Bill & Friends William Christie, Gwendoline Blondeel, Juliette Mey, Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Emmanuel Resche-Caserta, Myriam Rignol, Thomas Dunford, Justin Taylor

• Sieur Demachy (1675 - 1700): Pièces de viole:
• 1 Demachy: Pièces de viole: Prelude in A Major 00:54
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson (1622/23 - 1680/81): Krakow Manuscript:
• 2 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Sarabande and Variation in A Major 01:11
• Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 - 1704): Sans frayeur dans ce bois, H. 467:
• 3 Charpentier: Sans frayeur dans ce bois, H. 467 01:57
• François Couperin (1668 - 1733): Pièces de clavecin, Book 3, Ordre XV in A:
• 4 Couperin: Pièces de clavecin, Book 3, Ordre XV in A: IV. Musette de Choisy - V. Musette de Taverny 05:33
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript:
• 5 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Prelude in G Major 01:05
• Sieur Demachy: Pièces de viole:
• 6 Demachy: Pièces de viole: Gavotte en rondeau in G Major 01:58
• Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 2:
• 7 Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 2: Non, non, je n'irai plus au bois seulette 01:57
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript:
• 8 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Prelude in D Minor No. 1 01:07
• Jean-Baptiste Senaillé (1687 - 1730): Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1:
• 9 Senaillé: Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1: I. Adagio 01:55
• 10 Senaillé: Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1: II. Allegro 01:54
• 11 Senaillé: Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1: III. Allemanda. Allegro 02:32
• 12 Senaillé: Violin Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1: IV. Giga. Allegro 01:40
• Violin Sonata in C Major, Op. 3 No. 8:
• 13 Senaillé: Violin Sonata in C Major, Op. 3 No. 8: I. Preludio. Largo 01:53
• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): Trumpet Tune in C Major, ZT 698:
• 14 Purcell: Trumpet Tune in C Major, ZT 698 00:49
• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Suite for 2 Harpsichords in C Minor, HWV 446:
• 15 Handel: Suite for 2 Harpsichords in C Minor, HWV 446: I. Allemande 03:26
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript:
• 16 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Prelude in G Minor No. 1 00:46
• Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 1:
• 17 Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 1: J'avais cru qu'en vous aimant 03:44
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript:
• 18 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Prelude in D Minor No. 2 00:57
• Nicolas Hotman (1610/14 - 1663):Krakow Manuscript:
• 19 Hotman: Krakow Manuscript: Ballet in D Minor 00:49
• Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665 - 1729): Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor:
• 20 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: I. 02:23
• 21 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: II. Presto 01:52
• 22 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: III. Adagio 00:54
• 23 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: IV. Presto - Adagio - Presto 03:32
• 24 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: V. Aria 04:09
• 25 Guerre: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Minor: VI. Presto 02:01
• Sieur de Sainte-Colombe (1640 - 1700): Tournus Manuscript:
• 26 Sainte-Colombe: Tournus Manuscript: Prelude in D Minor 03:09
• Nicolas Hotman: Krakow Manuscript:
• 27 Hotman: Krakow Manuscript: Allemande in D Minor 02:32
• Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764): Pièces de clavecin, Suite in D, RCT 3:
• 28 Rameau: Pièces de clavecin, Suite in D, RCT 3: I. Les Tendres Plaintes 03:45
• Jean Lacquemant dit Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript:
• 29 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Prelude in G Minor No. 2 00:52
• 30 Dubuisson: Krakow Manuscript: Sarabande in G Minor 02:31
• Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 3:
• 31 Anonymous: Brunettes, Book 3: Sur cette charmante rive 02:03
• Henry Purcell: Ground in C Minor, ZD 221:
• 32 Purcell: Ground in C Minor, ZD 221 02:30
• Trumpet Tune in C Major, ZT 678 "The Cibell":
• 33 Purcell: Trumpet Tune in C Major, ZT 678 "The Cibell" 01:27
• Marin Marais (1656 - 1728): Pièces de viole, Book 5, Suite No. 1 in A Minor:
• 34 Marais: Pièces de viole, Book 5, Suite No. 1 in A Minor: XVI. Prélude en harpègement 02:07
• 35 Marais: Pièces de viole, Book 5, Suite No. 1 in A Minor: X. Petit caprice 00:39
• 36 Marais: Pièces de viole, Book 5, Suite No. 1 in A Minor: VII. Menuet - Double 02:26
• Total Runtime 01:14:59

Info for Bill & Friends

In view of a happy 80th birthday, the most French of all American musicians has gathered around him a group of young artists who are important to him: William Christie watched over their development, and now they are all masters of their craft! The programme celebrates the composers he passionately defended or reintroduced. Happy Birthday, Bill!

William Christie, harpsichord
Justin Taylor, harpsichord
Myriam Rignol, viola da gamba
Gwendoline Blondeel, soprano
Juliette Mey, mezzo-soprano
Thomas Dunford, theorbe
Theotime Langlois de Swarte,violin
Emmanuel Resche-Caserta, violin

William Christie
In his multiple roles as harpsichordist, conductor, musicologist and teacher, William Christie is the architect of one of the most remarkable musical adventures of the past thirty years. A pioneer in the rediscovery of Baroque music, he has revealed the French repertory of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to a very wide audience. The career of this native of Buffalo, educated at Harvard and Yale, who has lived in France since 1971, took a decisive turn in 1979 when he founded Les Arts Florissants. At the head of his new ensemble, William Christie succeeded in establishing a highly distinctive style as a musician and a man of the theatre while exploring a repertory that until then had been largely neglected and forgotten. The production of Lully’s Atys at the Opéra Comique in 1987 marked a true breakthrough in public recognition both in France and abroad.

From Charpentier to Rameau, by way of Couperin, Mondonville, Campra and Montéclair, William Christie remains the interpretative reference in tragédie lyrique and opéra-ballet, the French motet and music of the French court. Nevertheless, his attachment to French music does not prevent him from exploring other worlds. His interpretations of the Italian repertory (Monteverdi, Rossi, Scarlatti, Landi) and of Purcell, Handel, Mozart and Haydn have made an enduring impact.

He continues to work regularly in the field of opera and his collaborations with some of today’s leading directors are invariably greeted as major events. William Christie often appears as a guest conductor at such prestigious opera festivals and opera houses as Glyndebourne, the Metropolitan Opera New York, Opernhaus Zürich and the Opéra National de Lyon. His extensive discography (more than one hundred recordings, which have won many international awards) also bears witness to his richly varied and intense artistic achievement.

In nearly forty years of activity, William Christie has introduced the public to several generations of singers and instrumentalists. Many directors of French Baroque ensembles began their careers in Les Arts Florissants. He was a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris between 1982 and 1995 and is frequently invited to direct masterclasses, notably at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, where he is artist in residence along with musicians from Les Arts Florissants.

In 2002, with a view to widening the scope of his pedagogical work, he founded with Les Arts Florissants a biennial academy for young singers, ‘Le Jardin des Voix’; its graduates, after an international tour with Les Arts Florissants, swiftly embark on prestigious careers. Among the Academy’s discoveries are Sonya Yoncheva, Christophe Dumaux, Emmanuelle de Negri, Marc Mauillon and Amel Brahim-Djelloul. A passionate enthusiast for the art of garden design, William Christie created ‘Dans les Jardins de William Christie’, a festival that has been held annually since 2012 in the grounds of his house at Thiré in the Vendée département. It brings together Les Arts Florissants, his students from the Juilliard School and the prizewinners of Le Jardin des Voix for ‘musical promenades’ in these gardens.

William Christie became a French citizen in 1995. He holds the rank of Grand Officier in the Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur, the Ordre des Arts et Lettres and the Ordre National du Mérite, and honorary doctorates from the State University of New York at Buffalo, the Juilliard School of Music and the University of Leiden (Netherlands).

He was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in November 2008 and made his inaugural speech beneath the dome of the Institut de France in January 2010. William Christie is also an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Booklet for Bill & Friends