Forqueray: Works for Harpsichord

Possibly, like me, the first time you may ever have met the name of Forqueray was when you first discovered the ‘Pièces de Clavecin en concerts’ by Rameau. In those chamber works, enlargements of solo harpsichord pieces, Rameau invariably pays tribute to some of his most interesting contemporaries. Amongst them were names which I thought I would never get to know further including ‘La Marais’ (Marin Marais), ‘La Laborde’ who features in the opening piece of Forqueray’s first Suite and ‘La Forqueray’ found in Rameau’s Fifth Suite, a Fugue in D minor composed apparently on the occasion of the wedding of Jean-Baptiste Forqueray. It’s intriguing that the movement ‘La Forqueray’ in the first suite here is also in D minor. It’s probably a character description of his viol-playing virtuoso father. Little did I know, until this CD emerged, that there were two Forquerays, father and son and both are featured on this disc. This also indicates how Brilliant Classics are imaginatively moving out f