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Those of us who play the recorder or flute may have had a fleeting glance at the repertoire
on this disc, as publications of music for the hurdy-gurdy (our English word for the French vielle)
often included these as possible alternatives in order to widen the potential market. But we can
scarcely have had an idea of the effectiveness of this music on the instrument for which it was written.
The vielle, along with the musette (bagpipe) were (and are) popular instruments gentrified for the
indoor music of the nobility and bourgeois in the later baroque; the style of the musette in particular
is ubiquitous in instrumental music of the time. The two share the use of drones, so the harmonic
vocabulary of these works is limited. Heard throughout is alternation of parallel major and minor
(rather than the more usual contrast of the relative minor), since the two keys share the same drone.
The sound of the vielle evokes various other instruments - the organ (since the tone is produced
by a wheel, and is continuous), the reeds (a rather nasal timbre), and even the fuzz-box of the
electric guitar (the buzzing tone of the drones.) 

If you like the pastoral style of the French opera, these works will send you over the moon,
with toe-tapping rhythms in the dances, and a wonderful richness of tone when the whole ensemble
is playing. The program blends trio sonatas, solo sonatas (vielle/continuo), and duos for two vielles
without bass. The Dugué trios are brief but charming, the Naudot trio rousing, and the players
close with the virtuoso passagework of Charles Bâton. Warmly recommended - don’t miss it. 

Tom Moore