Les Tendres Plaintes

Description

Les Tendres Plaintes (The Tender Laments) comes from Rameau's harpsichord collection published in 1724. In contrast to dance pieces such as the Tambourin from the same collection, its delicate ornaments and long-breathed melodic lines convey a quiet, plaintive emotion. Short pieces with descriptive titles naming a character or mood were a hallmark of French harpsichord music, alongside Couperin and others.

It is in D minor and 3/4, written as a rondeau: a theme that keeps returning, with other sections between, so the same lament greets the listener each time it comes back. At about three minutes it has some 660 notes; the density is modest, and the melody has room to sing within an unhurried triple metre.

Rated intermediate, its range is exactly four octaves, C2 to C6, and fits a 61-key keyboard. Rather than speed, it requires careful shaping of the characteristic French Baroque agréments without breaking the flow of the line. Slowing the playback to check how many notes each ornament has and when it begins, and looping a phrase of the theme with A-B, lets you absorb its quietly sorrowful expression at your own pace.

A broad collection of standalone piano pieces not belonging to any specific set, offering hundreds of varied character pieces to explore and compare.