musica Dei donum
CD reviews
LE BRET (fl 1730 - 1740): Pièces de Clavecin
Simone Pierini, harpsichord
rec: Nov 14 - 15, 2022, Monte Compatri, Palazzo Annibaldeschi
Brilliant Classics - 96930 (© 2024) (70'36")
Liner-notes: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
Scores
Spotify
anon: Gavotte;
Le Bret:
Première Suite;
Deuxième Suite
Harpsichordists who want to play French music of the 18th century have much to choose from. As this repertoire is popular among players and audiences, we regularly see recordings of pièces de clavecin by François Couperin, Rameau, Duphly and Forqueray, to mention just a few. However, there is much more, and in recent years a number of recordings with music by little-known composers has been released by Brilliant Classics. One of them is the one that is the subject of this review.
It may well be the very first recording of the harpsichord music by a composer who is only known with his family name: Le Bret. That may be a little surprising, given that it was already published in 2005. Le Bret also has an entry in New Grove, which means that he is not an entirely unknown quantity. Fortunately there are players like Simone Pierini, who like to look beyond the obvious, as he has proven with other recordings devoted to such little-known masters as Agostino Tinazzoli (harpsichord), Gervais-François Couperin and Hélène de Montgeroult (both fortepiano).
Nothing is known about the identity of Le Bret. He may have been an amateur, meaning that he was not a professional musician; it does say nothing about his qualities. The only known book of harpsichord pieces has survived without the title page, which explains why his Christian name is not known. Fortunately the music is also available in a copy by Alexandre-Guy Pingé, director of the library of St Geneviève’s abbey in Paris. This copy also includes the preface, which is interesting in that Le Bret announces that, when his music "will please the public, I will prove my gratitude by offering a new volume every following year, and time will tell that I will be exact in respecting the promise I am making." No more music of his pen is known. Whether he has published more which has been lost or did not fulfill his promise - for whatever reason - will probably never be known.
Another thing that is not known, is the date these pieces were written. However, there are some indications. The watermark of the copy suggests that it was created in 1742. One of the pieces, L'Embarassante from the Première Suite, is clearly inspired by Rameau's Les Cyclopes, which was published in 1724. Le Bret's pieces also show the influence of Couperin, and therefore it is assumed that Le Bret's book of pièces de clavecin may have been written between the late 1720s and early 1740s.
All the pieces have titles, as was common at the time. Some of the titles appear in other collections as well. In Le Bret's suites these titles are not very mysterious: La Séduisante, La Réjouissante, L'Affable etc. That does not mean that it is always easy to understand the connection between a title and the music. One of the exceptions is La Piquante from the Deuxième Suite. "Piquant" means 'sharp, pungent', which is illustrated by the abrasive character of this piece, which is perfectly realized by Pierini.
A number of Le Bret's pieces are in binary form (A-B), but most have the then fashionable form of a rondeau. Dance forms were very common, but only in a few cases they are explicitly mentioned, such as allemande, sarabande, gavotte and menuet. One of the latter - or rather a pair of menuets - closes the Première Suite, but as the second seems incomplete, Pierini offers his completion here. He adds aa anonymous piece from Pingé's copy, and suggests it may have been written by Pingé himself.
The harpsichord works by Le Bret get a positive judgement in New Grove, and this recording confirms that these pieces have such a quality that a recording is justified. I am happy with Pierini's performance, which shows a thorough knowledge of the French keyboard style. L'Embarassante is one of the highlights. I am a bit disappointed about the choice of harpsichord: a copy of an instrument by Michael Mietke. A German harpsichord is not the most appropriate instrument for French music, and I would have preferred a French harpsichord. In the sarabande La Touchante from the Deuxième Suite, for instance, I missed the elegance this piece requires, and that is partly due to the instrument.
On a technical note: there is too much space between the individual movements within a suite. That is a bit artificial; less time would have created a more natural flow within a suite.
However, this is an important recording, and Le Bret's harpsichord oeuvre is a valuable addition to the repertoire. Pierini is its eloquent advocate.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)
Relevant links:
Simone Pierini