Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
The French air de cour or court air was a genre of lute- or guitar-accompanied song that flourished during the years on either side of 1600. It is strict and rather sparse compared with the music being made in Italy at the time, and it shows little influence from Italian experimentation with declamation and with the strongly harmonic conception of the bass that would evolve into the basso continuo. The music is restrained and, for the modern listener, pleasant enough, with the composer represented here, Etienne Moulinié, apparently trying to work out new wrinkles on a small set of fixed forms. Moulinié was one of the most famous composers in this genre and his songs offer quite a bit of variety -- starting with the fact that he set texts in Italian and Spanish as well as French, and sometimes drew on the dance rhythms that were to lay the foundations for Baroque ground forms. This recording employs a variety of soloists, and the meaty voice of soprano Maria Cristina Kiehr commands special attention. Yet there's a sameness to the pieces that keeps the recording from being very interesting to anyone but specialists in music of the period. For the most part the music is not very expressively sung. One piece, Stelle homicide (Homicidal Stars) is also included on the Accent label's Echo de Paris disc of French love songs of the seventeenth century; sample the pair for an idea of the very restrained approach of this one. It's never unpleasant or poorly executed, but there's a bouncy feel to the music that eventually becomes monotonous. The booklet goes into a great deal of scholarly detail about the texts (some of them, one learns, had hidden political meanings) but leaves them untranslated except for the first line or two -- another sure mark of a disc aimed at specialists rather than at ordinary listeners.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From kr133,33/month
John Elwes, tenor
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano - Josep Cabré, bass
John Elwes, tenor
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano
Josep Cabré, bass
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano
John Elwes, tenor
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano - John Elwes, tenor
Alain Aubin, haute-contre
Alain Aubin, haute-contre
Alain Aubin, haute-contre
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano
John Elwes, tenor
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano - Josep Cabré, bass
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano
John Elwes, tenor
John Elwes, tenor
John Elwes, tenor
Josep Cabré, bass
Maria Christina Kiehr, soprano - Josep Cabré, bass
Album review
The French air de cour or court air was a genre of lute- or guitar-accompanied song that flourished during the years on either side of 1600. It is strict and rather sparse compared with the music being made in Italy at the time, and it shows little influence from Italian experimentation with declamation and with the strongly harmonic conception of the bass that would evolve into the basso continuo. The music is restrained and, for the modern listener, pleasant enough, with the composer represented here, Etienne Moulinié, apparently trying to work out new wrinkles on a small set of fixed forms. Moulinié was one of the most famous composers in this genre and his songs offer quite a bit of variety -- starting with the fact that he set texts in Italian and Spanish as well as French, and sometimes drew on the dance rhythms that were to lay the foundations for Baroque ground forms. This recording employs a variety of soloists, and the meaty voice of soprano Maria Cristina Kiehr commands special attention. Yet there's a sameness to the pieces that keeps the recording from being very interesting to anyone but specialists in music of the period. For the most part the music is not very expressively sung. One piece, Stelle homicide (Homicidal Stars) is also included on the Accent label's Echo de Paris disc of French love songs of the seventeenth century; sample the pair for an idea of the very restrained approach of this one. It's never unpleasant or poorly executed, but there's a bouncy feel to the music that eventually becomes monotonous. The booklet goes into a great deal of scholarly detail about the texts (some of them, one learns, had hidden political meanings) but leaves them untranslated except for the first line or two -- another sure mark of a disc aimed at specialists rather than at ordinary listeners.
© TiVo
Details of original recording : DDD - 61:30 - Enregistré à l'Eglise de Centeilles en Septembre 1990
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 21 track(s)
- Total length: 01:01:30
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artist: Various Interprets
- Composer: Étienne Moulinié
- Label: L'empreinte digitale
- Genre: Classical Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) Vocal Recitals
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.