Luogo e data di registrazione		Schloß Ahaus in Westfalen (Germany) - giugno 1963
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Recording Supervision		Dr. Alfred Krings
	Engineer		Hubert Kübler
	Prima Edizione LP		Harmonia Mundi | HM 30 647 | 1 LP - durata 47' 39" | (p) 1963
	Edizione CD		Deutsche Harmonia Mundi | LC 0761 | 74321 32326 2 | 1 CD - durata 76' 30" | (c) 1995 | ADD | Only Louis Couperin
	Cover Art		-
	Note		-

The undisputed leadership of France in the field of harpsichord music embraces a period of about one hund red years (ca. 1650 - ca. 1750). This is certainly remarkable, in view of the fact that before this time the harpsichord occupied but a modest place in French social life. The favourite instrument was the lute, which was easier to manage but more difficult to play. Many French harpsichor pieces clearly show that the art of "clavecin" arose from lute music. This is especially true of the early masters whose works, ousted after 1700 by the gracefulness and brilliance of François Couperin le Grand and Rameau, have fallen unjustly into oblivion. Two of these early harpsichordist are represented on this record: Louis Couperin and Jean-Henry d'Anglebert. Following the custom of their time, they grouped their pieces according to key. It was left up to the player to form a suite by choosing a number of dances, and this Mr. Leonhardt has done. Several movement require some commentary. Both "préludes" are of the "non mesuré" type. Written almost entirely in semibreves without time signature and regular barring, they leave the shaping of the rhythm to the performer. The French "chaconne" does not consist of the usual series of ostinato variations, but is a stylized dance originating from the "ballet de cour" and composed in the form of a "rondeau". The "canaries" is a dance musically related to the gigue. Finally, the "tombeau" gives us a glimpse into 17th century social life. It is an expressive piece of music written to the memory of a decessed person, usually a friend of the composer. The "tombeau" played on this record honor famous musicians: Blancrocher, a lutenist whose works are lost, and Champion de Chambonnières, founder of the French harpsichord school and former teacher of both Louis Couperin and d'Anglebert. The masters of the seventeenth century wrote in a style less gracious than that of the Rococo period. Their harmonies, however, are more spicy and their works reflect the forceful spirit of the "grand siècle". Gustav Leonhardt plays on a harpsichord built in 1962 by Martin Skowroneck, Bremen. It is a replica of an instrument made in 1745 by J. D. Dulcken of Antwerp, and is tuned in meantone temperament. Frits Noske