L’Esprit Baroque

This programme explores the French Baroque through chamber music composed in the first half of the 18^th century. Alongside more familiar instruments, we hear some that were highly popular at the time but are rarely heard today: the musette, hurdy-gurdy and pardessus de viole.

We begin with a sonata for traverso and basso continuo. After 1700, the traverso rapidly gained popularity in France, gradually replacing the recorder as the most common woodwind instrument. Only one French Baroque sonata is known to have been written specifically for recorder; most composers wrote music suitable for several instruments, including recorder, traverso and oboe.

The musette and hurdy-gurdy were sometimes included as alternatives. Both were associated with the countryside, which appealed to the 18^th-century aristocracy and upper middle classes, who idealised the ‘simple’ rural life. Music for these instruments was initially fairly simple, but as the instruments themselves developed technically, composers wrote increasingly virtuosic works for them. We’ll listen to two works of each today.

The pardessus de viole was another popular instrument, though quite different in character. It should not be confused with the treble viol: tuned a fourth higher, the pardessus de viole had the same range as the violin and was regarded as a substitute for it, particularly for women. Michel Corrette wrote in his Méthode pour apprendre facilement à jouer du Pardessus de Viole (1748), “For example, ladies play the five-string pardessus de viole and will never take up the violin because they dislike the way the instrument is held. Moreover, their hands are too small to handle it.”

We conclude with Jean-Marie Leclair’s trio sonata for two violins and basso continuo. Although this was a standard Baroque combination, its use by a French composer was significant, reflecting the growing influence of the Italian style in which the trio sonata originated.

Michel Blavet (1700–1768)

1. Sonata for Traverso and Basso Continuo in D minor, Op. 2 No. 2
   Gabrielle Rubio, traverso; Lukas Schneider, viola da gamba; Thibaut Roussel, theorbo; Cécile Chartrain, harpsichord
   (CD: La Traversière – Airs et Songes – Harmonia mundi HMN 915425, 2026)

Jean-Christophe Naudot (c. 1690–1762)
2. Fêtes rustiques for Musette, Traverso and Basso Continuo in G major, Op. 8 No. 6
Baroque In The North, conducted by Amanda Babington, musette
(CD: Friends in High Places – First Hand Records FHR193, 2026)

Nicolas Chédeville (1705–1782)
3. Concerto for Hurdy-Gurdy, Two Violins and Basso Continuo in G major, ‘L’Automne’
Ensemble Danguy, conducted by Tobie Miller, hurdy-gurdy
(CD: Les Saisons Amusantes – Ricercar RIC 398, 2018)

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier (1689–1755)
4. Sonata for Two Pardessus de Viole in A major, Op. 63 No. 5
Dialogue Viols
(CD: 6 Sonatas for 2 Pardessus de viole Op. 63 – First Hand Records FHR159, 2025)

Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764)
5. Trio Sonata for Two Violins and Basso Continuo in D minor, Op. 4 No. 3
Ensemble RosaSolis
(CD: Six Sonates en trio oeuvre IV – Musica Ficta MF8018, 2013)

Additional track:
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
6. From Suite for Traverso in B minor, Op. 35 No. 5: Prélude
Gabrielle Rubio, traverso
(CD: see 1)

Image: Hurdy-gurdy (France, 18th century) (www.metmuseum.org)