JEUX

Jean-François Dandrieu (circa 1682–1738), Premier Livre d'Orgue (1739)

As Dandrieu died in January, 1738, his organ suites were probably prepared for publication by his sister Jeanne-Françoise Dandrieu, an organist as famous as her brother, and whom she succeeded at St. Bartélemy in Paris.

The Livre d'Orgue is not well known today, so I embarked on the project of setting the whole book for the JEUX SoundFont. I have organized the pieces into a table to make clear the structure of the suites. It is the score card that you need to keep track of the movements.

Dandrieu's music contains many wonders and delights. It is, of course, representative of the tastes of its day —simplified harmony and counterpoint, with many nostalgic references to music of the French countryside. The "Duo en Cor de Chasse sur la Trompette" (Duo in the style of hunting horns, for the trumpet stop) is perhaps the best-known curiosity, which we interpret as a depiction of the sounds of the hunt passing the church! (Yet another reason why organs of Dandrieu's time were equipped with at least one trumpet on each manual. Musicians will recall Franck's overture, Le Chasseur Maudit, describing what is in store for those who profane the Sabbath by hunting instead of attending church!)

But these pieces are not exclusively secular. The Offertoires are typically in the form of an Ouverture with an abbreviated Suite, at times seeming to contain at least fragments of a cantus firmus. They seem intended for grandeur, which is easily achieved by adding the Bombarde manual to the Grand Jeu at just the right moment. The harmony is seldom very adventurous, but each key has its own special character.

The pieces following each Offertoire could be used anywhere in the service, and they often contain subtle thematic references to material in the Offertoire. The pieces are usually short, but taken as a whole, they are remarkably effective. There is considerable documentation from the 17th and 18th Centuries that explains registrations for Duos, Trios, and Dialogues—usually these directions have little to do with suggestions found in modern editions! The choice among historical registrations is governed first by that universal arbiter, the "good taste" of the performer, and second by the need to provide a sufficient variety of registrations to prevent timbral monotony.

Each suite ends with a Magnificat setting consisting of 6 versets. The first verset is always for the Plein Jeu, as required in Paris at that time, but if they contain cantus firmus fragments, they are well hidden! Though short, these are Dandrieu's most sublime creations. The remaining versets contain some of Dandrieu's best character pieces, the Basses de Trompette, Cromornes en Taille, and Récits de Nasard that evoke the essence of France's musical heritage—the authentic rhythms and timbres of folk music, the elegance of classical French prosody, the exuberance of the dance, and the full range of gallic passions, from the tenderest to the most vigorous.

The whole book is available as a ZIP file. We also have MP3 files for each suite, though the files are quite large, up to 27 MB of streaming audio.

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