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...

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.