Jacques Martin

Two suites for recorder and basso continuo appear on this volume, a welcome representation of that instrument in the oeuvre of Hotteterre. Performance pitch is A=392, which reflects practice in the France of Hotteterre's day, but more importantly puts the flute down into that wonderfully soft and relaxed timbre which made it such a sensation in the first decades of the 18th century. There are bits and pieces of Hotteterre floating about in the recorded repertoire, but none surpass these performances, and once again.

This recording includes works for the oboe by four French Baroque composers, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, Francois Courpin, and Marin Marais. Among them Montéclair is a cantata "Pan et Syrinx" (Pan et Syrinx). The story of the faun Pan chasing the nymph Silinks is popular with composers. On the one hand, this is a sad story about love that can never be obtained, and the drama and imagination in it are quite suitable for composers to play; A flute, this "pan flute" can be played with a modern flute (as in Debussy's Syrinx), or with an oboe like Montéclair. The tone of the oboe is not as cold as the flute, but rather warm, elegant and fresh. On the one hand, it is very suitable for depicting the quiet life of nature or the countryside. The sweet memories of a lost love couldn't be more fitting.