Burgh House, New End Square, Hampstead, London NW3 1LT

The court of Louis XIV did indeed become a parnassus – a source for some of the greatest music and poetry of the time. In this concert we focus on private music for the King, by Marin Marais, François Couperin, Jean Philippe Rameau – and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. She is often introduced as a ‘woman composer’, but as the three pieces played here will show, she transcends any category. Her work can display drama, intensity, and great artistic subtlety. No wonder that Évrard Titon du Tillet in his Parnasse français (1732) gave her a place on Mount Parnassus alongside Marais and Couperin. This will be a rare chance to hear Jacquet de La Guerre, in the company with which she so clearly belongs.

The music

François Couperin (1668–1733): La Française, for two violins and basso continuo (part 1)

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729): Trio Sonata in B flat major, for two violins and basso continuo

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre: Sonata in A minor, for violin and basso continuo

Marin Marais (1656–1728) Arabesque for viola da gamba and basso continuo

Marin Marais: Sonnerie de Ste Geneviève du Mont de Paris for violin, viola da gamba, and basso continuo

François Couperin (1668–1733): La Française, for two violins and basso continuo (part 2)

Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre: Trio Sonata in C minor for two violins and basso continuo

Jean Philippe Rameau (1683–1764): Pièces de clavecin en concert no. 3 for harpsichord, violin and viola da gamba

The musicians

(Nicolette Moonen violin, Oliver Webber violin, Reiko Ichise viola da gamba, Silas Wollston harpsichord)