As pillars of the eighteenth-century keyboard repertoire, French music and instruments have arguably been the most studied with regard to questions of interpretation. François Couperin famously warned in L’art de toucher le clavecin (1716) that ‘nous écrivons différemments de ce que nous éxécutons’ (we write differently from what we play). The fourth Annual Meeting of the Historical Keyboard Society of North America (HKSNA), hosted by McGill University's Schulich School of Music, provided an opportunity to revel in this repertoire, explore its connections and delve a little deeper into Couperin's challenge.

Alexander Silbiger (Duke University) gave the comprehensive opening address, ‘From Paris to Montreal and Points in Between: A Celebration of the French Classical Keyboard Tradition’, which provided an itinerary of French international influence from the time of Louis XIV up to the French Revolution and beyond. His reminder of the inextricable relationship between French music and specific instrumental qualities echoed in the days that followed. Thanks to McGill's opulent collection of keyboard instruments (including fourteen harpsichords by modern makers Yves Beaupré, Rainer Schutz, Willard Martin, Frank Hubbard, William Post Ross and David Jensen, as well as an original 1677 Italian instrument), the conference proved to be a festival for the ear. Concerts and mini-recitals focused mainly on organ and harpsichord, with a lovely performance by Judith Conrad (Fall River, Massachusetts) of works by Froberger, Jacquet de la Guerre and Lebegue providing the lone clavichord contribution.

Evening performances began with a combined harpischord and organ recital by Peter Sykes (Boston University and The Juilliard School). In the first half, Sykes gave an expressive performance of François Couperin and Böhm on a harpsichord by Frank Hubbard after Hemsch, from the collection of Kenneth Gilbert. The second half offered expert readings of compositions by Titelouze, Dumage and J. S. Bach, as well as the audience's first opportunity to hear McGill's splendid Redpath Hall organ, made in the French classical tradition by Hellmuth Wolff. This organ, which was also featured in an afternoon session with performances by John Brock (University of Tennessee), Margaret Irwin-Brandon (Desert Hot Springs, California), Joseph Butler (Texas Christian University) and Helen Skuggedal Reed (University of Evansville), is among the many legacies of McGill Professor Emeritus and University Organist John Grew. A beloved mentor, he was celebrated at the conference during both a pedagogy roundtable and a second evening concert entitled ‘A Gift of Music for John Grew’. Among his former students presenting a colourful assortment of harpsichord and organ works, along with personal remembrances, was Hank Knox, now Associate Professor of Harpsichord and Early Music at McGill and organizer of the conference.

The relationship of text to sound emerged as a central theme in many of the presentations. Because of the disconnect between what is seen and what is heard in French music, notes inégales and ornamentation have usually enjoyed pride of place in studies and performances of the repertoire. But a number of sessions offered reminders that improvisation, rearrangement and even recomposition must also be considered. Mark Edwards (Universiteit Leiden) made a case for freedom from a fixed text, based on Chambonnières's practice of altering his own music in performance. Matthew Hall (Cornell University) and Benjamin Katz (Institute of Musical Research, University of London) together brilliantly demonstrated the art of extemporizing as a duo. Thérèse de Goede (Conservatorium Amsterdam) discussed the enigma of block-chord continuo instruction during the texturally refined galant era, and I (Joyce Lindorff, Temple University) called attention to aspects of rearrangement in the works of Gaspard Le Roux, as discussed by Albert Fuller in his 1958 edition of the composer's keyboard works.

Moving away from the notes into society at large, Margot Martin (El Camino and Mt San Antonio Colleges) connected conventions of polite conversation to the good taste invoked by St Lambert, Lysiane Boulva (University of Toronto) related French aesthetics of nature to those of musical expression, and Maria Rose (RILM International Center, New York) considered how ‘notions of illusion’ in inventions presented to the Académie Royale des Sciences might inform performance practice on early pianos.

In the harpsichord arena, Bruce Gustafson (Franklin & Marshall College) provided contextual background for some recently discovered sources of French harpsichord music. In an impressive line-up of mini-recitals, scholar-performers Karen Flint (Brandywine Baroque), Rebecca Pechefsky (Brooklyn Baroque), Joseph Gascho (University of Michigan), Max Yount (Beloit College), Charlotte Mattax Moersch (University of Illinois), David Louie (Royal Conservatory of Toronto) and Luc Beauséjour (Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and Université de Montréal) provided a continuous supply of gorgeous music by Chambonniéres, the Couperins, D’Anglebert, Lully, Marchand and Forqueray.

True to the conference title, studies of French influence were well represented. Élisabeth Gallat-Morin (Montreal), spoke about instruments and music transported to New France, Marcos Krieger (Susquehanna University) found French influences on the Portuguese composer Carlos Seixas, Sandra Mangsen (University of Western Ontario) provided details of French traditions in Geminiani's Pièces de clavecin and Peter Strauven (Royal Conservatoire Antwerp) followed the French accompanied-keyboard-sonata tradition to the southern Netherlands. Graham Sadler (University of Oxford) conjured the probability of a highly charged meeting between Rameau and Scarlatti at which they might well have shared keyboard techniques. Katelyn Bouska (Temple University) explored the international diaspora of Czech composers, and HKSNA President Sonia Lee (Pasadena, California) followed the path of French compositions into Germany during the nineteenth century.

Women's contributions were highlighted in three presentations. April Greenan (University of Mary Washington) pointed out iconographic performance-practice evidence in a portrait of the singer Marie-Justine-Benoîte Duronceray playing from a keyboard manuscript. Vivian Montgomery (Longy School of Music) performed music by English organist Martha Greatorex on a Broadwood square piano, part of her talk illustrating the important role these pianos played in the work of female musicians. Calvert Johnson (Agnes Scott College) looked into the keyboard compositions of Amélie-Julie Candeille (1767–1834), a polymath from the time of Louis XVI whose career also encompassed singing and writing.

Younger scholars were a strong presence at the meeting, beginning with a masterclass taught by Peter Sykes on the first morning. McGill students David Henkelman, Mark McDonald, Carlos Betancur, Nathan Mondry and Chelsea Barton distinguished themselves with their thoughtful harpsichord interpretations. All displayed a flexible openness as Sykes zeroed in on each performance with suggestions that ranged from the practical to the profound. Later in the meeting, Barton gave an admirably detailed paper on chant tunes in the French organ mass.

Several notable offerings followed the harpsichord into the twentieth and and twenty-first centuries. Helen Reed's mini-recital included pieces by Bengt Hambraeus (1928–2000), which were specially composed for the Redpath organ. Larry Palmer (Southern Methodist University) led a ‘Tour de France’ of revival harpsichordists from the period 1888–1930, including examples from some of the earliest recordings. In a spirited and astounding presentation, Hank Knox's musical/technical team from McGill's Centre de Recherche sur l’Interprétation au Clavecin demonstrated a playerless harpsichord ‘reading’ from a figured bass, accompanying a violinist and cellist in real time. The third evening concert presented eight colourful new works that were finalists in the Ninth Aliénor International Harpischord Composition Competition. The audience voted on the winners: Three Dances by Dina Smorgonskaya (Israel), Sonatine by Andrew Collett (UK) and Martinique by James Dorsa (USA) received first, second and third prizes respectively. Thanks to their fine organization and creativity, the HKSNA and McGill hosts provided attendees with ample proof that the music and instruments of the classical French tradition continue to thrive in our time.