Louis Marchand (1669-1732)
- Suite en ré mineur (1699)
Performers: Kenneth Gilbert (1931-2020, clavecin)
Further info: Louis Marchand (1669-1732) - Livre Posthume (1740)
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French harpsichordist, organist and composer. Son of Jean Marchand, at
the age of 14, he was made organist at Nevers Cathedral. He went to
Paris in 1689, and in 1691 he received the post of organist of the
Jesuit church in the rue St. Jacques; he was also organist at other
Parisian churches. In 1708 he was named an 'organiste du roi', in which
capacity he earned a considerable reputation, and in 1713 he made a
major tour of Germany. Marchand's name is historically connected with
that of Bach because both were scheduled to meet in open competition in
Dresden in 1717. Only German sources describe this unflattering episode
in Marchand’s career (principally F.W. Marpurg, J.A. Birnbaum and Jacob
Adlung); all agree that Marchand slipped away before the arrival of the
celebrated Weimar organist. According to Titon du Tillet, either through
tact or ignorance, was of the opinion that Marchand’s return to Paris
shortly after the Dresden débâcle was due to homesickness. On his return
he was taken in by the Cordeliers, whose organist he remained until the
end of his days. His importance as a composer rests on his extant
keyboard music. All of it dates from early in his career. He also wrote
the opera 'Pyrame et Thisbé' (lost), the cantata 'Alcione' and 3
cantiques spirituels. He is not related with the composer and theorist
Louis-Joseph Marchand (1692-1774).
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