Fevrier: Pieces De Clavecin 1Re Livre (Paris 1734)

Pierre Fevrier (1696-1760) was a French composer and harpsichordist active during the late Baroque period, a time when France cultivated a highly refined keyboard tradition. Fevrier served as organist at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Pres in Paris, a prestigious position that placed him within an important musical and cultural center. His work reflects the elegance and ornamentation characteristic of French Baroque music, while also demonstrating a personal sensitivity to melody and structure. Fevrier's writing is firmly rooted in the French harpsichord tradition as shaped by Louis Couperin and d'Anglebert, codified by Francois Couperin, and enriched by Rameau's harmonic innovations. Like his contemporaries, Fevrier adopts the structure of the suite or ordre, based on sequences of stylized dances-Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue, Minuet, Gavotte-augmented by character pieces with evocative titles (La Sonore, La Delectable, L'Intrepide). At the same time, his musical language reveals a perceptible evolution: textures become clearer, and often more homophonic, melodic lines grow increasingly songful, and counterpoint-still present-is never ostentatious. It yields primacy to a measured eloquence in keeping with the French ideal of bon goût. This aesthetic of restraint situates Fevrier at the threshold between late Baroque and emerging galant style, without ever abandoning the formal rigor inherited from his predecessors. This is another enterprising recording by Fernando de Luca, who has done a great deal to revive forgotten names from 18th-century music with complete surveys of their music on Brilliant Classics, among them Dufour, Foucquet, Jollage, Gravier and Siret. '[De Luca] thinks outside of the box, and he clearly is a man with discerning tastes. These extend to his playing, which is clear-headed and disciplined, but never rigid. 'Charm' is such an overused word, but I cannot think of a better one to describe this music and these performances.' (Fanfare on the Jollage album, January 2024). Fernando de Luca plays a French harpsichord after Blanchet (1754).