Couperin: Messe à l’usage des paroisses & Messe pour les couvents (À l’orgue de la cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Poitiers)

The counterpart of Grigny’s organ book performed on the same 18th-century Clicquot instrument at the Poitiers cathedral (released on January 20th), here are the complete organ works of his contemporary François Couperin. Composed at the age of only twenty, these consist of two mass settings and are an absolute milestone of the keyboard repertoire of Baroque France. In this reference recording by Marie-Claire Alain each piece is alternated with plainchant, as they would have been originally performed during religious services. The vocal parts performed in the Messe pour les couvents derive from a plainchant mass composed by Henry du Mont.