Search - Jean-Baptiste Lully, William Christie, Les Arts Florissants :: Lully - Petits Motets / Les Arts Florissants, Christie

Lully at his best

scott | Calgary, Canada | 12/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These petits motets go a long way to proving that Lully, despite his ruthless despotism and inflated ego, was indeed an extremely talented composer. This is not grand music for lavish royal spectacles, but small, intimate music for private worship. Most of the motets recorded here employ three voices and continuo, the ones scored for three sopranos being my favorites. The combination of the high voices together is characteristically French, and very effective. The Salve Regina is a particular favorite of mine, the last part coming to a delicate and pathos-laden end.



There are few recordings of Lully's small scale church music, and this is surely the best of them. I know it has been re-released on the Music d'Abord series, and also as a Harmonia Mundi Anniversary reissue. If you see any of them, snap it up as this is a crucial item in you Lully collection."