Nicolas de Grigny in glory at the Royal Chapel of Versailles

With this thirteenth volume of the Versailles collection dedicated to the golden age of the French organ, Michel Bouvard and François Espinasse make all the colors of the greatest organist of his time shine.

Nicolas de Grigny would have fully deserved to be organist at the Chapelle Royale. His death at the age of 31 did not give him time. Originally from Reims, he came to Paris to follow the teaching of Nicolas Lebègue and was organist of the basilica of Saint-Denis for four years, before being appointed organist of the cathedral of Reims on his return to his hometown.

In the very extensive biographical note which accompanies this recording, the musicologist Jean Saint-Arroman reminds us that the unique organ book de Grigny, engraved at his own expense, experienced difficult sales. This did not prevent Johann Sebastian Bach from copying the entire Bookproof if any were needed of the immense quality of writing of Grigny’s work. The climax on the big games which concludes the anthem From sunrise is a masterful conclusion which has no equivalent in the organ books of his contemporaries, oscillating between modality and tonality.

Organist “by district” of the organ of the Royal Chapel since 2010, Michel Bouvard and François Espinasse maintain a great friendly bond between them. We remember the disc of Bach transcriptions that they recorded together ten years ago in homage to their master André Isoir. Here, they share the two parts of the organ book de Grigny, Michel Bouvard for the Mass, François Espinasse for the five Hymns. Grigny only published one organ book, so it is his complete work that is offered to us here. The organ verses, as we know, were played alternating with the sung verses (according to the principle ofalternately) which have not been reproduced here, contrary to what Nicolas Bucher proposed in his recent recording at the organ of La Chaise-Dieu. We can regret it. But Grigny’s music is so eloquent that it stands on its own. Michel Bouvard’s reading of the Mass, a fine connoisseur of the rhetoric of the period, is subtly internalized, almost mystical. Each note is thought out, each ornament is at the service of the musical phrase and the polyphony always remains perfectly legible, particularly in the fugues at 5. In the peak of expressiveness that is the Third-size Story of the Gloria, the singing is as if restrained, without any pathos. We find these same qualities in the playing of François Espinasse, who gives an interpretation of the five Hymns which highlights the declamatory qualities of Grigny’s writing. Even more than in the Mass, certain verses are real dances (like the Duet and the Dialogue of Come Creator) to which the chiseled articulation of François Espinasse offers exemplary dynamics. The stories, for their part, give the impression of being sung by the performers, who declaim the musical phrase with great fluidity.

Rebuilt thirty years ago by the organbuilders Jean-Loup Boisseau and Bertrand Cattiaux, the great Clicquot organ of the Chapelle Royale is magnificently suited to convey the splendor of this unparalleled writing. A slightly distant sound recording detracts nothing from the quality of the interpretation of this masterpiece of the Grand Siècle, which finds the royal setting it deserves at the Versailles Chapel.

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