Philidor: Suites For Flute And B.C.

The Philidor musical dynasty begins with André Danican Philidor (1652-1730), a musician and composer who played in many of Lully’s productions. Among several musical younger relations, Pierre Danican Philidor (1681-1731) was one of the most talented: a wind player like his uncle André but also a violist. In this capacity he joined the chamber du roi of the infant King Louis XV in 1715, where his colleagues included François Couperin and Marin Marais. Little of Pierre’s music survives beyond these 12 suites, which were published in Paris in 1717 and 1718. Yet as he explains in his booklet introduction, Jed Wentz esteems them alongside the chamber music of Couperin and Marais, among the most significant precursors to the more florid output of the following generation exemplified by Michel Blavet and Jean Daniel Braun (who have also been the subject of critically acclaimed albums by Musica ad Rhenum). Philidor’s sophisticated harmonies compare favourably with the plainer, less adventurous