Si vous vouliez un jour…airs serieux et à boire, Vol. 2

Featuring

William Christie
Cyril Auvity
Reinoud Van Mechelen
Lisandro Abadie
Emmanuelle de Negri
Anna Reinhold

Les Arts Florissants
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Étienne Moulinié
Michel Lambert
Sébastien Le Camus

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

By the mid-17th century, the 'air de cour' evolved into the 'air sérieux', often a musical miniature for solo voice and continuo, abandoning earlier polyphony for a simpler, strophic structure.

Composition History

Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Petite pastorale H. 479 (c. 1676) was partly assembled from pre-existing fragments, including excerpts from Molière's Le Malade imaginaire and 'airs sérieux'.

Historical Context

The 'air de cour', a prominent musical genre in 17th-century France, was central to all musical and theatrical activities during the Grand Siècle.

Cultural Impact

The 'air de cour' contributed to the rise of a sophisticated socio-literary culture that valued the musical equivalent of the art of conversation, reaching its peak during the reign of Louis XIII.

Composer Biography

Étienne Moulinié (1599-1676) was named 'Director of Music' for Gaston d'Orleans, the brother of Louis XIII, in 1627 and was considered a master of the 'airs de cour'.

Composition History

Lambert's 1689 collection, Airs à une, II, III et IV parties, largely consists of older two-part songs that he reworked into four- or five-part polyphony, often adding an optional instrumental ritornello.

Composer Biography

Michel Lambert (1610-1696), a renowned singer and theorbo player, was appointed 'Master of the Music for the King's Chamber' in 1661 and gained a strong reputation for his 'serious songs'.