After the success of the first fourteen reissues, which restored to the limelight some of the gems of the early music repertory in the catalogues of our labels, here are fourteen new titles to allow listeners to renew acquaintance with further treasures of the Renaissance and Baroque (and even a journey through time thanks to Raphaël Imbert’s album Bach Coltrane), performed by some of the leading interpreters of the genre; most of these discs won one or more awards on their first release. As with the first series, the artists have been asked to contribute to the booklets, in which, with a few years’ hindsight, they talk about their conception of the works and how they went about recording them. The photographers of the Magnum agency illustrate the covers of the series with their work; this time the common design element is the colour yellow.

Combining music, motion, story and social cohesion at the same time, the ‘rondes’ or the ‘chaînes dansées’ (type of dances) belong to all ages. Depending on the circumstances, they were sung by the dancers themselves or accompanied with instruments.

At the turn of the 17th century, the ‘airs de cour’ repertoire was strongly based on those rhythms and popular melodic lines.

'Et la fleur vole' is the result of a subtle choice of airs, airs de cour and dances. Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien are distinguished in this unique repertoire.