BACH AND THE FRENCH COMPOSERS
While still a student at the Lüneburg Lyceum, Bach was able to visit the small, French-influenced court of Celle. The Duke’s wife, of French origin, had welcomed many Huguenots who had been exiled following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes—including fellow Frenchmen like the organist Charles Gaudon. It was there that Johann Sebastian discovered composers such as Grigny, D’Anglebert, and Dieupart—whose works he would later copy by hand.
Once again, his musical horizons broadened toward unexpected lands, and traces of the French style would remain throughout his work. Certain pieces—featuring dotted rhythms or elaborately ornamented chorale settings in the tenor voice—clearly reflect French models.
French organist and composer Didier Matry, titular organist of the great Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Augustin Church in Paris, performs this French-inspired Bach program. It includes the magnificent Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552—a remarkable example of this influence. The work comes from the third part of the Clavier-Übung, often nicknamed the Lutheran Mass, in reference to how French organists such as François Couperin composed Catholic masses.
PROGRAM
Nicolas de Grigny (1672–1703)
Hymn Pange Lingua
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Fantasy and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537
Chorale: “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland”, BWV 659
Canzona, BWV 588
Prelude and Fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552
Didier Matry, titular organist at Saint-Augustin church, Paris (France)
Vincent Boucher, host
General admission: $15
Tickets on sale here or at 514 843-3414
Large-screen projection
Basilica, 3:30 p.m.
