Monteclair / Ensemble Odyssee Dancing With The Sun King CD

Louis XIV (1638-1715) was the personal embodiment of France and he loved to dance. The king himself was a fine dancer and had many opportunities to demonstrate his skill at the multiple dance balls given at Versailles. Michel Pignolet de Mont?clair's "S?r?nade en Concerts" is a collection of dances probably written for one such occasion. The collection is exceptional because it contains all the music that was performed in one evening, divided into three parts: airs de fanfares, airs tendres, and airs champ?tres. When Jean-F?ry Rebel, one of the violin players of the Vingt-quatre violons, wrote "Les caract?res de la danse", he launched a new fashion: the piece was written for a solo female dancer who performed a rapid succession of different dances, completely changing character every few bars. The piece achieved great popularity.