was first related in Dictionnaire des artistes (1776) by Louis-Abel de Bonafous, l'abbé de Fontenay: 'The desire to learn his art led him at a very young age to the capital; but without recommendations or friends, he was soon destitute of all kinds of assistance. He entered by chance into the chapel of the College of Louis le Grand at the moment when the organist was expected to begin the divine office. He asked to play the organ, which was granted to him only after repeated requests because they mistrusted his abilities. But scarcely had he put his hands on the keyboard than he astonished all the listeners. The Jesuits showed him great affection; they retained him in their college and contributed to his education by furnishing him with what was necessary to perfect his happy dispositions'. By contrast, Titon du Tillet's biography states that, on Marchand's arrival to Paris he was offered virtually all of the vacant positions of the city's churches, because the composer's reputation was so high. But perhaps the most famous anecdote about Marchand is the account of the competition he was supposed to have with Johann Sebastian Bach in Dresden in September 1717. According to tardive accounts by Marpurg, Jakob Adlung and other German sources (who incidentally were not born at the time; besides, the story is not found in any French documents), the two composers were to have a contest in harpsichord performance, and Marchand fled before Bach's arrival, apparently out of fear of being defeated. The reality, however, is probably quite different: it was rumoured that Marchand, who had been in Dresden and had performed before the king, was to be offered a position as organist at the Royal Chapel, much to the chagrin of its musicians. The court Konzertmeister, Jean-Baptiste Volumier, probably invited Bach to compete against Marchand on behalf of colleagues annoyed by the latter’s arrogance and erratic behaviour and it was possibly sensing the political hornet’s nest he would be getting into if he were to accept a position at the chapel that caused Marchand to abruptly leave the scene. The story is only related in German sources, with a varying degree of embellishments by Bach's later biographers such as Johann Nikolaus Forkel. Bach's respect for Marchand's abilities, however, was recorded by the same Jakob Adlung, who witnessed Bach playing Marchand's harpsichord suites "ingeniously" and from memory. Works Comparatively few