Französische Barocksuiten

An ABRSM syllabus title, 2014-21, Grade 6. Although the recorder was a popular instrument in France at the beginning of the 18th century, relatively few original French pieces for recorder have survived. One reason for this is that the repertoire of the recorder players of that time was largely taken from the flute literature, the pieces being transposed a third higher because of the difference in pitch between the flute and the recorder. Six of the seven suites in this volume - works by Caix d. Hervelois, Dornel, Pierre Philidor, Hotteterre, Naudot and de la Barre - are indeed flute music transposed in accordance with the custom of the period, one suite, however, is anoriginal work for recorder by Dieupart written for the B flat descant recorder and transposed for the C descant recorder in use today. In selecting the works our aim was to provide a stylistic panorama of the French music of the period, featuring the various types of suite.