Various Composers - Friends in High Places (Baroque In The North)

Information

• Alexandre Julien Dugué - Sonates en trio, Op. 4: No. 3 in C Major
• Esprit Philippe Chédeville - Duo galants for 2 Musettes, Op. 5: No. 5 in G Major
• A Tolou - 6 Sonatas: No. 1 in C Major
• Jean-Baptiste Dupuits - 6 Sonatas for Vielle & Basso continuo, Op. 3: No 6 in G Major
• Jean-Daniel Braun - Différentes pièces sans bass: Suite in G Minor
• Colin Charpentier - Amusement No. 3 in C Major
• Louis-Antoine Dornel - Harpsichord Suite No. 1 in A Minor
• Joseph Bodin de Boismortier - 6 Suites, Op. 27: No. 3 in G major
• Jacques-Christophe Naudot - 6 Babioles, Op. 10: No. 2 in C major
• Jacques-Christophe Naudot - 6 Fêtes rustiques, Op. 8: No. 6 in G major

Baroque In The North

    Amanda Babington, musete

    Claire Babington, cello

    David Francis, harpsichord

&

Martyn Shaw, flute

Bart van Troyen, musete

Date: 2026

Label: First Hand Records

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Patronized by Louis XIV as a delicate classical bagpipe, the musette evolved from a novel courtly plaything into a central fixture of 18th-century French music for theatre, court, and salon. Though it vanished during the French Revolution, its revival in the 1960s restored its place in the early music canon. This album showcases the musette's distinct voice alongside period flute, cello, and harpsichord in historical works by Boismortier, Naudot, Dupuits, and Chédeville. Interspersed with intimate solo flute and harpsichord selections by Braun and Dornel, the recording highlights both the pastoral origins and virtuosic sophistication of the baroque musette.

Amanda Babington is a British musician, researcher, and senior lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music who specializes in historically informed performance on musette, baroque violin, and recorder. As Artistic Director of Baroque In The North, she regularly collaborates with top European early music ensembles alongside chamber groups like AB24 and the Aberdeen Early Music Collective. Renowned for her groundbreaking research on the musette, Babington gained critical praise for her 2022 debut solo album, Music for French Kings. A respected scholar and editor for Bärenreiter, she has authored books and articles on Handel while actively researching Stuart Court musette repertoire.

High Resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz