Lassus & Palestrina: Motetti, Madrigali e Canzoni diminuiti

Boccherini: Stabat Mater

Concerto Imperiale (L'héritage de Monteverdi)

Vivaldi: Concerti da Camera

Carmina Burana: Officium lusorum

Die Deutsche Schalmey ou La naissance du hautbois baroque

The trouveres followed in the footsteps of the troubadours, spreading their songs of love from court to court and thus made their own contribution to the idea of mediaeval courtly love. Written in the langue d'o�l, the ancestor of modern French, the songs presented here evoke not only the inaccessible Lady who is worthy of praise but also the little peasant girl who is courted with far less delicacy. An entire world, courtly, colourful and festive, is portrayed in songs to the Virgin, weaving songs, songs evoking spring and chansons a refrain by Guiot de Dijon, Moniot d'Arras, Gautier de Coincy, Thibaut de Champagne and even the trouveresse Maroie de Diergnau.

We follow the success of the album devoted to Jean-Marie Leclair by continuing our exploration of the rich 18th-century violin repertoire. Leclair's success in the late 1720s acted as a catalyst and many other talented composers emerged in his wake. Those years were particularly favorable to the instrument and the prowess of each violinist was closely scrutinized by observers: the title of Premier violon de France was the subject of fierce competition. This positive and adulatory atmosphere resulted in a great proliferation of sonatas for violin, out of which we have chosen the six jewels that appear here. The greater part of these works are recorded here for the first time.

David Pohle was one of Heinrich Schütz's most talented pupils although, unlike his master, Pohle did not compose only sacred vocal works; he also created a substantial body of instrumental music, including some thirty sonatas for four to eight instruments and a number of ballet suites. Pohle was very much an heir to the polyphonic tradition and was certainly influenced by the playing of Italian violinists, and particularly so by Carlo Farina, who lived in Dresden at that time. Pohle not only made use of Italian influences but also adapted models from French dance music: this explains the great diversity of structures in these sonatas, which in some respects also herald the outbursts of the stylus fantasticus. This is a revelatory first recording of Pohle’s complete sonatas.

Whilst flutes, oboes and bassoons were often employed in music performed in the open air, as we have already documented in Les Fastes de la Grande ecurie, they also made contributed greatly to the introduction of wind instruments into the other musical institutions of Louis XIV’s court. This, however, was only possible thanks to the many changes and alterations made to these instruments so that they might better blend with the violins and viols. Here they appear in the Chambre du Roi.

Imitations of country life enjoyed great success during the reign of Louis XV. In musical terms, popular instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy and the musette enjoyed a truly golden age and inspired a vast repertoire that often evoked rural pleasures. These instruments were not only played by aristocratic amateurs but also by professional virtuosi such as l’illustre Danguy and Colin Charpentier, who delighted the French court as well as the audiences of the Concert spirituel. These imitations of rural life combine with instrumental virtuosity to form the basis of this programme, in which we hear the hurdy-gurdy and the musette in instrumental works and cantatas.

After a first recital devoted to the Toccata, Andrea Buccarella, winner of the MA Festival competition in Bruges in 2018, now presents an album devoted to the Fantasia. This album follows the same anthological principles as the first and includes both Italian and German compositions from the origins of the genre in Venice at the beginning of the 17th century to its apogee in the following century with Johann Sebastian Bach.

Doulce mémoire here delves into the repertoire of French songs that were central to the first printed score in the history of music, Harmonice Musices Odhecaton (Venice, 1501). This repertoire dates from the end of the 15th century and includes music from not only the French and Burgundian courts but also from the chanson rustique, a new genre that was in use at the court of Louis XII (1462-1515). This singular repertoire is based on popular melodies that dealt with everyday, amorous, erotic and satirical subjects; the texts have an irregular versification that was known as ‘rural rhetoric’ at that time.

Given that not one of the Masses by Jacques Arcadelt was included in our boxed set that revealed his immense musical personality to the world, we now remedy this situation with an indispensable addition. Leonardo Garcia Alarcon chose the Missa Noe Noe, which is presented here in the context of the Christmas liturgy. We have also included motets not only by Arcadelt but also by Josquin Desprez, as he was the great model for musicians of his generation. The recording ends resoundingly with Josquin’s imposing Benedicta es coelorum regina for six voices, although in an expanded version for twelve voices by Jean Guyot de Châtelet (1512 – 1588): another Walloon composer to be discovered!

This edition of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Bernard Foccroulle was recorded between 1982 and 1997 on a series of splendid historical instruments and provides a clear picture of Bach’s development as a composer of instrumental music. This complete edition also contains works attributed to Bach as well as the recording of the Chorale Fantasia Wo Gott der Herr BWV 1128 that has only been rediscovered in 2008.