André Raison
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André Raison (1650 – 1719) was a French Baroque composer and organist. Today he is recognized for his significant contributions to the development of French organ music, freeing the latter from the influence of plainchant.
He was born some time before 1650, probably in Paris. He studied in the Saint-Geneviève abbey in Nanterre where he later became the titular organist, and also served as organist of the Jesuit Saint Jacques church in Paris. He enjoyed a high reputation during his lifetime, as he was apparently counted by his contemporaries to be among the best parisian organists of the time. He was also known as an organ teacher, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault being his most famous pupil. Raison died in 1719 in Paris.
His musical output consists of two livres d'orgue, collections of organ pieces published in 1688 and in 1714 in Paris. They include five masses in different Church Modes, some Noels (settings of popular Christmas songs) and other pieces. Raison is one of the most important French organists of his generation, which is chronologically situated between Nicolas Lebègue and François Couperin. Raison's style, emphasizes the melodic, rhythmic and sound aspects of music rather than polyphonic complexity - indeed, he had a reputation of an expert on organ registrations, and Premier livre d'orgue is now considered a valuable book on organ registrations used at the time and on questions related to interpretation of French organ music.
Bach was familiar with Raison's music and Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, uses a modified version of a theme from Raison's Trio en Passacaille from Premier livre d'orgue.
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[edit] External links
- Free recordings of a few pieces by André Raison:
- Free scores by André Raison at IMSLP (Public domain)
