Louis-Claude Daquin
Louis-Claude Daquin wrote Baroque and Galant keyboard music built for display: clear textures, brilliant passagework and character pieces that paint a scene. His harpsichord suites and organ Noëls still circulate, above all Le coucou and the Swiss Noël.
A virtuoso organist and harpsichordist, he left four harpsichord suites, the Nouveau livre de noëls (Christmas carol settings that preserve some of his improvisatory flair), and a handful of vocal works. Le coucou, from the 1735 Pièces de clavecin, turns a bird-call into pure keyboard theatre; the Noëls dress familiar tunes in inventive variations for organ or harpsichord. Technical showpieces such as a triple trill sit beside music meant for church and salon alike. Little of a larger output survives, so these published keyboard works carry his name on the recital platform.
Compositions by Louis-Claude Daquin appear on
The Remarkable Norman Kaye
Move Records has gathered material for this CD paying tribute to the wonderful Norman Kaye. The main focus here is on the musician, but not forgetting his acting career.
Bizarre or baRock
Elizabeth Anderson explores harpsichord music across four centuries: ranging from Conceição's raw 17th century battle piece, through traditional Baroque repertoire, to Jazz, Blues, Gershwin and the Beatles accompanied by drums and bass. Weird, wild, wacky and wonderful - you've never heard the harpsichord like this!
A Baroque Collection
Douglas Lawrence plays a feast of baroque master works on the acclaimed Ahrend organ of Monash University's Robert Blackwood Hall.