The available recordings of French Baroque keyboard music tend to be programmed rather stolidly, with the performer running through published suites or other sets in order. Was the music of Couperin, say, played that way in its own time? This little disc by the veteran British-Canadian harpsichordist
Colin Tilney is a good one to pick for an introduction to various types of music from the period -- not just the preludes and dances mentioned in the title, but also heavily ornamented character pieces with quizzical titles like La Convalescente (track 12, by Couperin, who made a specialty of these), a chaconne by the little-known Jean-Nicholas Geoffroy (the program includes some unfamiliar names in addition to Couperin), and a piece of harmonic experimentation, Les enchaînemente harmoniques, by Louis-Claude Daquin. The result is an enjoyable hour of music that avoids the somehwat claustrophobic quality this repertory can have, with its dense garlands of ornamentation.
Tilney plays a powerful contemporary harpsichord from Montreal builder Yves Beaupré, and his enthusiasm for the repertoire comes through on every track. "Just twenty-four from hundreds of French pièces de clavecin," he writes. "To some people, little more than surface; for others, sensual and profound: order and beauty, luxe, calme, et volupté." He offers a great sample of this buffet of pleasures.