Musicales de l'Ouille Allègre – Concert by the Ensemble La Piémontoise

Name: Musicales de l'Ouille Allègre – Concert by the Ensemble La Piémontoise
Start: 2026-08-07T00:00:00+0000
End: 2026-08-07T00:00:00+0000
Location: Saint-Colomban chapel

Bessans

Of all the churches and chapels that have hosted the Musicales, Saint-Colomban Chapel was the only one missing from the list. Our recent visit there inspired us to share our discovery. We called it a “Concert-Impromptu” to highlight its novelty.

Description

“Concert Impromptu”
Ensemble La Piémontoise,
Claudine Desjardins, transverse flute,
Anna Cavalli, harpsichord
Dominique Desjardins, viola da gamba

François CHAUVON
Tibiades, pieces for flute and oboe – First Suite

Michel DE LA BARRE
First book of pieces for transverse flute with basso continuo – Suite V

Domenico SCARLATTI
Sonata in A major “Adagio e cantabile” for solo harpsichord

Georg Philipp TELEMANN
Fantasy for solo viola da gamba

Georg Philipp TELEMANN
"Methodische Sonaten" – Sonata in B minor

Georg Friedrich HAENDEL
"Hallenser Sonaten" – Sonata in B minor:

Johann Sebastian BACH
Sicilienne from the Sonata in E-flat major for flute

Little is known about François Chauvon, who opens tonight’s program, other than that he was a pupil of François Couperin “the Great,” one of the most famous musicians at the court of Louis XIV. Those of his compositions that have survived were all published by Ballard between 1712 and 1736. Chauvon wrote collections of music for various instruments, including medleys of fashionable tunes. On the program is a suite taken from the “Tibiades, a new genre of pieces for the flute and the oboe,” a collection dedicated to Monsieur Couperin, Organist to the King.

Better known, Michel de La Barre rubbed shoulders with all the great musicians of Louis XIV’s court: J.B. Lully, F. Couperin, M. Marais, J.M. Hotteterre … He left us numerous collections, including the “Suites for the transverse flute,” inspired by Marin Marais’s pieces for the viola da gamba. The program features “Suit V,” with character pieces such as the two rondeaux, “L’affligé” and “Le Provençal.”

Domenico Scarlatti’s sonata was included in the program as a nod to the previous concert in Bonneval-sur-Arc, where most of the Italian composers performed were linked, in one way or another, to Domenico Scarlatti, who was conspicuously absent from the program. This short sonata, “Adagio e cantabile,” lacks the virtuosity of his other sonatas, but the melody is very vocal and brings to mind a tender aria from an Italian opera.

The second part of the program honors three famous colleagues and friends: J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel (with a sonata in B minor), and G.P.H. Telemann (with another sonata in B minor). It opens with a ‘Siciliana’ by Telemann for flute and basso continuo and concludes with a ‘Siciliana’ by Bach for flute and obbligato harpsichord, in which the entire harpsichord part is written out. Basso continuo was a common practice in Baroque music: composers wrote a bass line that was played by several instruments, some of which performed the bass line while others improvised over the harmonies indicated by figures. With the exception of Bach’s Sicilienne, the entire program of this concert is for flute and basso continuo.