François Couperin's chamber collection, Les Nations, is divided into four groups or ordres of trio sonatas and dance suites representing the musical styles of 18th century Europe, under the headings La Françoise, L'Espagnole, L'Impériale, and La Piémontoise. The work is usually played on two violins, cello, and harpsichord, in the manner of the Italian trio sonata, though the score doesn't specify instrumentation, so performances with oboes, recorders, and various continuo instruments, such as the guitar and theorbo, are ...
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François Couperin's chamber collection, Les Nations, is divided into four groups or ordres of trio sonatas and dance suites representing the musical styles of 18th century Europe, under the headings La Françoise, L'Espagnole, L'Impériale, and La Piémontoise. The work is usually played on two violins, cello, and harpsichord, in the manner of the Italian trio sonata, though the score doesn't specify instrumentation, so performances with oboes, recorders, and various continuo instruments, such as the guitar and theorbo, are possible. In the case of this recording, the first of two volumes on Toccata Classics covering Les Nations and various other pieces, Jochewed Schwarz and Emer Buckley play two harpsichords, following Couperin's admission in a later publication that he preferred to play the pieces at the keyboard. The music is evenly divided between the two instruments, and it works well in this arrangement, though this is the first recording of Les Nations as a keyboard work and may strike some...
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