С первыми двумя альбомами (исполнения Elizabeth Farr) я знаком более десяти лет и хорошо их помню – утончённая музыка, подходящий к такой музыке инструмент, не слишком громкозвучный и не слишком насыщенный верхними гармониками, а также медленый темп исполнения. Клавесинистка Elizabeth Farr прекрасная, я полностью согласен с восторженными мнениями из процитированных ниже отзывов с Amazon. Третий альбом, в исполнении Huguette Gremy-Chauliac – именно в такой же манере, лишь немного с большим числом гармоник звук клавесина, но самую малость (есть ещё исполнение Christophe Rousset, но оно, при всей замечательности, всё же не такое утончённое).
О композиторах я дам цитаты из Википедии, если же в двух словах, то d'Anglebert и Dieupart заметно повлияли на Баха, а Jacquet de La Guerre была очень известна во времена Людовика XIV, который много лет оказывал ей свою поддержку.
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Jean-Henri d'Anglebert: Suites de Clavessin — Elizabeth Farr
Jean-Henri d'Anglebert (baptized 1 April 1629 – 23 April 1691) was a French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was one of the foremost keyboard composers of his day.
D'Anglebert's principal work is a collection of four harpsichord suites published in 1689 in Paris under the title Pieces de clavecin. The volume is dedicated to Marie Anne de Bourbon, a talented amateur harpsichordist who later studied under Francois Couperin. Apart from its contents, which represents some of the finest achievements of the French harpsichord school (and shows, among other things, D'Anglebert's thorough mastery of counterpoint and his substantial contribution to the genre of unmeasured prelude), Pieces de clavecin is historically important on several other counts. The collection was beautifully engraved with utmost care, which set a new standard for music engraving. Furthermore, D'Anglebert's table of ornaments is the most sophisticated before Couperin's (which only appeared a quarter of a century later, in 1713). It formed the basis of J.S. Bach's own table of ornaments (Bach copied D'Anglebert's table ca. 1710), and provided a model for other composers, including Rameau.
Suites 1–4: Pieces de clavecin (Paris, 1689)
A Superb RecordingEvery once in a while one discovers a recording which stands out as exceptional both in terms of technical mastery and artistic interpretation. This is one of them. Elizabeth Farr is one of many harpsichordists to rise to prominence over the past ten years or so. Her treatment of Jacquet de la Guerre's suites has won much praise from the critics and so should this superb record of a much neglected master of the 17th century French harpsichord.
Farr has decided to use a lute-harpsichord for two of the four suites... the choice is justified by D'Anglebert's brise style which closely resembles that of the lute, and by his use of complex arpeggios which are more clearly sounded by the short sustain of the lute-harpsichord than if played on a conventional harpsichord which sustains the notes for a longer period. The works in general are more intricately scored than those of either Louis Couperin or Jacquet de la Guerre.
Farr well understands D'Anglebert's system of ornaments and applies them with great skill and refinement in the opinion of this humble listener.
John Davies
amazon.co.uk/review/R1D8B4V51VL1UK * * *
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre: Suites de Clavessin — Elizabeth Farr
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (full name Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre; born Elisabeth Jacquet, 17 March 1665, Paris – 27 June 1729, Paris) was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer.
Jacquet de La Guerre was one of the few well-known female composers of her time, and unlike many of her contemporaries, she composed in a wide variety of forms. Her talent and achievements were acknowledged by Titon du Tillet, who accorded her a place on his Mount Parnassus when she was only 26 years old, next to Lalande and Marais and directly below Lully. A quote from Titon du Tillet describes her "marvellous facility for playing preludes and fantasies off the cuff. Sometimes she improvises one or another for a whole half hour with tunes and harmonies of great variety and in quite the best possible taste, quite charming her listeners." (Le Parnasse Francais, 1732)
Suites 1–4: Les pieces de clavessin (Paris, 1687)
Suites 5–6: Pieces de clavecin qui peuvent se jouer sur le violon (Paris, 1707)
A Woman Composer of the French BaroqueElizabeth de la Guerre was a child prodigy who, as an adult, composed music in a variety of genres during the time of Louis XIV. With the recovery of the harpsichord suites of 1687, she has the distinction of being the only French composer who wrote surviving works for the harpsichord in both the 17th and 18th centuries. A contemporary observer wrote of de la Guerre's harpsichord playing:
"she had a marvellous talent for on the spot playing of preludes and fantasies. Sometimes during an entire half hour, she would follow a prelude and fantasy with melodies and harmonies that were extremely varied and in excellent taste."
I think de la Guerre's harpsichord suites amply confirm this report of her gifts as a performer. These works are highly improvisatory and, in this recording, come alive as if they were being created under the hands of the gifted performer, Elizabeth Farr, a teacher of harpsichord and organ at the University of Colorado. Indeed, the scores that have come down to us include no tables of ornamentation; and Ms Farr has improvised and varied her performance of the ornaments and embellishments in accordance with her informed understanding of the performance practices of the French Baroque.
De la Guerre's music succeeds in being both highly stylized and highly free. In hearing it, I felt transported, not merely to the world of the Grand Siecle in France, but to the inner world of the imagination. The music, and the harpsichord on which it is played, is light in character with clear bell-like tones, quirky harmonies, and lyrical melody. There is great use made of the entire instrument in its upper and lower registers. I was caught in the flow of this music during my listening.
The quotation in this review describing de la Guerre's harpsichord playing is taken from the revised edition of "French Baroque Music" by James R. Anthony, page 258.
Robin Friedman
amazon.com/review/R1L7HF0J46XTIY * * *
Charles Dieupart: Suites de Clavessin — Huguette Gremy-Chauliac
Charles Dieupart (after 1667 – 1740) was a French harpsichordist, violinist, and composer. He is best remembered today for a collection of six harpsichord suites which influenced Johann Sebastian Bach's English Suites.
Dieupart's best-known work is Six Suittes de clavessin (Amsterdam, 1701). As the title indicates, it contains six harpsichord suites. All of them are in seven movements, always with the sequence ouverture – allemande – courante – sarabande – gavotte, a menuet or a passepied, and a gigue as the final movement. Some of the movements within a suite are linked thematically. The music represents a highly successful synthesis of French, Italian and English styles, married with imaginative harmony. The suites were popular even during the composer's lifetime: they were reissued already in 1702. Johann Sebastian Bach copied all six suites sometime between 1709 and 1714, and was influenced by Dieupart's music, particularly in the famous English Suites.
Suites 1–6: Six suittes de clavessin (A, D, b, e, F, f) (Amsterdam, 1701)
French keyboard grandeurFrancois Dieupart's most important work was this set of six suites, published in 1701. They were scored for flute or recorder and continuo, but he also published them in a version for solo keyboard which is the one we hear in the present recording.
The six suites are played for this 1999 recording by Huguette Gremy-Chauliac on an absolutely splendid copy by William Dowd of a 1770 Taskin instrument. Her playing is energetic, stylish, subtle and brilliant in decorative facility.
Gremy-Chauliac's outstanding performance, her lovely instrument and the excellent recorded sound are such that it would be immoral to give this any less than five stars.
Stephen Midgley
amazon.co.uk/review/R187HR6V7Y05MZ 
