LDV149

26 NICOLAS DE GRIGNY_The complete organ works In the wake of François Couperin's masterpieces, the publication of the Livre d’orgue of Nicolas de Grigny , who had very likely been trained by Lebègue among others, adds the final keystone to the Grand Siècle of the French organ repertory. Two approximately equal parts contain a set of twenty-three pieces for the Mass Cunctipotens and twenty for the totality of the five hymns, the commentary on which follows in the tradition of Titelouze in the early years of the same century. Named titular organist of the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis in 1693, the same year that Couperin was appointed to the Royal Chapel, but also organist of Reims Cathedral, Grigny left an output characterised by a lyricism that yields nothing either to the requirements of the liturgy or to the science of composition. His four- and five-part fugues attest as much, as do the Récit de tierce en taille (the Gloria of the organmass) and the genuine ornamented chorale of the hymn Pange lingua . In 1703, the year of the composer’s death, Bach copied out in his own hand this book where modality and tonality coexist, which features a number of sections based on pedals in the style of Frescobaldi or Pachelbel, and gives a key role to chromaticism. A Livre that breathes an impression of universality at the intersection of different aesthetics and schools, placed at the service of a deep and sincere piety.