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TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperinonthe MusicofBernarddeBury Thefirstdecadeoftheeighteenthcenturyopenedwithasurgeoftenharpsichord publicationsinFrancewhichslowedtoatrickleafterFrançoisCouperinissuedthefirstofhis fourPiècesdeclavecinin1713.Perhapsduetothelongshadowcastbytheeminentcomposer, inthesucceedingseventeenyearsendingwiththeissueofhisQuatrièmelivrein1730,only threecontemporariesissuednewworksforsoloharpsichord.Conversely,inthefollowing decadeofthe1730’snofewerthanfourteencomposerspublished.AmongthesewasBernard deBury.Wewilltakeafewmomentstoexaminehissuccessfulcareerandhiscurrent reception,aswellasthepublicationbackgroundofthePièces.Thenwewillinvestigatethe FrenchConnection–theinfluenceofFrançoisCouperinonBernarddeBury. BernarddeBurywasborninVersaillesin1720anddiedtherein1785.Heheldvarious postsatthecourtinVersailles,includingthatofHarpsichordisttotheKingofFrance.Forthat title,adistinguishedlineagecanbetracedfromJacques-ChampiondeChambonnièrestoJean HenriD’AngleberttoFrançoisCouperintohisdaughter,Marguérite-AntoinetteCouperin,and finallytodeBury. Thecomposer’saccomplishmentswererecognizedbyhiscontemporaries.FélixRaugel notesinDieMusicinGeshichteundGegenwartthat,“Inallhisworks,ofwhichtheMercurede Francesaid,‘thebeautifuldetailssucceedoneafteranother,’hehadthegreatestsuccess.”1 AnotherreviewintheMercur]praisedoneofdeBury’sopéra-balletsandhelditupasan exampleoflegrandgenreetlasciencedel’art(“theultimateinthisgenreandthescienceof art”),whichcombinedl’essencedugoutitalienmariéeavecunedélicatesseadmirableaugoût français(“theessenceofItaliantastemarriedwithanadmirabledelicacytotheFrenchtaste”).2 DeBuryreceivedaroyalpensionfrom1779,andshortlybeforehisdeathhewasgrantedatitle ofnobilitybyLouisXVI. WhyisBernarddeBuryunfamiliartomanytoday?Iposittwopossiblereasons.First,as notedearlier,therewasanoutpouringofpublicationsforharpsichordinFranceinthe1730’s. Understandably,theworkofayoungcomposeramongsomanycouldbeoverlookedtoday. Second,PremierlivredepiècesdeclavecinwasnotonlydeBury’sveryfirstpublication,butalso hisonlycollectionforkeyboard.Therestofhisdistinguishedcareerfocusedonmusicforthe stageorballet. ThePremierlivrewaspublishedc.1736.Inhisdedication,deBurystatesthathewas fifteenyearsoldatthetimethesuiteswerewritten.Thiswouldplacetheircompositionin 1 FélixRaugel(trans.byHansAlbrecht),“Bernar[d]de[dieu]Bury,”inDieMusikinGeshichteundGegenwart,vol. 2,ed.FriedrichBlume(Kassel:Bärenreiter,1952),498. 2 PhilipWeller,“BernarddeBury,”GroveMusicOperaOnlineed.L.Macy(Accessed23April2008), http://www.grovemusic.com. TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 1 1735or1736,sincehewouldnotreachhissixteenthbirthdayuntilwellintothelatteryear.No knownautographofthePremierlivresurvives,andthusonlytheoriginalParispublicationis availableforexamination. AFrenchConnectionbetweenFrançoisCouperinanddeBurymightbeanticipated.A toweringfiguresuchasCouperinwouldbeexpectedtoimpactsucceedingcomposers,andthe youngdeBurywasnoexception.TheinfluenceofFrançoisCouperinonBernarddeBury includesamarkedincreaseintitledworks,characterpieces,androndeaux,aswellasa decreaseinthenumberoftraditionalsuitemovements.Thesetraitscanbeseenintheworks ofBernarddeBury,asoutoftwenty-sevenmovementsinhisfoursuitestwenty-sixaretitled, fivearecharacterpieces,elevenarerondeaux(includingsecondrondeauxanddoubles),and onlytenaretraditionaldancemovements,thoughnotallaresonamed.Inaddition,overhalf themovementsinthesuitesofBernarddeBurysharesameorsimilartitleswiththosefoundin theOrdersofFrançoisCouperin. Couperin’sinterestintheunionofFrenchandItaliantraitsimpacteddeBury.Thisis perhapsbestexpressedintheformer’sprefacetoLesgouts-réünis(publishedin1724):“The ItalianandtheFrenchstyleshaveforalongtimesharedtheRepublicofMusicinFrance.For myself,Ihavealwayshighlyregardedthethingswhichmeritedesteem,withoutconsidering eithercomposerornation;andthefirstItaliansonataswhichappearedinParismorethan30 yearsago,andwhichencouragedmetostartcomposingsomemyself,tomymindwronged neithertheworksofMdeLully,northoseofmyancestors...”3SomeoftheseItalian characteristicsincludeuseofsequence,arpeggiation,imitation,chromaticism,circleoffifths progressions,andsometimesfrequentmodulations.Alloftheseelementscanbefoundinthe musicofBernarddeBury.AsEdwardHigginbottompointsoutinGroveOnline,however, Couperinnever“desertedthebasiccanonsofFrenchart:anaturalandflowingmelody,arichly expressivebutnotexcessivelychromaticharmonyandabasicsimplicityinmusicaldesignthat generallyavoidedvirtuosity,whetherinperformanceorincomposition.”4TheseFrenchtraits, alongwithotherssuchasrestrainedaffect,tendermelodies,andexpressiveornamentation, arealsoallfoundintheworkofBernarddeBury.WhileincorporatingItaliancharacteristics intohismusic,theyoungcomposerneverforgothewas,afterall,aFrenchman. TosufficientlyestablishtheFrenchConnection,wewillexaminetwoindividualmovementsbyde BurywhichseemdirectlyinspiredbyCouperin,andthentheentirefirstsuitebytheyoungcomposer.In LaSéduisante,fromhisthirdsuite,deBuryborrowsheavilyfromthetworondeauxfoundinCouperin’s LesAmusemens(SeventhOrder),expandingtheideasintotworondeauxplustwodoubles.DeBury makesuseofthesamekeyofGmajorashisoldercontemporary,andtherhythmicpatterninbothof hisrondeauxisfoundinthefirstofCouperin’s:steadyquarternotesintherighthandaccompaniedby 3 GeorgeJ.Buelow,AHistoryofBaroqueMusic(Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,2004),199. EdwardHigginbottom,“FrançoisCouperin,”GroveMusicOnlineed.L.Macy(Accessed1February2013), http://www.grovemusic.com. 4 TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 2 twobrokennotesforeachbeatinthelefthand.Virtuallythesamedescendingpatterncanevenbe foundinmm.32-36ofboth. Ex.1a-B.deBury,LaSéduisante1erRondeau(III),mm.32-36 & #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ % œ j j j j j j j ‰ œ ‰ œj ‰ œj ? # œ œ <n>œ ‰œ œ ‰œ œ ‰ œ ‰ œ ‰œ œ ‰ œ ‰ œj ‰ œj ‰ #œj ‰ œj œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Ex.1b-F.Couperin,LesAmusemens(VII),mm.32-36(Gilbertedition) j3 ?#2œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ 2 œ œ œ™ œ œ3 œ j ‰ œj ‰ œj ‰ j ‰ j ‰ j ‰ j ‰ j ‰ ‰ œj œ œ #œ ‰ œ j œ œ ?# nœ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ œ œ œ #œ œ J & ‰ j œ œ ThesecondrondeaubyCouperinmovestotheminormode,asdoesdeBury’ssecond Rondeauwithitscorrespondingdouble.Thedoublesaremarked“threeequal16thnotesfor eachbeat”echoingtheinstructionsinCouperin’ssecondRondeau.Couperin’sLesAmusemens isthustheclearmodelfordeBury’sLaSéduisante,bothofwhichillustratethe“naturalflowing melodyandbasicsimplicityvoidofvirtuosity”notedearlierasbeingassociatedwithFrench music. LaDampiereinSuiteIVisreminiscentofCouperin’sLaRaphaéle(EighthOrder).These Frenchallemandemovementsfeatureanupbeatfigureofthreerisingthirty-secondorsixtyfourthnotes. Ex.2a-B.deBury,LaDampiere(IV),mm.14-16 œœ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ ™ œ œ#œ œ œnœ œœ œ #œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ #œ#œ œ œ & œ™ œ œ™ # ∏∏∏∏∏∏ ? # ˙˙˙ Õ˙ œ #œœ j œœ ‰‰ œ ™ œ œœ ˙ ˙ TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury œ ##œœ j œœ ‰‰ œ™ œ#œ œ œ œ © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 3 Ex.2b-F.Couperin,LaRaphaéle(VIII),mm.23-24(Gilbertedition) ## & #œ # j & # œ™ j #œ ‰ ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ ‰ Ù œ œ J #œ #œJ œ ≈ ‰ Ù œ#œnœ œJ œ ? Kr ‰ ≈ Ùœ œ œr #œ™ ˙ ≈ œ œ nœ̇™ œ œ Asalientpointisthattheyareusuallyprecededbyadottednoteorrest,whichinvitestheuse ofoverdottingastypicallyfoundintheFrenchoverture.DeBurysubjectshisthree-note groupingsseveraltimestosequence.Thesegiverisetoafairamountofchromaticism,which alsoreflectsCouperin’sLaRaphaéle,asdescribedbyJaneClarkandDerekConnon:“ThisOrdre [theeighth]isinCouperin’sGoûtsréunisstyle,astyleinwhichhesoughttojointheFrenchand Italianstylesinmusic....Chromaticism,consideredbytheFrenchtobeanentirelyItalian characteristic,isprevalentintheOrdre.”5Thus,bothcomposersintegratetheFrenchoverture stylewithItaliantraitssuchaschromaticismandevensequence,inthecaseofdeBury. AnexplorationofthefirstsuitebyBernarddeBurywillfurtherreinforcetheconnection betweenhisworkandthatofFrançoisCouperin.PremiereSuitebydeBuryopenswithabinary formcharacterpiececalledLaMinerve,areferencetotheRomangoddessofwisdomandarts. AccordingtoClarkandConnon,theRegentinCouperin’sRégenteouLaMinerve(Fourteenth Order)isPhilipped’Orléans.Hewasa“highlyculturedman...[who]waslikedandrespected bybothmusiciansandartists...Couperin’sportraitisanotherexampleofhisevidentsympathy fortheman.”6 WhetherornotdeBury,likeCouperin,referencestheRegentormoregenerallythe goddessofwisdomandartsinhisLaMinerve,hesucceedsinusingtheopeningmotiveinan “artful”way,astheopeninggestureisimitatedinthebasstwomeasureslater. 5 JaneClarkandDerekConnon,‘Themirrorofhumanlife’:ReflectionsonFrançoisCouperin’sPiècesdeClavecin (UK:King’sMusic,2002),70-71. 6 Ibid.,84-85. TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 4 # œ™ T ? œ œ ˙œ # ˙˙ œ # ˙˙ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ ˙ ˙ Ex.3-B.deBury,LaMinerve(I),mm.1-5 ™™ ˙ ˙ ˙ Œ Œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ œ œ Œ Œ ‰ œ œ #œ œ & œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ j <n> œ ™ œ œ j T j ‰ œj œ™ œ Œ̇ œ œ ˙œ œœ™ b œ œ œ œ œ ˙œ œ™ œ œ ? œ™ œ Œ ˙ œ J œ #˙™ œ œœ ‰ J Thisthemeisthenrepeatedinthedominantminorandsubsequentlyimitatedagaininthe bass.Inadditiontointegrationofthebassinthismanner,lateruseofsequenceand arpeggiatedfiguresaremusicaltraitsthatdirecttowardItaly,whiletheflowingmelodyand restrainedaffectpointtoFrance. PremiereSuitecontinueswithSarabande,LesRegrets.Awistfulaffectinthemusic reflectsthetitleofthismovement.Themusicissimple,bothintermsofthemelodyandthe harmony.Theconjunctmelodydecoratedwithnumerousornaments,sometimesinboth handssimultaneously,resultinashorttenderFrenchmovement. LesgracesBadinesisanunnamedgavottedividedintotwopartie,thefirstinAmajorand thesecondinAminor.Thefirstpartie,inparticular,seemstoemulatethetitleof“playfullove” withitslivelymelody.Inelucidatingthisdesignation,JaneClarkandDerekConnonquote FrenchscholarandwriterAntoineFuretière:Iln’yarienplusagreeablequ’unamourbadin (“Thereisnothingmoreagreeablethanplayfullove”).7FrançoisCouperin’sLaBadine(Fifth Order)hasasimilartitle.Thismovementismarkedlégèrementetflaté. Thisdesignationoflégèrement(“lightly”)isalsofoundinLesgracesBadinesbydeBuryand seemstoindicateanItalianstyle,theimplicationof“lightly”thusbeing“lightlydetached”. EvidenceforthiscomesfromCouperin’sL’artdetoucherleclavecinwhere,speakingabout Italianmusic,hewrites,“ItistherapidmovementsoftheSonataswhicharethemost successfulonthisinstrument.”8Thewordtranslatedas“rapid”islégèretésandisprobably bettertranslatedas“lightly”. Wonderfullyinventive,LaTendreAgitationisabinaryformcharacterpiece.Afterafirst halfmovefromAmajortothekeyofthedominant,anunusualmodulationtothemajorsixkey ofF#majorinthesecondhalfisfollowedbyarunthroughasuccessionofkeys(Bminor,F# minor,F#major,Bminor,Eminor)beforelandingagaininBminoratthehalfwaypoint.Two 7 Ibid.,64. FrançoisCouperin,L’artdetoucherleclavecin,ed.andtrans.byMargeryHalford(ShermanOaks,CA:Alfred PublishingCo.,Inc.,1974),47. 8 TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 5 circleoffifthsprogressionsfollow,aharmonictraitoftheItalians,beforeareturntothetonic key.Theuseofmultipletonalitiescouldbethekeytounderstandingthetitlereferencing “tenderagitation.” Inthisrichlyexpressivemovement,deBurydemonstrateshisinventivenessbyusingan ideaoverandoverwithslightvariationseachtime.Virtuallyeverymeasurehasanewtwist relatedtotheopeningmelodicmotive.ThisgenrepieceisanexampleofapleasingFrench movementflavoredwithItaliantraits. TworondeauxinthePiècesdeclavecinbyBernarddeBury,eachwithanaccompanying secondrondeau,makereferencetoCythera,theislandoflove,includingtheclosingmovement ofthefirstsuite,LePlaidoyerdeCithere,aswellasLaCitheréefromthesecond.François Couperinsuggeststheislandintwoworksaswell:LeCarillondeCithére(FourteenthOrder) andLesPélerines(fromtheThird).ClarkandConnoninformusthatthelatterwas“originallya vocalpiece.ThepilgrimsarepilgrimsofloveboundfortheIslandofCythera.”9TheartistJeanAntoineWatteau[1684-1721]producedtwosimilarpaintingsonthesubjectofthisisland: l’EmbarquementpourCythère(1717)andLePelerinageaCythère(1721).AccordingtoJeanantoine-watteau.org,“Althoughhismaturepaintingsseemtobesomanydepictionsof frivolousfêtesgalantes,theyinfactdisplayasobermelancholy,asenseoftheultimatefutility oflife...Watteau'stheatricalpanacheisusuallytingedwithanoteofsympathy,wistfulness, andsadnessatthetransienceofloveandotherearthlydelights.”10 Thisbackgroundhelpsexplainthedifferentemotionalfacetsofthetwosetsofrondeaux bydeBuryreferencingCytheraintheirtitles.Eachpairhasonerondeauinamajorkeyandthe otherinaminorone.Thedifferingemotionsevokedcouldbereflectingthe“sober melancholy”and“wistfulness”referencedabove. InLePlaidoyerdeCitheretheFrenchConnectionextendsbeyondCouperinLeGrandto includeJean-PhilippeRameau(1683-1764),anothergreatmasteroftheFrenchclavecinschool intheeighteenthcentury.Histhreecollectionsappearedin1706,1724and1726/1727,and thusRameauwasoneofthefewcomposerstopublishworksforharpsichordinFrance concurrentwithCouperin. TheopeningharmonicsequenceinthefirstrondeaubydeBuryisbuiltonadescending chromatictetrachordsimilartothatfoundinCouranteofJean-PhilippeRameau’sc.1729-30 Nouvellessuitesdepiècesdeclavecin. 9 ClarkandConnon,Mirror,58. Jean-antoine-watteau.org 10 TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 6 Ex.4a-B.deBury,LePlaidoyerdeCithere,1erRondeau(I),mm.1-5 & 2 ‰œœ œ ™™ ˙ % ‰ œœ œ˙ j œœ ™œœ œ #œœ̇ ‰ ŒŒ ‰ œ Œ nœ ™ œ ‰ œ œ œ˙ j œ œœ̇ ‰ # Œ Œ ‰ œ Œ nœ ‰ œ ™ #œ ‰ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ j œœœ ‰ #œ œ œ Ex.4b-J-P.Rameau,Courante(c.1729-30Nouvellessuitesdepiècesdeclavecin),mm.2-4 (Bärenreiterrevisededitionof2000) ˙™ j #œ ™ œ j œ™ œj ˙ ™ j ™ ‰ ‰ œ œ œœ œ J & œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ m m œ œ #nœ˙™ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ #˙ ™ ? ˙™ #œ n˙ œ œ œ̇ œ œ Thecombinationofdescendingsequentialmelodicmotiveandsinkingchromatic tetrachordtingedwithsadnessevokesamelancholyaffect.Thesamemotivecanbeheard prominentlyinthefirsttwocouplets,sometimesininversionandinimitation.Coupletnumber threesurprisesthelistenerwithItalianaterunningsixteenthnotesthroughoutinthetreble, whichincludeexamplesofsequence.Thus,FrenchandItalianstylesarejuxtaposedinthis movement. DespiteborrowingideasfromthefirstRondeau,2eRondeauLePlaidoyerdeCitherebyde Burycontrastsnotablywithit.ThemodeshiftsfromAminortoAmajor,andalthoughthe themestartswiththesameopeningmotiveheardinthefirstrondeau,itbeginsonthebrighter thirddegreeofthescaleratherthanthefifth.Thoughderivedfromthesamesourcematerial, thisrondeauthemehasadifferentaffectthanitssistertheme.Evokedareresignationand thensatisfactionratherthanlongingandwistfulness. Thefirstcoupletopenswitharisingarpeggiatedfigureaccompaniedbyoctavesinthebass whichissubsequentlyimitatedinthebassvoice,alltraitsanodtotheItalianstyle.Thesecond coupletisbuiltfromthedescendingfour-notemotive,andthethirdreachesdowntothelow richrangefavoredbymanyFrenchcomposers. TheFrenchConnectionbetweenthegreatFrançoisCouperinandtheyoungBernardde Buryisclearlyconfirmed.ComparisonsofLaSéduisanteandLaDampieretosimilar movementsbyLeGrand,alongwithanexaminationofPremiereSuitefromPremierlivrede piècesdeclavecinprovideampleevidence.AsCouperinsoughttheunionofFrenchandItalian TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury ˙˙ ˙ Õ˙ ∏∏∏∏∏∏ ? 2 Ó ‰ ™™ Œ‰ ‰ © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 7 musicalqualities,soalsodidhisyoungercontemporaryincludebothstylesinhiscompositions. DeBuryskillfullyincorporatedintohisworksItalianpracticessuchasimitation,arpeggiation, sequence,bassoctaves,circleoffifthsprogressions,andchromaticismwithFrenchqualities suchasflowingmelody,restrainedaffect,tendermelodies,andexpressiveornamentation. Sometimesthetraitsarejuxtaposed,butmorefrequentlytheyareintegratedinatasteful manner. Thoughmuchoverlookedtoday,amoreextensiveinvestigationofPremierlivrereveals thatthiscollectionbyBernarddeBuryisofconsistentlyhighquality.Initheachievesthe musicalidealdescribedbyFrançoisCouperinwhenhewrotein1725that,“...thebringing togetherofFrenchandItalianstylesmustcreatemusicalperfection,”11(L’ApothéosedeLully). StudyofthesuitesofdeBuryandtheinfluenceofFrançoisCouperinonthemprovidesamore completepictureofclavecinmusicinthegenerationsucceedingCouperin.Morefrequent performanceofthisliteraturewillhelpelevateBernarddeBurytohisproperplaceinalongline ofeminentFrenchharpsichordcomposers. 11 FrançoisCouperin,L'Apothéosecomposéàlamémoiredel'incomparableMonsieurdeLully,asquotedinDavid Tunley,FrançoisCouperinand‘ThePerfectionofMusic’(UK:AshgatePublishingLimited,RevisedEdition,2004),ii. TheFrenchConnection:InfluenceofFrançoisCouperin ontheMusicofBernarddeBury © Ruta Bloomfield, D.M.A., 2016 8
