Clérambault: Chamber Music from the Brossard Collection The Bach Players

• Nicolas Clérambault (1676 - 1749): La magnifique in E Minor:
• 1 La magnifique in E Minor: I. Lentement 01:20
• 2 La magnifique in E Minor: II. Allegro 01:52
• 3 La magnifique in E Minor: III. Adagio 02:30
• 4 La magnifique in E Minor: IV. Sarabande 01:19
• 5 La magnifique in E Minor: V. Gigue 01:21
• 6 La magnifique in E Minor: VI. Allegro 01:33
• Nicolas Clérambault:
• 7 Chaconne in D Major 05:34
• 8 Prelude in C Minor 02:23
• L'impromptu in D Minor:
• 9 L'impromptu in D Minor: I. Lentement - Vite 02:39
• 10 L'impromptu in D Minor: II. Aria. Lentement - Vite 03:02
• Sonata prima in G Major:
• 11 Sonata prima in G Major: I. Adagio 01:56
• 12 Sonata prima in G Major: II. Allegro 03:02
• 13 Sonata prima in G Major: III. Largo 02:29
• 14 Sonata prima in G Major: IV. Allegro 01:27
• 15 Sonata prima in G Major: V. Allegro - Gigue 02:30
• Nicolas Clérambault:
• 16 Prelude in C Major 02:33
• L'abondance in B-Flat Major:
• 17 L'abondance in B-Flat Major: I. Adagio 02:21
• 18 L'abondance in B-Flat Major: II. Allegro 01:46
• 19 L'abondance in B-Flat Major: III. Sarabande 02:09
• 20 L'abondance in B-Flat Major: IV. Allegro 01:58
• La félicité in G Major:
• 21 La félicité in G Major: I. Lentement - Allegro - Lent 04:02
• 22 La félicité in G Major: II. Allegro 01:18
• 23 La félicité in G Major: III. Gavotte 00:31
• 24 La félicité in G Major: IV. Gigue - Lent 01:15
• Nicolas Clérambault:
• 25 Chaconne in A Major 05:49
• Total Runtime 58:39

Info for Clérambault: Chamber Music from the Brossard Collection

Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749) is known as an organist and composer of many large-scale sacred and secular works in the France of Louis XIV and Louis XV – and he also wrote chamber music. This album gathers chamber works that were collected and copied by the composer and theorist Sébastien de Brossard (1655–1730). These pieces were not published in Clérambault’s lifetime, perhaps because he was writing in the controversial Italian style. We owe their survival to Brossard.

The five sontatas on the disc follow the Italian model of Corelli that was then gradually gaining popularity in France. The titles that Clérambault gave to these sonatas seem just to have been a name, rather than any characterisation of the piece. In this recording, two of the five sonatas are introduced by an apparently improvised ‘unmeasured prelude’ for harpsichord, taken from his book Pièces de clavecin. The album also includes two chaconnes – one never before recorded – that live up to the aching pathos of the form.

This is wonderfully expressive music that will surprise listeners. It forms a companion to The Bach Players’ recording of Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre’s sonatas, also collected and copied by Brossard, and which was published by Coviello Clasics in 2018.

Nicolette Moonen, violin
Oliver Webber, violin
Reiko Ichise, viola da gamba
Silas Wollston, harpsichord

The Bach Players
is a group of singers and players known for their engaging programmes of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music. According to needs, the ensemble varies in size from three to twenty-five musicians. In their concerts The Bach Players make links between composers, national styles, and developments in music – to provide a wider context in which to present the famous composers of the time. They play on original instruments, and all vocal music is sung in its original language. When singers are involved they are part of the group and not ‘add ons’. They work without a conductor. Their concerts are lively, informal events in which the musicians engage actively with their audiences.

Founded in 1996 by Nicolette Moonen, the group’s artistic director, at first their main focus was on J.S. Bach’s sacred cantatas, performed with small forces. Gradually horizons were expanded to a broader picture of Bach’s time and the circumstances in which these pieces were composed. Experience has shown that old music comes alive when put in context, and when questions are posed.

A regular concert series was started in London in 1997. This series continues, now twinned with a venue in Norwich. The Bach Players appear in both venues three times a year. Aside from its own concert series, they have also toured widely in the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe.

In 2007 The Bach Players made their first recording, on the Hyphen Press Music label. The group has since issued a CD every year. Each recording is based on a theme, and it tells a musical story. The CDs have been met with critical acclaim both in the UK and abroad.

Booklet for Clérambault: Chamber Music from the Brossard Collection