An Italian In Paris: The Bach Players

These pieces give a good sample of the kind of music that was composed, under the new Italian influence, for private performance in France at the end of the seventeenth century - and notably for the court of Louis XIV. The album opens with a piece by Franois Couperin, which he claimed to be the first sonata composed in France, and so gave it the name of 'La Pucelle' ('the maiden'). There folows a 'prlude' by Marin Marais, a violin sonata by Rebel, and a chaconne attributed to Jean-Baptiste Lully, who was the original 'Italian in Paris'. At the centre of this sequence is a striking work by an exceptional woman composer, lisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. Then comes a chaconne by Clrambault, a suite by Duval, and a langourous chaconne for guitar by Bartolotti. The album concludes with the astonishing sonata by Charpentier, composed for eight precisely specified instruments - another first of it's kind. Performers are: Marion Moonen (flute), Rachel Beckett (flute), Nicolette Moonen (violin & artistic director), Oliver Webber (violin), Reiko Ichise (viola da gamba), Kinga Gborjni (5-string basse de violon), Lynda Sayce (theorbo / guitar), Silas Wollston (harpsichord).