Historical performance practice of the prélude non mesuré and its relationship to recording and performance

Abstract

‘A Prelude is a free composition, in which the imagination gives rein to any fancy that may present itself’ (François Couperin: L'art de toucher Le Clavecin, 1716) The enigmatic prélude non mesuré was a short-lived genre characterised by rhythmically free croches blanches (‘flagged white notes’, rather than white quavers) and sweeping lines and slurs that were generally notated without specific reference to rhythm or metre. Some of the lines appear to bind the tones into harmonic groups and to articulate cadential and rhythmic units, but the inherent freedom encoded in the notation presents a broad, complex interpretive scope to present-day performers. Given composers' scant written and notational indications as to how they intended the works to be performed, this research seeks to address ways of interpreting the genre in an informed historical sense, whilst surveying current performing practices within Louis Couperin’s Prélude non mesuré in D minor to inform the author’s own performance. Extant préludes non mesurés are contained within two manuscript sources (Parville and Bauyn), while commentary addressing performance interpretation of the notation is limited to three source documents specifically referencing the prélude non mesuré: Nicolas Lebègue’s preface to his Pièces de clavessin (1677), correspondence between Lebègue and an Englishman called Mr. William Dundass (1684), and the preface to François Couperin’s L’art de toucher Le Clavecin (1716). Lebègue and F. Couperin note the difficulty of creating a prelude accessible to all keyboardists. These prefaces present four stylistic aspects pertinent to the current enquiry: 1) restriking chords, 2) note placement, 3) line interpretations and 4) rhythmic variety. Given the limited scope of period performance instructions and the nebulous form of notation characteristic of the form, this dissertation considers a significant work in the genre—Louis Couperin’s Prélude non mesuré in D minor—in light of Lebègue and F. Couperin’s commentaries on the manuscript notation. As a means of informing contemporary performing practices, this study draws on period commentary and notational practices evident in the manuscripts, building an analytical framework that explores contemporary interpretive approaches to the prélude non mesuré. This structure underpins the analysis of selected recordings by a representative sample of distinguished artists from early to contemporary recordings, including Ruggero Gerlin, Gustav Leonhardt, Colin Tilney, Skip Sempé and Christophe Rousset. In addition, the research reflects upon the author's practical application of the analytical findings through performance. The process will apply knowledge derived from the analysis of the five contemporary recordings based on the period performance instructions to develop an informed interpretation, while providing evidence to support performative decisions, advancing keyboard performance practice by informing the stylistic awareness and creative endeavours of twenty-first-century practitioners in respect to the prélude non mesuré. Show more