Although Bernard de Bury (1720–1785) lived after the reign of this monarch, the positions for musicians set up under the "Sun King" would continue well into the eighteenth century.
Music as an institution on a grand scale at Versailles was thus set in place before Bernard de Bury was born.
The publication was announced in the Mercure de France in January 1737, leading one to believe that the suites were actually published late in 1736.
He, like so many others, was influenced by François Couperin, as well as Jean-Philippe Rameau, the two titans of French harpsichord music of the eighteenth century.
Furthermore, frequent changes in texture can be seen, ornaments can be identified from the tables of Couperin and Rameau, and notes inégales are appropriate, unless a movement is in Italian style.
Examples of Italian influences can be seen in arpeggiated figures, passage work, imitation, circle of fifths progressions, and occasional frequent modulations.
In La Minerve, a character piece, de Bury makes reference to the Roman goddess of wisdom and arts.
These movements, along with La Citherée from the second suite as well as François Couperin's Les Pélerines, all make reference to this island birthplace of Venus which was a special place for lovers.
Typical of a sarabande, this triple time slow, serious piece, with balanced phrases and complex harmonies, sometimes places an accent on the second beat.
Almost all of the first three sections (rondeau theme and first two couplets) are written in the bright upper range of the harpsichord, both staves requiring treble clef.
The chaconne in this collection comes a close second to one by Jacques Duphly (1715–1789) as the longest single, continuous Piéce de clavecin of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Total Time: (77:45) Times based upon recording by harpsichord performer, Ruta Bloomfield (2009) On 19 February 2009, Dr. Ruta Bloomfield became the first person in recorded history to perform the Premier livre de pieces de clavecin outside France since the eighteenth century.