YORK EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL – Concert spirituel – Cantate et Sonate Française

Yorkshire Baroque Soloists

Bethany Seymour soprano

Lucy Russell, Daniel Edgar violins

Rachel Gray cello

David Miller theorbo

Peter Seymour harpsichord

François Couperin            

Le Parnasse, ou L’apothéose de Corelli, grande sonade en trio (1724)

Jacquet de La Guerre           

Sonate pour le Viollon et pour le Clavecin (1707)

Suonata. IVa. a 2. VV. E Violoncello obligato con organo

Le Passage de la Mer Rouge (1708) à Voix seule, avec Symphonie

(Cantates françoises sur des sujets tirez de l’Ecriture, livre I)

Semelé (c.1715) Cantate avec Symphonie (Cantates françoises)

Michel Pignolet de Montéclair           

Morte di Lucretia (1728) a une voix…avec symphonie (Cantates..Troisieme Livre)  

In the last years of Louis XIV’s reign musical life at court was in decline and society turned to the city for artistic stimulation and the rapid growth of concerts there are witness to this. France was establishing a clear musical identity but Italian music retained its popularity and influence on both the cantata and sonata genres, so the reference to Corelli (whose music was often performed in Philidor’s Concert spirituel) is particularly appropriate. Alongside more familiar composers such as François Couperin (1668-1733) this programme will involve instrumental music and cantatas by Elizabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729) and so marks not only the 350^th anniversary of her birth but also the work of one of the first women to achieve professional status as a composer.