MICHEL CORRETTE (1709-1795): Premier Livre de Clavecin - uvre XII, Les Échos de Boston, Le Combat Naval from Divertissements pour le Clavecin.
Catalogue Number: 04K035
Label: Pierre Verany
Reference: PV700013
Format: CD
Price: $18.98
Description: Corrette's only contribution to the French genre of the book of harpsichord pieces was published in 1734 and is fully in the style expected at a time when Couperin had just died and Rameau was still publishing his. The real novelty here (and maybe what gained this a Diapason d'Or) is the half-hour long Divertissement of 1779. This consists of program music with narrator (spoken by the harpsichordist here): the Boston set of three pieces evoking the life of colonists with dancing, sport and other open-air activities and the much longer naval battle whose printed descriptions are quite precise (and whose realization includes the playing of clusters to represent cannons firing 24-pound shot). At 20 minutes, it's one of the longest and most detailed "battle music" pieces you'll have in your collection. Jean-Patrice Brosse (harpsichord). 2001 release.