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Fanfare Magazine: 43:5 (05-06/2020) 
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Château de Versailles Spectacles
CVS023



Code-barres / Barcode : 3770011431182

Despite his renown during his lifetime, Jean-François Dandrieu (1681/2–1738) has fallen into obscurity. Born in Paris to a musical family, he was a child prodigy who played the harpsichord before Louis XIV and the French court at age five. After studies with Jean-Baptiste Moreau (c. 1656–1733), in 1704 he became the organist of the Church of Saint-Merri, a position previously held by Nicolas Lebègue (c. 1631–1702), receiving the formal title to the post in 1705. It is likely but not certain that sometime before 1710 he succeeded his uncle, the priest/organist/composer Pierre Dandrieu (1664–1733), as organist at St. Barthélemey as well, under the traditional right of reversion (whereby French organists in their lifetimes could legally designate their successors). Musicologists have surmised that relations between uncle and nephew became strained after Jean-François republished some of Pierre’s noëls under his own name, since the latter’s will mentions the former’s siblings but not Jean-François himself. Recognized as one of France’s leading keyboard virtuosos, in December 1721 Dandrieu was appointed an organist of the royal chapel. During his lifetime he published several collections of harpsichord music (for which he was ranked alongside François Couperin and Rameau), sets of trio sonatas and solo violin sonatas, and a collection of instrumental works. Upon his death he was buried at St. Barthélemey, and his sister Jeanne-Françoise succeeded him as organist there. She also oversaw the posthumous publication of a book of his organ pieces in 1739.
 

Recordings devoted to Dandrieu’s music remain scarce on the ground. I have found only one CD with an Easter Mass and Vespers service (another Mass was previously issued on LP, with Marie-Claire Alain as the organist); one with chamber music; four or five devoted to harpsichord works; one of sacred works for solo voice and organ; an LP of organ works with Alain and a CD (originally an LP) with Gillian Weir; and a two-disc set (originally separate releases) of organ and harpsichord works with André Isoir and Olivier Baumont. Otherwise, isolated pieces appear in anthology and recital discs. Most of the previous recordings of Dandrieu’s organ works are of his noëls. There are a few scattered prior recordings of Magnificats (and some of the shorter works listed in the headnote), but identification of those is too imprecise for me to ascertain if they are the same as any of the ones presented here (the most likely overlap is with Volume 4 in Gillian Weir’s CD series on Eloquence). Consequently, while they are not specifically identified as such, this disc presumably presents several premiere recordings.
 

Each Magnificat here consists of five to seven shorter movements which, in line with traditional French practice, are mostly named after featured stops or registrations. Robin’s booklet notes describe Dandrieu’s compositional style as “a synthesis between the Italian fugal and concertante style, the ornamental and dance music of his predecessors and the taste at that time for lightness and elegance.” While there are elements of gravity as well, the ear is immediately drawn to the lively and delightful dance tunes that permeate these scores. The closing track on the disc, the Offertory of the Easter hymn tune “O filii et filiae,” will be immediately familiar to many churchgoers from its adaptation as a congregational hymn by William Monk. Fittingly, the organ utilized here is the 1710 instrument of the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Versailles (the booklet provides several color photos of the eye-popping interior, along with an artist bio, and notes on and specifications for the instrument). It is an absolutely magnificent French Baroque instrument, and the recorded sound is extraordinarily vivid. Above all, Jean-Baptiste Robin is the perfect interpreter for his repertoire, playing with all the verve, imagination, and technical precision one could desire. This is one of the finest French Baroque organ discs I’ve had the pleasure of encountering; and, best of all, it is designated “Volume 1.” I await the sequels with impatience! Enthusiastically recommended.

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