专辑简介

François Couperin (1668- 1733) was a French composer more commonly known for his harpsichord music, despite his 55 plus years spent as a church organist. The Mass for the Convents is one of only two organ pieces that he wrote and was paired with another organ mass called Messe des Paroisses or The Mass for the Parishes, both dating between the years 1689 and 1690, and found originally in a manuscript entitled Pieces d'orgue consistantes en deux messes (Pieces for Organ Consisting of Two Masses). These Masses were both written in the traditional French organ Mass style, with the music alternating between the solo organ and the choir with organ accompaniment, written clearly for liturgical purposes. At the time of its creation, many organ masses would have been based on plainchant, but in the case of The Mass for the Convents, Couperin chose to compose all new music. This ended up giving the plein jeu in the mass a lighter feeling, as they did not have the plainchant being played strongly with reed registration under the ornamented music, as was common practice at the time. The Mass includes moments of stark chromaticism, as well as lively moving passages, incorporating Couperin's knowledge of ballet. He balances strong emotional harmonies with the lucid diatonicism of his melodies, creating moments of lovely sweetness in this piece. The Mass shows Couperin's charm and poetic nature throughout, and is considered one of his great accomplishments, particularly considering his young age at the time of its creation.