Le Goût Français

The Kaleidoscope Band presents a programme dedicated to the French taste, Le Goût Français, including seductive music by Telemann, Hyacinthe Jadin, Forqueray, Couperin and Lalande.

While Italian music was considered to be full of virtuosity and temperament, French music prided itself on the use of harmony and rhetoric. Versailles was a cornucopia of composers and performers, and Louis XIV was surrounded by live music from morning to night: when he walked in the park, while he ate, and even when he was doing his business on his porcelain throne!

The seduction of French predominance also made its presence felt in music. Foreign musicians travelled to France to study, not vice versa. And the French style was no less popular in England; it is difficult to imagine how Purcell's music would sound without the French influence.

In 1725 the 'Concert Spirituel' concert series was started in Paris by Anne-Danican Philidor, who paid a fortune to gain exemption from the Académie Royale de Musique's monopoly on public performances. Here, contributions from abroad were welcome; Corelli's Christmas Concerto was performed at the very first concert, Telemann was invited to the concert series and composed a number of quartets before his departure, which he played with his brilliant French colleagues, and the Versailles-born Hyacinthe Jadin premiered his first work here at the age of 13.

Book tickets for this concert by emailing onyourdoorstep@btinternet.com.