Claude Bénigne Balbastre earned fame in 18th century Paris as virtuoso
on the harpsichord and organ as well as composer. He was organist at
Saint-Roch (1756), Notre-Dame (1760), Chapelle royale, organist to the
brother of the king (the future Louis XVIII) and harpsichordist to the
Duke of Chartres and Marie-Antoinette. Balbastre was also the titular
organist to the royal abbey Panthémont, where he gave lessons to young
students from France’s richest and most powerful families, the names of
which echo in the titles which he gave to many of his compositions for
harpsichord, as in the first volume of his Pièces de clavecin.
Their refined and elegant style provide evidence of his originality
while also pointing to his faithfulness to the tradition of François Couperin. Ursula Duetschler performs these works on an 18th century
French harpsichord (Couchet-Blanchet-Taskin) from the collection of
Kenneth Gilbert in the Chartres Museum. (Claves Records)
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