Catalogue

Summary:

Trevor Pinnock appeared on Avie catalogue number 0001 (conducting The English Concert in Handel’s opera Tamerlano). Here he appears as solo harpsichordist, a role for which he has won world-wide acclaim and a Gramophone Award. The centrepiece of Trevor’s new recording is Rameau’s rondeau Les Cyclopes, rather oddly named for the mythical man-eating beast but perhaps aptly employing all the delightful compositional eccentricities of the French composer. Rounding out the CD are two extensive suites.

The exceptional instrument heard here is the Jean Goermans / Pascal Taskin harpsichord (Paris 1763, 1783/84) from the Raymond Russell collection of early keyboard instruments at St. Cecilia’s Hall Museum of Instruments, University of Edinburgh.

Tracklist:

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU (1683–1764)

Pièces de Clavessin (1724)
1. I. Les Cyclopes (3:24)
2. II. L’Entretien des Muses (6:27)
3. III. Les Tourbillons (2:19)

Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, Suite in A Minor (1728)
4. I. Allemande (7:11)
5. II. Courante (3:35)
6. III. Sarabande (3:49)
7. IV. Les Trois Mains (4:46)
8. V. Fanfarinette (2:05)
9. VI. La Triomphante (1:44)
10. VII. Gavotte avec les Doubles de la Gavotte (9:34)

Pièces de Clavessin, Suite in E Minor
11. I. Allemande (4:16)
12. II. Courante (1:32)
13. III. Gigue en Roundeau I (1:33)
14. IV. Gigue en Rondeau II (2:27)
15. V. Le Rappel des Oiseaux (2:43)
16. VI. Rigaudon I – Rigaudon II et Double (2:39)
17. VII. Musette en Rondeau (2:35)
18. VIII. Tambourin (1:16)
19. IX. La Villageoise (2:53)

Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin
20. I. La Poule (4:56)
21. II. L’Enharmonique (4:15)
22. III. L’Egiptienne (3:23)

Total duration: 79:22

Recorded 13–16 July 2004, Preston Hall, Midlothian, Scotland
Recording, Editing and Mastering engineer: Michele Gaggia