Pascal Dubreuil (born c. 1970) is a French

harpsichordist A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied son ...

, a teacher and a specialist of musical rhetoric.

Biography

After several years study with Yannick le Gaillard, Pascal Dubreuil was awarded diplomas in both

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

from the

Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He continued his studies with various teachers, notably

Kenneth Gilbert Kenneth Albert Gilbert (December 16, 1931 – April 15, 2020) was a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist, and music educator. Biography Born in Montreal, Gilbert studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal under ...

, and especially

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

. He also studied orchestral direction with Nicholas Brochot. He was a prizewinner at the Competition Musica Antiqua Bruges (

MAfestival Brugge The MA Festival Brugge, short for the festival Musica Antiqua Bruges in Bruges, Belgium, is a festival of early music and historically informed performances, started in 1960. The program includes concerts, master classes, conferences, visits in ...

) in 1997. He has appeared throughout Europe as a harpsichordist, but also on the

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...

and

fortepiano A fortepiano , sometimes referred to as a pianoforte, is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 up to the early 19th century. Mo ...

. This has been both as soloist and chamber musician, particularly with Musica Aeterna

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, and as continuo-player with various ensembles such as ''Ensemble vocal de l'Abbaye aux Dames'' de Saintes and ''Ensemble Sagittarius'', as well as with soloists such as Claire Michon (

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

), Patrick Ayrton (as a harpsichord duo),

François Fernandez François Fernandez (born 22 February 1960) is a French classical violinist who specializes in historically informed performance. Career Born in Rouen in a family of musicians, Fernandez began learning the classical violin at the age of twelve ...

(baroque violin), Marie Rouquié (baroque violin),

Bruno Boterf Bruno Boterf is a contemporary French tenor, specialising in Baroque and early music. Biography Boterf began his career within the and the Groupe Vocal de France before joining the Ensemble Clément Janequin of which he was a member until 2007. ...

(tenor) and Ricardo Rapoport (bassoon). Pascal Dubreuil is invited for festivals such as the ''Printemps des Arts'', the ''Académies musicales de Saintes'', the Festival de Música Antiga in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, the festival Dni starej hudby in

or the Klavier Festival

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

. In 2009 Pascal Dubreuil founded the ensemble ''Il Nuovo Concerto'', of which he is the artistic director. ''Il Nuovo Concerto'' specialises in 17th- and 18th-century music. In 2011 he founded the festival ''Baroque... et vous ?'', the first festival of baroque music in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

(

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

Recordings

Pascal Dubreuil has recorded with the labels Le Chant du Monde, K 617 and Arion. Now he records with the German label

Ramée Outhere Music is a Belgian classical music and jazz publisher, directed by Charles Adriaenssen, which owns several formerly independent labels, many of them boutique early music specialists: * Fuga Libera, a Belgian label founded in 2004 under th ...

. * 2013:

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

, ''Fait pour les Anglois'', The English suites BWV 806–811, Ramée 1207. * 2010:

, ''Clavier-Übung II'', Ramée 1001 :

Italian Concerto The ''Italian Concerto'', BWV 971, originally titled ''Concerto nach Italiænischen Gusto'' (''Concerto in the Italian taste''), is a three-movement concerto for two- manual harpsichord solo composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and published in 17 ...

BWV 971,

Overture in the French style The ''Overture in the French style'', BWV 831, original title ''Ouvertüre nach Französischer Art'', also known as the ''French Overture'' and published as the second half of the ''Clavier-Übung II'' in 1735 (paired with the ''Italian Concerto' ...

BWV 831, Prelude, Fugue & allegro BWV 998, Chromatic fantasy and fugue BWV 903. * 2008:

, ''Clavier-Übung I'', Six

Partitas, BWV 825-830 The Partitas, BWV 825–830, are a set of six keyboard suites written by Johann Sebastian Bach, published individually beginning in 1726, then together as ''Clavier-Übung I'' in 1731, the first of his works to be published under his own directi ...

, Ramée 0804. * 2007:

Antoine Dard Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana, ...

, ''Sonates pour le basson'', Six Sonatas for bassoon and basso continuo, with Ricardo Rapoport, bassoon, Ramée 0702, world premiere.

Musical rhetoric

As a soloist or together with the ensemble ''Il Nuovo Concerto'', Pascal Dubreuil has been working on musical rhetoric for years. His research led him to co-publish the first complete French translation of

Joachim Burmeister Joachim Burmeister (1564 in Lüneburg – 5 May 1629 in Rostock) was a north German composer and music theorist. He was the oldest of five children born to a beadworker and townsman of Lüneburg. His brother Anton (d. 1634) became the cantor of St ...

's 1606 treatise ''Musica Poetica'', as well as important extracts from two of Burmeister's other treatises, ''Hypomnematum musicae poeticae'' (1599) and ''Musica autoschédiastikè'' (1601).

, ''Musica poetica (1606) augmentée des plus excellentes remarques tirées de Hypomnematum musicae poeticae (1599) et de Musica autoschédiastikè (1601)'', introduction, Latin text and French translation, notes and lexicon by Agathe Sueur and Pascal Dubreuil, Wavre, Mardaga, 2007

Teaching

Pascal Dubreuil teaches

and chamber music at the early music department of the

Conservatoire. He also teaches harpsichord, basso continuo and musical rhetoric (

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

) at the Centre d'Études Supérieures de Musique et de Danse in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

. Pascal Dubreuil is also often invited as a member of juries for exams and competitions, and to lead masterclasses, both in France and Europe.

References

Links

Pascal Dubreuil's official website

Centre d'études supérieures musique et danse de Poitiers

Preview of the book Joachim Burmeister, ''Musica poetica (1606) augmentée des plus excellentes remarques tirées de Hypomnematum musicae poeticae (1599) et de Musica autoschédiastikè (1601)'', introduction, Latin text and French translation, notes and lexicon by Agathe Sueur and Pascal Dubreuil, Wavre, Mardaga, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubreuil, Pascal French harpsichordists Bach musicians 1970s births Living people 21st-century conductors (music)