CD Les Rois de Versailles, 2014

This release showcases the lute music of two French composers, Germain Pinel and Robert de Visée, both of whom have long been overshadowed by the more renowned figures of Jean‐Baptiste Lully and François Couperin. Pinel and De Visée were active not long after the role of the lute underwent a profound change in France: towards the end of the 16th century, following a decline in the popularity of polyphonic song, the instrument was no longer used to support vocal music, and short suites of dances began to develop for lute solo. The lute was a delicate instrument reserved for small audiences, a court instrument relished by the aristocracy and wealthy bourgeoisie for the intimate concerts of the Parisian salons, and a domestic instrument par excellence. It accompanied all the activities of everyday life. It accompanied all the activities of everyday life. Both Pinel and De Visée were in the service of Louis XIV, who inherited a great musical – and in particular lute‐playing – tradition encouraged by his father Louis XIII (excellent lutenist) and grandfather Henry IV, and both musicians cultivated the new forms that had recently emerged for the...