When I was young, we listened to a lot of CBC-FM including a morning classical music program that was always on during breakfast. The host had his firm favourites, and this post is about one that always showed up in December.
France has a centuries-long and lively tradition of popular folk carols which are called "Noels". These Christmas songs are, however, not well-known outside the French-speaking world, and that is our loss. There's a whole added layer of tradition, in the form of classical compositions based on these traditional tunes.
In particular, French organists have often prepared and published "livres de Noels", which may have had their origins in organ improvisations during Christmastime services. There are a number of such collections dating from centuries back, but my personal favourite -- the one I return to time and time again -- is the Nouveau Livre de Noels of Louis-Claude Daquin.
Daquin lived from 1694 to 1772, so his lifespan coincided with those of the most famous of high Baroque composers, Bach and Handel. Daquin quickly established his reputation as a keyboard player of immense skill, on either harpsichord or organ. Very few of his compositions survive, but one of the few that did is the Nouveau Livre de Noels -- and with good reason, for it is recorded in a contemporary account that when he played these noels at the organ of the Sainte-Chapelle, all of Paris came to hear him.
The Nouveau Livre de Noels was edited, published and recorded by the American organist E. Power Biggs, and it was his delightful recording that we used to hear so much around the breakfast table. The pieces quickly became popular standbys of many organists, but it's unlikely that many of the members of the church congregations that hear these charming miniatures could name the composer, or for that matter the traditional tunes on which they are based.
Daquin did the only thing you really can do with traditional tunes -- create variations on them. And this is what happens in almost every one of the 12 noels. In line with the traditions of the French classical organists, the entire musical texture -- melody, harmony, and bass -- becomes steadily more elaborate as the tune repeats. Often, this happens according to a strict scheme -- the number of notes-per-beat is doubled in each variation. In one instance, the entire melody is recast from a slower triple time to a fast duple time, with enchanting effect.
One curious fact, given the celebratory nature of Christmastime, is how many of the noels actually are in modal keys that are best harmonized in the minor. Far from sounding sad, the sprightly nature of Daquin's treatment keeps the music upbeat and lively, joyful from start to finish.
In the slower noels, Daquin often uses an enchanting effect which is easy to achieve on an organ but difficult on any other keyboard instrument. He adds a descant part on top of the melody, placing the tune in the second place among the parts. An organist, meeting this little problem, can play on two of the manuals (keyboards) simultaneously, using a quieter, gentler tone for the descant so that the melody remains clearly audible.
In the pioneering Biggs recording, all these possibilities were explored with great sensitivity, and with full use of the wide tonal palette of the organ at Harvard which he played. A more recent digital recording by Christopher Herrick, using a cathedral organ at Dieppe in France, is not quite so effective. His instrument has such a huge number of heavy reed stops that the music becomes almost ponderous, develops a certain sameness. The Noels simply aren't as varied as with Biggs, finely as Herrick plays.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if Sony (or some other label) could reissue that classic Columbia record? In the meantime, Herrick's playing makes him a more than acceptable -- if less than perfect -- alternative.
My Christmas season simply isn't complete without Daquin's Nouveau Livre de Noels -- and you may well come to feel the same way, if you enjoy organ music as much as I do.
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