Hyperion Records

The Suite in C major starts with a Lullian French overture—majestic dotted notes and then a quicker three-time section—and ends with the traditional conclusion of the Lullian opera, the Chaconne, the signal for all those in the audience hitherto not paying attention to get to the front of their boxes in preparation for the applause, and in which all those characters on the stage still alive at the end of the drama join in a joyous dance. In its chamber music form, however, it becomes like the whole drama in miniature, with a dark and passionate minor section in the middle and many contrasting moods, affording Marais almost unending possibilities to display his invention.

from notes by Richard Boothby © 1989