Scarlatti Fever

There were two Scarlattis of note and notes. Alessandro (1660-1725) and his son Domenico (1685-1757). Domenico was the harpsichord man, writing a whole lot of sonatas for harpsichord that gave him a reputation and a lot of famous fans later on, like Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Shostakovich... They all had a touch of Scarlatti fever now and then.

I have loads of real classical harpsichord music. I once thought that was the new thing for me to explore. But I didn't get far down that road before I found that the distinctive harpsichord sound tended to become boring when standing alone. Rather like wallpaper music that doesn't know that it's wallpaper music. What I missed was of course drums and bass and other rhythmic elements. Something with a groove. So I turned to so-called baroque jazz to find the good stuff. Baroque jazz emerged in the early 60s with classically trained musicians who wanted to break into new markets with a combination of classical and jazz. Names like George Gruntz, Raymond Guiot and even Lalo Schifrin and Henry Mancini made notable music in that style. Some tunes can also be found in the library vaults, evident on this new comp I've assembled.

Later, we got Paul Mauriat as a great performer on the harpsichord (the French call it clavecin). Hereabouts we call it cembalo.

Whether the harpsichord-sounding instruments on these tunes are true harpsichords, spinetts or even
electric harpsichords here and there, I cannot say for sure.

Paul Mauriat

When I was an irresponsible youngster in the 70s, Paul Mauriat was, together with James Last, the arch-enemy. He was a drab symbol of the establishment, the grown-up, well-dressed world of schmaltzy string orchestras, boring old farts. We wanted noise, fuzz, thunder, action and forbidden things! Ballroom blitz and killer queens! Not romantic walks by the Seine, or tearful melancholy and lost l'amours. So what happened? How come that I, some 45 years later, am able to enjoy much of monsieur Mauriat's grand orchestra music? Have I grown up, finally? Not exactly. I think harpsichord is the key word here. Mauriat had a penchant for the harpsichord – it was a trademark of his sound. He also used the piano, grand piano and other keyboard instruments, but the harpsichord was always with him. I have loved the sound of that instrument as long as I can remember. The sentimental and hauntingly sad harpsichord melody on Mauriat's most famous hit, "Love Is Blue", has stayed with me ever since I heard it on the radio when it came out. A few years ago – after I'd been bitten by the library music bug and thereby gained the ability to enjoy and appreciate great and complex orchestral arrangements – I discovered that the British record company Vocalion/Dutton was re-issuing a whole slew of old Paul Mauriat albums on CD, remastered by the masterful remastermind Michael J. Dutton himself. I started buying some of them. I liked much of what I heard. Soon I had bought almost all of them. It was a 2-for-1 project, always 2 albums on 1 CD. So now I have 56 albums by Paul Mauriat and his orchestra on 28 CDs. When I started the Sound Library series I didn't intend to include much mainstream easy listening. But I realized that Mauriat would be an exception. He just had to be included. It took me weeks and months to listen to all the Vocalion CDs and pick out the good stuff. This is the first compilation I do from that roster of nice tunes.

Mauriat's best period was in my opinion from the late 60's, let's say 1967, to the early 70's, let's say 1973. His 80's stuff is generally too synthetic and machine-like, and not to mention the 90's. Still, there are great tunes to be found on almost all his albums, also the later ones. But the sound of those from the second part of his "first" period is the most captivating and lively.

The comp became a mix of some of Mauriat's own compositions, some well-known classics, (like "Pomme, pomme, pomme", a song from the Eurovision Song Contest 1971), and tunes that I have no recollection of having heard before. They might have been hits in different countries on the Continent.

So why isn't the smash hit "Love Is Blue" on this comp? Because I've already included it, on vol. 93. And another of my all-time Mauriat faves, "Silver Fingertips", will soon be found on vol. 11, "Scarlatti Fever", a celebration of the harpsichord.

Ah, this felt good. I feel relieved. I have confessed publicly. I like Paul Mauriat.