Hotteterre:
Air de Bacilly - Rochers je ne veux point
Air de Mr. de Luly - Rochers, vous etes sourds
Brunette - L’autre jour ma Cloris
Air de Mr. Desmarets - Lieux Charmans retraittes tranquilles
Chansonette - Nicolas va voir Jeanne

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (1673-1763), musician at the court of Louis XIV, was one of the first great French flutists. He composed several works for his instrument of choice, the transverse flute, also writing several important methods. From the flutes he built, one is preserved today at the Steiermärkischen Landesmuseum in Graz, Austria. For this recording, a copy of this same instrument was used, made by the builder Giardino Tardino. Around 1721 Hotteterre published in Paris the collection entitled Airs et brunettes. The name “brunettes” indicated “petites airs tendres”, or short and simple arias, of a more popular nature and often with a pastoral ambience. At the end of the book, there are twenty-one pieces for solo flute, with ornamentations "agréments" or "doubles" complex and refined, often with a free and fluid, almost improvised character.They are very delicate pieces, undoubtedly intended for pedagogical practice or simply for personal delight. That was precisely what attracted me most to these works and motivated this recording. During the 2020-21 pandemic these small works were a balm for my soul.