by Antoine Forqueray, a friend of Couperin's and also a great advocate of the Italian style. As if to reinforce the testamentary significance of these Pièces de Viole, Couperin concludes them with a Pompe funèbre and a Chemise blanche: far from being grand orations like Marin Marais' Tombeaux, these two pieces are luminous and full of hope, imbued with the joyful sadness so typical of French music of the period. The Chemise blanche is one of the most virtuosic pieces in the viola repertoire, describing the garment worn by the deceased in a whirlwind of elusive notes, like a flight of Couperin's spirit, a twirling elevation.

François Couperin preferred, in his own words, ‘what moves him to what impresses him’: some of his Pièces de Clavecin describe this sensitivity and state of mind. Between the twilight of this immense musician and the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, this programme is at the heart of the night.

CD release in 2027 on Ricercar-Outhere

Pièces de Viole (1728) Suite in E minor
Prelude, Allemande légère, Sarabande grave, Gavote, Gigue, Passacaille or Chaconne

XXVII Order of Harpsichord Pieces (IV Book, 1730)
Alleande L’exquise, Les Pavots, Les chinois, Saillie

Pieces for Viola, Suite in A major
Prelude, Fuguette, Pompe Funèbre, La Chemise Blanche