Both the vielle and the musette operate on the principle of a drone tone and continuous sound, with the vielle's wheel acting as a continuous bow and the musette's bellows providing an air reservoir.
Historical Context
The Arcadian dream, depicting an idyllic Baroque world of harmony with nature and love, reached its peak in France from 1715 to 1775, spanning the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans and the reign of Louis XV.
Instruments
The vielle (hurdy-gurdy) and musette (a type of bagpipe) were central to the intimate musical conversations of the pastoral lifestyle, often used by both nobility and middle classes in 18th-century France.
Album & Artwork
The album title, "Le Berger Innocent," comes from an anonymous and undated collection of pastoral songs, which is part of the collective universe of pastoral music presented in this program.
Compositional Technique
Jean-Baptiste Dupuits's Six Sonates ou Suites à deux vièles are notable for their larger scale and the second vielle's harmonic role, allowing it to take on characteristics of other instruments like the violin, flute, oboe, and harpsichord.
Compositional Technique
Jean-François Boüin's La Vielleuse habile (1761) significantly advanced vielle technique, pushing the instrument to its full range and demanding a technical skill far beyond amateur players.
Composer Biography
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, a composer and teacher, aimed to live solely from his music without relying on patrons, and his extensive publications for amateur performance helped him achieve this.
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Philidor: L'art de la modulation
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Meister: Sonatas nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, 10 & 11
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Boismortier: Sonates pour violon, Op. 20
Les Violes du Ciel et de l'Enfer
Battaglia - Works by Biber, Schmelzer, Castello, Fux et al.
