Plectra Music

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The Borel Manuscript

EXPLORING THE BOREL MANUSCRIPT:
A RICH NEW SOURCE OF FRENCH HARPSICHORD MUSIC

AVAILABLE MAY 31
the borel manuscript
More than half of the pieces on these two CDs come from a recently discovered 17th-century manuscript of French harpsichord music (University of California, Berkeley, Hargrove Music Library, MS 1365). It bears the name “Borel” on its title page — possibly a reference to its first owner — and contains over 100 pieces, most of which are unknown elsewhere. Many of the works on these discs have therefore never been recorded before.

The compositions date from 1650-1670. There are new pieces by five of the most eminent musicians of the period: Jean Henry d’Anglebert, Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, Henry Dumont, Joseph Chabanceau de La Barre, and Jacques-Denis Thomelin. These works reflect the most refined styles of French harpsichord playing of the period and clearly relate to court circles in and around Paris since all of these musicians were in royal employ. The recording also includes a rich selection of anonymous pieces in various styles, from courtly suites to more rustic dances. They are heard on two exceptional antique instruments, built by Ioannes Ruckers (1635) and Nicolas Dumont (1707).

Artist Spotlight- Davitt Moroney

Davitt Moroney was born in England in 1950. He studied organ, clavichord, and harpsichord with Susi Jeans, Kenneth Gilbert and Gustav Leonhardt. For over twenty years he was based in Paris, working primarily as a freelance recitalist in many countries. In 2001 he moved to California, as a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is Professor of Music and University Organist. He has recently given organ and harpsichord masterclasses at the Paris Conservatoire, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, the Juilliard School in New York, and Oberlin Conservatory, as well as in South Korea, Finland, Belgium, and Switzerland. Other recent concerts have included recitals in Germany, Holland, Italy, England, and Scotland. He is regularly invited as a jury member for international organ and harpsichord competitions.

His many scholarly editions of harpsichord music include Bach’s Art of Fugue with his own completion of the final unfinished fugue (Henle, 1989), the complete harpsichord works of Louis Couperin (1985) and of Louis Marchand (1987), as well as of Purcell’s recently discovered collection of pieces, now known as the “Purcell Manuscript” (1999). His monograph Bach, An Extraordinary Life — a short introduction to the composer’s life and works — was published by ABRSM Publishing in 2000 and has since been translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, Polish and Romanian.