Louis Marchand: RÉCIT DE CORNET (Silbermann) Leonart
Enjoy the solo récit on the Grand Cornet of the historic 1745 Silbermann organ in Wasselonne, as Nenad Leonart, organist, brings to life Louis Marchand's organ piece, Récit de Cornet. This video and audio recording was made in the beginning of April 2023 and showcases the Cornet solo stop on the Grand Orgue, a very typical stop on the French baroque pipe organ, which often was the dedicated stop for Solos/Recitativos, a main part of the Grand Jeu, and on the larger organs had an additional manual for a Cornet de Récit (and even a fourth one for the Cornet de Écho).
About the Composer:
Virtually all contemporary accounts contain lavish praise of Marchand's keyboard talents, yet most writers also mention that the composer had an extremely colorful and unpredictable personality. This combination of prodigious skill and bizarre temperament resulted in numerous anecdotes, scandals, and rumors recounted in various sources, only some of which are fully reliable. Several, however, are well documented: soon after his arrival in Paris, he became embroiled in a plot along with the organ builder Henry Lesclop, to defame the newly-appointed organist-priest at Saint-Bartelémy (which Marchand coveted), Pierre Dandrieu, Marchand coerced a pregnant sixteen-year-old girl to complain in a now lost letter to the organist of the Grand Couvent des Jacobins that Dandrieu was the father of the child. Dandrieu filed a complaint against Lesclop and during the ensuing investigation the girl withdrew her accusation.
On a domestic front things did not fare much better: he beat his wife, who successfully divorced him in 1701 with a settlement of 2,000 livres '... qu’il a reçüe faisant partie de sa dot avec les intérêts suivant l’ordonnance du jour ...’ . Edward Higginbottom suggests that the extended German tour was an attempt to escape his ex-wife's demands, but this is unlikely. A contemporary account by Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (in Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik, 1754–55) gives a different reason: it wasn't his ex-wife Marchand was escaping from, but the French king, whom Marchand insulted. After an unfavorable remark made by Louis XIV about Marchand's hands, the composer responded with an improper retort about the king's ears. Still another account claims that after Marchand's wife had left him, Louis XIV ordered half the composer's salary to be withheld and paid to her. Marchand, in response, broke off in the middle of a mass where he was playing and, when the king questioned him, responded, "Sire, if my wife gets half my salary, she may play half the service."
The Silbermann Organ in Wasselonne has been the subject of restoration and preservation efforts over the years, ensuring that this significant instrument remains in playable condition. It is cherished by organists, musicologists, and historians for its sonic beauty, historical importance, and as a valuable example of Silbermann’s expert craftsmanship.
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