Premier livre d'orgue; premier, second, troisième, quatrième tons (Volume 1); présentation etrévision de Jean Bonfils by Jacques BoyvinReview by: Almonte C. Howell, Jr.Notes, Second Series, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Mar., 1971), pp. 552-553Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/896588 .

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because its performance, or non-perfor- mance, was at the option of the organist" (A Dictionary of Music, 1813). Although this genre of composition was not as influential in the development of eight- eenth-century music as the sonata, the symphony, or the string quartet, these works nevertheless present an intriguing picture of stylistic developments in Eng- land at that time. The voluntary by Hine, taken from the composer's Harmonia sacra glocestriensis (published posthu- mously between 1731 and 1735), is repre- sentative of the early eighteenth-century concerto style, with two- to four-voice lyrical counterpoint in the slow move- ments and driving, rhythmic two-voice counterpoint in the fast. Hine's voluntary departs from the traditional "introduction and allegro" plan of the early eighteenth- century voluntary, but Beechey's remarks in the Preface explain well the "pasticcio" nature of the first printed edition of the work and account for this formal irregu- larity. The three voluntaries of Walton, from his Six Voluntaries printed ca. 1752, follow the traditional two-part form, but the presence of style galant elements, espe- cially in the third of the voluntaries published in this edition, reflects the stylistic dualism present in England around the middle of the century. Finally, the voluntaries of John Bennett, taken from his Ten Voluntaries of 1758, develop the voluntary form to an advanced stage. Voluntaries nos. 2 and 5 are basically similar to those of Walond and other mid-century composers, yet the length of the movements is already enlarged. But

voluntaries nos. 7 through 10 forsake the old "introduction and allegro" style and form, for they present fully-developed slow movements in the style galant and fugal allegros which maintain rigorous and convincing three-voice counterpoint. In these works the left hand is no longer relegated to playing a basso continuo- like supporting line, but actively partici- pates in the motivic interplay and virtuoso passages. The three-movement plan of voluntary no. 9 (adagio-allegro, adagio, allegro) is obviously analogous to some sonatas of approximately the same period, and the opening allegro of this work is comparable with compositions of Johann Christian Bach in compositional skill, key- board technique, and style. These works by Bennett may well represent the apex of the eighteenth-century English volun- tary, a thesis put forward by Beechey in his Preface.

In conclusion, I would like to recom- mend this edition of English voluntaries as a model for future editions of works in this genre. Recent editions of voluntaries, particularly those of Stanley and Walond, have suffered from heavy-handed editors who have felt free to clutter up the trans- parent texture of these works with hand- fuls of notes, thereby destroying one of the most characteristic aspects of the music. Editions such as this, on the other hand, should aid the organist in achieving a performance which is both stylistically correct and exciting for the contemporary listener.

CALVIN BOWER University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hill

Jacques Boyvin: Premier livre d'orgue; premier, second, troisibme, quatrifme tons (Volume 1); presentation et revision de Jean Bonfils. (L'Astr6e, Collection de musique instrumentale classique publi6e sous la direction de Max Pinchard.) Paris: Les Editions Ouvrieres, 1969. [58 p., paper, no price given]

Although certain volumes of the Guilmant-Pirro Archives des Mattres de l'orgue have remained in print to the present time, volume 6 containing the two Livres d'orgue by Jacques Boyvin is ap- parently not among them. There is a real need, therefore, for the new edition by Bonfils, of which the present installment contains the first half of Book I.

Boyvin was organist at Rouen Cathedral from 1674 until his death in 1706. Recent investigation has revealed that his native city was Paris, and his first position that of organist at the H6pital des Quinze- Vingts, a Parisian institution for the blind in which his father was an inmate. Boyvin's Premier livre was first printed in 1689, his Second livre in 1700. It was dur-

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ing this period that the organ volumes of Jullien, Francois Couperin, Grigny, and Marchand all appeared, a decade that may be considered the apogee in the great flowering of French baroque organ music that began with Nivers and ended with Clrambault. The music of this school displays a striking degree of uniformity, the result, perhaps, of its artistically suc- cessful fusion of three influences. These were the Roman Catholic liturgy, the current fashions in secular music in France, and the classic French organ, then also at a high point of stability and perfection. In conformity to the needs of the church, pieces were brief enough to serve as alternating versets, and were generally grouped either into liturgical units such as Mass or Magnificat, or else into suites conforming to the eight church modes (the practice of Boyvin). Occasional pieces might also make a gesture toward the liturgical style, but the second influ- ence, that of secular music, is the stronger factor in most of them. The dance, the vocal air, the embellished instrumental solo, the French Overture-these are everywhere apparent in the Duos, Trios, R6cits, Dialog, and other forms employed by Boyvin and his contemporaries. From the colorful French organ of the late seventeenth century comes the third influ- ence: titles, registration directions, and the very disposition of the music all testify to the fullest exploitation of its distinctive colors. This element is particularly ap- parent in Boyvin's works, for he had the good fortune to preside over one of the most advanced French instruments of the time, that built at Rouen Cathedral by Robert Clicquot in the 1680's under Boyvin's own supervision. Among its dis- tinctions were the presence of four manuals and a thirty-note pedalboard to which the Great could be coupled (though Boyvin's utilization of the pedal in his works is as limited as that of most of his French contemporaries). Musically, Boyvin does not belong quite in the first rank of the French baroque organ composers. He seldom displays the melodic charm of

C1krambault, the skillful motivic play of Couperin, the complex contrapuntal tex- ture of Grigny. Nevertheless, many of the riches of the whole school are reflected in his works as well, and one is happy to have them available again.

The scholar re-editing material that has already appeared in the Archives des maitres de l'orgue can hardly hope to surpass its excellence. Between the two editions, in fact, I would still choose the older. For one thing, I would get the complete organ works of Boyvin in a single volume very little more cumber- some than that containing one quarter of this material in the new edition. In either edition I would have an equally reliable text, modernized according to identical principles, and with all editorial additions or emendations clearly noted. With the old edition I would have Pirro's definitive resume of the biography of Boyvin (lack- ing only the facts of his early life recently unearthed by Hardouin), while with the new I would have merely a few lines of summary and a brief bibliography (and not all of that correctly cited: for the key article by Pierront in Etudes normandes the reader is advised to seek XXVI, 1, 1958, rather than "NO 93"). One might ex- pect that the presence of a photographic facsimile of Boyvin's introduction would give the new edition an advantage over the old, where this material was trans- cribed in modern type-but alas, even here the Archives edition has the best of it: the facsimile is so reduced in size and so indistinctly reproduced that even under magnification it is not entirely decipher- able. Bonfils does provide one useful aid to the performer, a summary in brief form of Boyvin's registration directions-virtu- ally a necessity in view of the state in which the original is given. The musical text is clear and legible, however, of equal value to scholar and performer, and it is hoped that the series L'Astrde will make available the remainder of Boyvin's pieces.

ALMONTE C. HOWELL, JR. University of Georgia

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