Nicolas Chedeville (1705-1782) was
a celebrated musician, remembered both as a
prolific composer and a champion of the musette,
a favorite wind instrument of his day. He came
from a long line of instrument makers and
musicians. For the last fifty years of his life, he
was a member of the Douze Grands Hautbois,
an elite group of oboists and bassoonists who
performed for military and state ceremonies
during the reigns of Kings Louis XIV and XV.

The Sixieme Sonate from his 7'roisieme
livre d'amusements champares was composed
sometime before 1733 for musette, hurdy-gurdy,
flute, oboe or violin and bass continuo. It was not
uncommon for French composers of this time
to list three, and often more, instruments on the
title page of their work, perhaps to sell as many
copies of their music as possible; composers were
indifferent to the instruments on which their
pieces were performed.Eighteenth-century wind
musicians customarily negotiated both oboe and
flute with equal ease and often owned more than
one instrument.

The works on this CD, distinctive as they
are, have certain commonalities. Eighteenth-
century sonatas, typically written in collections
of six, contained both French and Italian
characteristics in varying degrees. Though
hinting at Italian stylistic features found in
Chedeville's later works, the Op. 3 sonatas still
present a distinctive French flavor, characterized
by simple rhythms and textures, use of binary
or rounded binary form with sectional repeats,
and comparatively little sequential passage
work. Many of the works demonstrate a
preference for dance-inspired forms such as the
courante, rigaudon, menuet, and tambourine. All of
the sonatas in Chedeville's third book, or Op. 3,
are for solo treble instrument.

Chedeville had a predilection for colorful
and often programmatic movement titles, as did
many of his contemporaries. The operas of Lully
did much to establish the oboe a s the instrument
best suited to represent all things arcadian. The
names of sonata collections often alluded to a
light-hearted or pastoral nature, as in Amusements
champitres (Rustic Amusements) or Festes
champetres (Pastorale Celebrations). Movement
titles included La Rivier d'hier (The River of
Yesterday), Dans noir bois (In the Dark Woods),
or Entree de bergers (Entrance of the Shepherds).
Pastoral themes were all the rage in the middle of
the century. Instruments such as oboes, musettes,
flutes, and hurdy-gurdies came into vogue
between 1730 and 1740. These instruments
were often made of ebony and ivory and were
decorated with brightly colored ponpoms. As
a popular pastime at Court, royalty donned the
costumes of shepherds and played their pastoral
instruments of choice for a hearty evening's
entertainment.

French compositions of the early 1800s
often featured ornate, elaborate title pages
or avertissements that contained a wealth of
information, including the work's title, possible
instruments on which it could be performed, the
publisher's name and address (complete with
directions to the publisher's office if the address
was not obvious), the composer's name with a
biographical word or two, the dedication, and
an ornate border or picture etched around the
text. Another important feature of the title page
was the date of privilege: the date on which the
composer received permission from the court to
publish. The second page of the print included a
lengthy and humble dedication to the composer's
patron who was customarily a member of
the French aristocracy. The date of privilege
and the dedication are historically significant.
They provide the work's approximate date of
composition, and, based on the social standing
of the dedicatee, a way to assess the demand
for a particular composer's work. From Nicolas
Chedeville's title pages, we learn that he was a
composer in demand with commissions from
several wealthy patrons.

Jacques Christophe Huguenet (1680-
1729) was a French violinist and composer. He
studied with Jean-Noel Marchand and followed
his father and uncle into royal service as a
violinist when he entered the chapelle in 1704.
He was made an ordinaire of the Royal Chamber
in 1710 and was a member of the Petits violons.
His Premier oeuvre de sonates, six for violin
and continuo, six for two violins and continuo,
dedicated to King Louis XV, was published in
Paris in 1713. The Italian leanings in this work
are demonstrated by florid, sometimes virtuosic,
sequential passage work, Italian tempo markings,
lack of dance-inspired movements, adherence to a
four-movement, slow-fast-slow-fast sonata form,
chains of suspensions,and a more adventurous
harmonic vocabulary.

Little is known about Jean-Francois
Bouin, including his birth and death dates. From
the title page of his works we know that he was
a publisher and teacher of the vie//c (hurdy-
gurdy), for which he wrote a treatise. The date of
privilege for this opus was April 26,1748.

Jacques-Christophe Naudot (1690-
1762) was well known in Paris as a flutist. The
dedications he wrote in his works show that he
had many aristocratic pupils and patrons. He is
best known for influencing French flute music
of his day by the virtuosity of his compositions
and for popularising the Italian solo concerto
in French woodwind literature. His works,
which comprise some of the most rewarding
pieces produced by the French flute school, were
reprinted many times and were appreciated by
amateur players of his day.