Grace, panache, fantasy

Trio sonatas for viola da gamba, violin and harpsichord. This sober description does not do justice to the sumptuous repertoire. Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Jean-Fery Rebel and François Francœur may be unknown luminaries today, but these composers wrote imaginative, graceful chamber music that belongs to the very core of the French Baroque. Simon Pierre, Lucile Boulanger and Olivier Fortin, top musicians from the early music scene, perform this magnificent music with the panache and elegance it deserves.

The trio sonata is one of the most popular Baroque forms, written for one or two high melody instruments, such as the violin or flute, and an accompanying part for harpsichord and viola da gamba. However, Boismortier, Rebel and Francœur play with those fixed role patterns in fascinating ways. Thus, the gamba is given a role as double agent, bouncing between solo and continuo (accompaniment). The result is a sumptuous sound texture, rife with inventiveness, while retaining the French elegance that is so typical of that period.