The air de cour was an iconic social musical genre in the late Renaissance and through the first half of the 17th century. It has aroused a great deal of public interest in the last ten years or so, helping to ensure its rightful place in the history of early French baroque music.
This cross-discipline research project has several aims: to compile an inventory and description of air de cour musical and poetic sources; to publish its most emblematic scores; and to investigate ways to interpret and promote the repertoire.
Scientific collaboration has broadened the scope of the research: it now includes the latter half of the 16th century which saw the emergence of the genre (under the last of the Valois Kings and Henri IV), and a study of its evolution during the reign of Louis XIV.