Geoffrey Burgess, oboe, and Leon Schelhase, harpsichord

Composers at the French court provided music not only for grand ceremony and opera but also private entertainment. Our program features music of a diversity of styles, with duets for oboe and harpsichord as well as harpsichord solos: from the character sketches of François Couperin’s pièces de clavecin, Boismortier’s playful gallantries, the compelling allure of Forqueray’s musical gestures, to the bravura of Jean-Féry Rebel’s virtuosic writing.