The Cantata is a major poetic and music genre of the 18^th century, particularly during the first thirty years. Born in the 17^th century and originally imported from Italy, it took many different forms in France: first purely and simply transplanted, in its original language and form, or translated and set in the French poetic style, or else totally assimilated into opera, the other secular vocal genre, undergoing a dialectical change. Our project will focus on producing hitherto unpublished cantatas unearthed from French heritage archives; research into historical performance, in particular of orchestral cantatas performed at concerts or on the Paris stage; and finally, the poets featured and the poetic aspect of cantatas. This will materialise in academic and mainstream events and input for the Voix soliste-ensemble vocal collection published by the CMBV publications.