French Nobility

On 11 July 1302, below the town walls of Courtrai, the most splendid army of knights in Christendom, the flower of the French nobility, was utterly defeated by Flemish rebels, common workers and peasants. The French knights, products of a lifetime's training, were ably led; but so too were the Courtrai townspeople, in addition to being well-armed, and their victory, despite their lack of military skills (and golden spurs), put an end to the enduring myth of the invincibility of the knight.

On this CD renowned lutenist Joachim Held presents exemplary interpretations of representative masterpieces of the French Lute School in works of Robert de Viseé, Charles Mouton, Jacques Gallot and "Vieux" Gaultier.

Nostradamus - The Last Prophecy » is set in 16th century Provence, in a country ravaged by religious wars and devastated by the plague. It has been three years since Catherine de Médicis' rule as regent came to an end, but she still holds the reins of power, making her the target of repeated attacks from the French nobility. One day in March 1566, when she realises that she has fallen victim to a terrible curse, she turns to her doctor and astrologer, Michel de Nostre-Dame, better known as Nostradamus.

It was Georg Böhm who introduced Bach to French harpsichord music and the appropriate manner of playing. Thanks to Böhm’s introduction, Bach, the German harpsichordist, was able to perform French dance music of the era of Louis XIV at gatherings of the nobility, thus becoming familiar with the music of his French contemporaries such as François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau and Louis Marchand. Among the harpsichord pieces which Bach composed in the French style, besides many separate suites, are the English and French Suites (both completed as series in Cöthen and Leipzig in 1718-1725), and the Six Partitas. Bach included in the French Suites the customary sequence of allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue, with additional short movements between the sarabande and gigue. The dances are based on French models, but have no preludes and are generally of a more modest scale, both less stylized and less demanding technically.Played by one of the foremost keyboard players of today, Wolfgang Rübsam, on the Lute Harpsichord.