The Centre de musique baroque de Versailles publishes the Première suite de pièces de clavecin published in 1732 by Gabriel Dubuisson and recently discovered. Not only an unpublished work, but also a forgotten composer: only a few short and minor pieces of his have come down to us. Both came to light on the occasion of the sale of a private collection in November 2019. The book was claimed by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
 
The all-too-scarce biographical data available on this organist and harpsichordist tell us neither about his birth (around 1690) nor his death. Gabriel Dubuisson had just been appointed to the prestigious Parisian post of organist at Saint Germain l'Auxerrois when he found the means to publish this first book (immediately followed by a second, now lost). If the prevalent model for harpsichord books was that inspired by François Couperin, giving pride of place to portraits in music, Dubuisson clearly distanced himself in this, his first important publication, which he dedicated to Clérambault. A single portrait, that of the Princess of Grimberghen, punctuates this nine-stage journey.
 
This rarity enriches our stylistic knowledge of the period and raises numerous questions about the appropriate style of playing, Dubuisson notating the arpeggios literally. But it is valuable above all for the high quality of its singular music, unexpected in many respects in the context of French harpsichord music of the 1730s.

Recording by Orlando Bass available on youtube: https://youtu.be/c5AsJLwnyQQ