The Bedroom of the King (La Chambre du Roi)
Elysium Ensemble bring French chamber music of the early 18th century into the private apartments of Louis XIV: Couperin and Hotteterre in the douceur of Versailles and the Paris salons.
Greg Dikmans baroque flute
Linda Kent harpsichord
Lucinda Moon baroque violin
Ruth Wilkinson bass viol
The Bedroom of the King – La Chambre du Roi evokes the intimacy, delicacy, refinement and above all the douceur (‘softness’ or ‘sweetness’) of French chamber music of the early 18th century, especially at the court of Louis XIV.
The Elysium Ensemble – Greg Dikmans (Baroque flute), Ruth Wilkinson (bass viol), Linda Kent (harpsichord) and Lucinda Moon (Baroque violin) – present a programme of François Couperin and Jacques Hotteterre. Both belonged to the Musique de la Chambre du Roi, the elite company that played for the king in his private apartments at Versailles. Their music is elegant conversation: natural charm and sensitive melody, classical beauty of form, delighting the intellect and moving the heart.
In keeping with period practice, Couperin’s Huitième Concert is broken in several places by his Septième Concert and by Hotteterre’s Suite in E minor and Deuxième suite de pièces à deux dessus, so that texture and rhetoric stay varied throughout.
This title evokes the intimacy, delicacy, refinement and, above all, the douceur (‘softness’ or ‘sweetness’) of French chamber music of the early 18th century. This is not the music of the grand court spectacles, the ballets and operas of composers such as Lully, which were the public expression of the magnificence of the Sun King (Louis XIV), though much of the musical language of French chamber music is derived from these sources. It is rather the expression of the best of French taste on a more private, human scale, music that requires the listener to become involved, not actively as in dancing in a court ball, but through the use of both the intellect and the heart. This is the music of refined discourse, such a feature of the French salons, where the mind is engaged and delighted by the elegance of the musical ideas and the passions are moved by the simple, natural beauty of the melodies and their agréments (‘graces’) and the sensual sonorities of the instruments on which they are played.
We have followed period practice and taken the further creative decision to embed the three smaller-scale works within the work here performed by the full ensemble. The Huitième Concert can thus be viewed as the main discourse or argument that unifies the whole, with the other works as examples or digressions.
Reviews
The ensemble perform these with a similar poise and style and haunting loveliness.
the first detail that strikes me ... is the vitality of the performance ... The listener is kept interested by the varying of texture and timbre which is at the same still light and transparent ... dynamic playing.
Neither strident nor over-elaborate, the delightful compositions are played with appropriate delicacy ... and recorded with an intimate acoustic.
If there's a word to sum up this CD, it is cheerfulness. The music seems to bounce along, even in the grave moments ... The performance is clean, agile and stylish.
Artists
Jacques Hotteterre
Jacques Hotteterre wrote flute suites and pièces for the private apartments of Louis XIV: music of douceur, elegant conversation and classical form at the heart of early eighteenth-century French chamber style.
François Couperin
François Couperin (1668–1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist, known as Couperin le Grand. Organist to Louis XIV and to Saint-Gervais in Paris, he remains the supreme French master of the harpsichord.
Elysium Ensemble
The Elysium Ensemble has been acclaimed by critics for its exciting performances, fine musicianship and authoritative interpretations of Baroque and Classical repertoire on period instruments.
Lucinda Moon
Lucinda Moon is an Australian baroque violinist. Trained in Melbourne and The Hague, she is known for period-instrument performance and for leading work with major Australian early-music ensembles.
Ruth Wilkinson
Ruth Wilkinson is a recorder and viol player devoted to music from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Her performances are praised for their musical integrity, imagination and brilliance.
Linda Kent
Linda Kent has been a core member of the Elysium Ensemble and has performed with artists including Walter van Hauwe, Han Tol, Eva Legène and Stanley Ritchie. Her playing has been critically acclaimed for its sensitivity, insight and sense of style.
Greg Dikmans
Greg Dikmans is a virtuoso of the baroque flute and recorder, and a conductor, educator and scholar who has long been at the forefront of the Early Music movement in Australia.
Audio previews
Tracks
- Ouverture 3:39
- Grande ritournelle 2:01
- Air tendre 3:33
- Prélude 1:18
- Allemande 2:29
- Sarabande 3:01
- Fuguéte 3:38
- Gavotte 1:31
- Sicilienne 1:50
- Air tendre–Rondeau 1:13
- Air léger 1:02
- Loure 2:31
- Prélude 3:24
- Allemande–La Fontainebleau 2:46
- Sarabande–Le Depart 2:59
- Air–Le Fleuri 1:29
- Gavotte–La Mitilde 1:27
- Menuet–Le Beaulieu & Deuxième 2:39
- Rondeau–Le Lutin 1:25
- Air 1:01
- Sarabande 2:16
- Les heureux moments 3:18
- Allemande–La Maréchale de Villars 2:23
- Musette & Menuet 3:19
- Gigue 1 1:41
- Sarabande–La St. Maurice 2:12
- Rondeau 3:47
- Gigue 2 1:31
- Air léger 1:19
- Air de Bacchantes 1:09
Huitième concert dans le goût théâtral François Couperin
Septième concert François Couperin
Huitième concert François Couperin
Suite en E si mi (E minor) Jacques Hotteterre
Huitième concert François Couperin
Deuxième suite de pièces à deux dessus Jacques Hotteterre
Huitième concert François Couperin
Performers
- Elysium Ensemble
- Greg Dikmans · baroque flute
- Linda Kent
- Ruth Wilkinson · bass viol
- Lucinda Moon · baroque violin
Where to listen
The Bedroom of the King (La Chambre du Roi) is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
The Bedroom of the King (La Chambre du Roi) is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3184
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 67 minutes 51 seconds
- Producer
- Greg Dikmans
Martin Wright - Recording Engineer
- Vaughan McAlley
- Venue
- Move Records Studio
- Thanks to
- Arts Victoria
Early Music Studio University of Melbourne
Friends of Elysium
Simone Pérèle - Release date
- 1998
- Musical work
copyright - © 1998 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1998 Move Records
- Categories
- Classical, Early music
- Genres
- Baroque, Early Music
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574318425
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