An emblematic instrument of the mid-seventeenth century, alongside the viol and the theorbo, the recorder occupies a central place in the history of French music. While it inspired a specific repertoire, it also became an integral part of the orchestra and – in ballet, opera, and instrumental suites alike – played a major role in the search for textures and colours characteristic of the French style. The famous “Sommeil” from Atys offers the most striking example of this. Yet, to this day, instruments reconstructed after French models – or at least influenced by them – and tuned to the pitches of 392 Hz and 400 Hz, both commonly used for seventeenth-century repertoire, remain rare, particularly in the tenor range. The Centre de musique baroque de Versailles therefore wished to commission the reconstruction of a complete consort (sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) meeting these criteria. Two tenor recorders have been produced (with and without key). The maker Marco Magalhães was selected by a committee of experts to construct these instruments.

To complete the consort, specific thought was given to the “great bass” recorder (contrabass), mentioned by Lully as late as Le Triomphe de l’Amour (1681). Given the uncertainties surrounding this instrument, two different experimental models (in F and C) were ultimately built by the maker Henri Gohin.

Members of the steering committee for the “Seventeenth-Century French Recorders” project

• Augustin d'Arco
  Recorder player and bassoonist
• Tiago Freire
  Cornettist, recorder player, Artistic Director of the ensemble Capella Sanctae Crucis, and Professor at the CNSMD in Lyon
• Alexis Kossenko
  Flautist, former Artistic Director of the ensemble Les Ambassadeurs ~ La Grande Écurie
• Claire Michon
  Recorder player, musicologist, and Professor
• Anaïs Ramage
  Recorder player and bassoonist

The construction of the consort and contrabass recorders was made possible thanks to the generous support of Mrs Nicole Muffat and Mr Arnoul Charoy, major patrons of the project.