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The Trio

A piece in three voices, usually two trebles and a bass, in which each voice may be given its own colour.

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What it is

The trio sets three parts in dialogue. Most often, two trebles answer each other above a bass; each treble is then played on a different keyboard and the bass in the pedal. In French music, it is chiefly in the trio that these “two trebles” on separate keyboards are heard. Dom Bedos gives ten combinations for the trio on three keyboards.

In practice

In the music of the Couperins and their contemporaries

“For trios with two trebles, the grosse Tierce is put above as for the Duo, except that no sixteen-foot is needed; on the Positive the Cromorne alone, with the tremblant doux,” wrote Boyvin in 1690. The other trios, he says, are played on the cromorne with its foundation, the separate cornet and the pedal flutes.

Dom Bedos’s first combination puts the first treble on the cornet de récit, the second on the cromorne and prestant of the positive, and the bass on the pedal foundations. He reproaches many organists for leaving too wide a gap between the bass and the trebles, sometimes as much as three octaves: skilled players, he says, never leave more than one.

The works

In the repertoire

14 works in the project’s repertoire bear this name in their title.

Nicolas Lebègue (c. 1631–1702)

  • Livre I - TrioListen
  • Second livre d’orgue – Trio pour l’Élévation

Jacques Thomelin (c. 1635–1693)

  • Trio et récit du 2e ton

André Raison (c. 1640–1719)

François Couperin (1668–1733)

  • Messe des Couvents - Trio à 2 dessus de CromorneListen
  • Messe des Paroisses - Trio à 2 dessus de CromorneListen

Gaspard Corrette (c. 1671–1732)

Nicolas de Grigny (1672–1703)

Pierre Du Mage (1674–1751)

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749)

Jean-Adam Guilain (c. 1680–1739)

Louis-Claude Daquin (1694–1772)

  • Nouveau livre de noëls - Noël II, en dialogue, duo, trioListen

Livre d'orgue de Limoges (anonymous, copied c. 1710–1725)

  • Trio à 3 claviers

See also

Sources

The musical programme of the Chaumes-en-Brie organ aims to serve this repertoire; its specification will be defined with the selected organ builder.

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