Musical contribution - December 2024

Quand Jesus naquit à Noël - Cl.Balbastre (1727-1799)

(LiVE Sampleset: Amsterdam, Vater-Müller)

This year too, we’re delighted to present another arrangement of an internationally-renowned Christmas carol. I’d like to refer to material presented previously in December 2013 and 2017 for both the description of the composer and information on the registration.

On behalf of the management and staff at Johannus Orgelbouw (Global Organ Group), we would like to wish you all a blessed Christmas and look forward to seeing you again in 2025.

Best regards,

André

Claude Balbastre (whose name is sometimes also written as Balbâtre) was the organist at St. Roch in Paris. He enjoyed a great reputation. His popular arrangements of orchestral and operatic works were in such demand that there were traffic problems whenever he had them on his programmes. The archbishop even imposed a ban on him during the Christmas period, because churchgoers no longer came for the mass but ‘wanted to hear a free concert’. Or so the story goes.

We, however, may still enjoy his music. It’s certainly not out of place on the programme for an organ concert, but it’s also beautiful music for playing prior to worship. Churchgoers are sure to enjoy it.

The dates indicate that we’re dealing with the so-called French Baroque period here. Terms including ‘Grand jeu’ and ‘Plein jeu’ are therefore used frequently. We recommend listening to a composition like this on a real French Baroque organ if you can. In the Netherlands, you can find such instruments in Martinuskerk in Gronsveld, or Lambertuskerk in Helmond, for example. In addition to the principals and flutes, we see many Twelfth and Tierce stops and Aliquots such as Plein jeu (full chorus), Cymbal and Cornet, and powerful, bright reeds.

And finally, a little about the embellishments. As we can also see in the paintings, architecture and clothing of the time, Baroque music is richly embellished. This Noël also includes a number of trills.

“Whether the trill should start with the principal note or the note above it is an ongoing point of discussion. Rule of thumb: In Baroque music (until around 1750), the trill always starts on the note above the trill note, unless the preceding note is already the note above the trill note (although there are also extremely contradictory articles about this). In music after 1750, the trill generally starts on the principal note, but there may be deviations to this according to taste and style. The speed depends on the character of the composition and the acoustics in the space in which it is being performed. An embellishment is usually found on a consonant. The trill then starts on the note above (dissonant) in order to create more interest in the music. End of quote.

Let’s leave it there, if you don’t mind. As one of my teachers always used to say: ‘It’s good to consider and study these things, but remember: embellishments are like streamers at a birthday party. It’s about the person whose birthday it is, and not about the streamers.’