A world premiere recording of elegant harpsichord suites from the high French Baroque.
Philippe-François Véras (c.1690-1742) published a single volume of Pièces de Clavecin in 1740 in Paris. Following the example of Couperin, he arranges his four suites in ‘Ordre’. Much about his life and work remains unknown and mysterious, but a firm fact is that Véras was organist at Saint-Maurice in the city of Lille.
The style of Véras owes more to his Italian than his French contemporaries, in the shape of the melodies and strong pulse. ‘La Voilliante’ in the First Order is in any case subtitled ‘according to Italian taste’.
There is no real artistic distinction between the concept of the ‘suite’ and the ‘ordre’, but in this case the complete lack of a dance sequence (such as the usual Allemande-Courante Sarabande-Gigue) may justify the employment of the term Ordre instead of the more popular Suite.
There are, however, dances throughout the four Ordres: tambourins, rigaudons, rondeaux and badineries. The single example of the Sarabande bears a resemblance to a piece by Antoine Forqueray published seven years later.
The titles of most of the movements also follow Couperin in their vividly illustrative and yet now opaque character descriptions – whether of archetypes or individuals.
Who was ‘La Duchesse’ of the Second Ordre? Who is the ‘Ridiculous Man’ who opens the Third, and who is the ‘Lady of the Manor’ in the Fourth. We will never know, which makes the elegant outlines of their identities in music all the more tantalising.
Simone Pierini has made a specialty from such dedicated acts of revival. This album of Véras follows other first recordings on Brilliant Classics, of music by Le Bret and Agostino Tinazzoli.
According to Gramophone, reviewing the Le Bret album, ‘His playing offers crisp clarity of texture and ornament, and shows a sure hand in the flashier moments.’
- The reign of Louis 15th in France lasted from 1715 until his death, in 1774. During this long age, dozens of musicians were active both in Paris and the rest of France (“La Provence”) and most of them, if not involved with aristocracy’s musical needs, had to deal with an organist position in a church, one of the very few ways to earn money as a musician.
- Philippe-François Véras (c. 1690-1742) was no exception to this rule. The only detail about the life of this musician from Lille can be evinced by his only surviving book of music, which he published in Paris in 1740, consisting of four Ordres for harpsichord. These Ordres, or suites, consist of several dance movements, and pieces with fancy titles, such as Le Rédiculle, La Fidelle and Les Sauvages. The style is a happy blend of the French and Italian styles, resulting in charming, galant and highly melodious music.
- Played on the harpsichord by Simone Pierini. Born in Rome in 1996, Pierini began studying music at the age of eight. Aged eighteen, he graduated in piano at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music, Rome, with highest honors. He afterwards grew interest in historically informed piano practice, attending masterclasses led by Alexei Lubimov, Andreas Staier, Tobias Koch, Stefano Fiuzzi. Subsequently, his interest about historical keyboards in general grew further, and he began studying harpsichord and basso continuo with such teachers as Andrea Coen and Giovanni Togni. His recordings with music by Cherubini (BC96246), the complete piano sonatas by Hélène de Montgeroult (BC96247) and the complete Piano Sonatas by Cramer were very positively received by the press. Classic FM nominated him as one of the 30 best musicians under 30 in 2024.
