Artist: Frances Conover Fitch, Anne Azema, Peter Sykes, Na'ama Lion, Jane Hershey, Dana Maiben, Robert Mealy, Laurie Monahan, Lydia Knutson
Title: Protégée of the Sun King: Music by Jacquet de la Guerre
Year Of Release: 2005
Label: Centaur Records, Inc.
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks)
Total Time: 2:24:35
Total Size: 836 MB

Tracklist:

Disc 1

1. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – I. Prelude (02:34)
2. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – II. Allemande (02:58)
3. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – III. Courante I (02:02)
4. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IV. Courante II (01:40)
5. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – V. Sarabande (02:07)
6. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VI. Gigue (02:07)
7. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VII. Cannaris (02:19)
8. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VIII. Chaconne L'Inconstante (02:37)
9. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IX. Menuet (01:02)
10. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Ces Luths mysterieux (00:38)
11. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – I. Prelude (01:40)
12. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – II. Allemande (02:28)
13. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – III. Courante I (01:43)
14. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IV. Courante II (01:45)
15. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – V. Sarabande (01:51)
16. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VI. Gigue (01:35)
17. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VII. Chaconne (02:55)
18. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VIII. Gavotte (00:39)
19. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IX. Menuet (00:52)
20. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Epistre de Monsieur de Lully: Muse, je vous ecris . (03:34)
21. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Ouverture (04:06)
22. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Rondeau (01:01)
23. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Passepied pour les violons et pour les hautbois (02:06)
24. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Gigue (01:11)
25. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – I. Grave, vivace e presto (03:26)
26. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – II. Allegro (01:28)
27. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – III. Allegro (01:04)
28. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IV. Aria affettuoso (01:14)
29. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – V. Allegro (01:01)
30. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Passacaille in A minor (02:32)
31. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air I in C major (01:00)
32. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air II in C major (01:00)
33. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – I. (Grave) (01:08)
34. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – II. Presto - Adagio (01:30)
35. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – III. Presto (01:39)
36. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IV. Aria (02:17)
37. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – V. Adagio (01:34)

Disc 2

1. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air (02:13)
2. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – I. La flamande (03:26)
3. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – II. Double (03:33)
4. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – III. Courante (01:37)
5. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IV. Double (01:42)
6. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – V. Sarabande (02:50)
7. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VI. Gigue (02:28)
8. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VII. Double (02:39)
9. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – VIII. Gigue II (02:06)
10. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – IX. Rigaudon (00:42)
11. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – X. Rigaudon II (01:24)
12. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – XI. Chaconne (05:50)
13. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Par la souveraine Sagesse (01:02)
14. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air: Ah! Ah! Quelle affreuse image (02:56)
15. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: De votre Epoux, Esther (00:42)
16. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Arioso: Et quoy n'osez-vous (01:04)
17. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Elle approche (00:54)
18. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air: Venez, venez, bannissez ces alarmes (05:31)
19. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Ainsi devant son Maitre (00:39)
20. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air: Souvent la verite timide (04:42)
21. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air des Demons (01:19)
22. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Symphony (01:02)
23. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Apres mille travaux (00:34)
24. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Air: Sur une Mer orageuse (01:27)
25. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Il en fremit (00:15)
26. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Symphony and Air: Tempeste (02:42)
27. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Symphony and Air: Venes Minerve (02:26)
28. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Nos voeux sont exaucez (00:57)
29. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Symphony and Air: Sommeil (05:46)
30. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Recitative: Mais, quel songe se mele et Alcinous ce Roy (01:59)
31. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Symphony and Air: Ulisse que la gloire appelle (04:27)
32. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Sire, je n'ai plus le merite (01:39)
33. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre – Entre nous mes chers amis (03:08)

Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre was a harpsichord prodigy brought to the court of Louis XVI, France's Sun King, at the age of 12. Her music disappeared after her death in 1732, erased from historical memory like the works of other female composers in the way that Communist governments used to retouch photos in order to eliminate individuals deemed non-approved. Like Bach, she was a talented improviser at the keyboard. Her works, in various genres, were published with the king's approval, but they have only recently been rediscovered. Recordings of her music are still rare, and this two-disc set may be the first real survey of her work as a whole. It covers music from her two books of Pièces de clavecin, separated from each other by two decades, as well as ballet music, songs, a violin sonata, sacred and secular cantatas, assorted songs, and more. There are also several spoken tracks with texts praising the talents of Jacquet de la Guerre. As can be seen from this list of genres, Jacquet de la Guerre was in the forefront of experimentation with new Italian genres such as the cantata and sonata. But on the evidence here it is her harpsichord music that is the real revelation. The second book of harpsichord music, from 1707, shows the influence of François Couperin, but even in the youthful first book there is a strikingly assured handling of harmony and texture that makes one wonder how her music could have remained abandoned for so long. Jacquet de la Guerre's miniature dance suite movements are packed with dense chromatic modulations that rival Rameau's, and with individualistic textures that bear comparison with those of François Couperin. It may be that the harpsichord works outshine the rest of the music here because the performances by harpsichordist Frances Conover Fitch are superior to those of the other Boston-area musicians she has assembled; the two cantatas on disc two in particular are tough going. A single disc might have served the composer's interests better, but if this disc inspires new performances from the likes of Pierre Hantaï and Emma Kirkby, it will have done its job. © James Manheim