Les Impromptus de Fontainebleau

Nicolas Chédeville (Serez 1705 - Paris 1782) was the youngest of three instrumentalists from a branch of the Hotteterre family, known for its major role in the manufacturing of wind instruments as well as for its famous musicians active at the court of Versailles. Pierre Chédeville, the older, died in 1725. The two brothers Esprit-Philippe (known as «the older» after the death of Pierre) and Nicolas (called «the youngest») played oboe in royal musical circles but are especially renowned as players and makers of musettes, as well as composers and arrangers for their favourite instrument. Both brothers enjoyed permanent posts as hautbois de la chambre and musettes ordinaires in the Royal Academy of Music, and Nicolas taught musette to the Royal children, and in particular to princess Victoire of France to whom he dedicated three of his works. His compositions highlight particularly well the specific resources of the musette for which he also transcribed pieces by Italian composers, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and La Follia.

The works of Nicolas Chédeville include collections for amateurs (a lucrative market for the composer) and pieces requiring great virtuosity. His works are divided in style, between divertissements in the French style (dances, marches, fanfares or country tunes) and sonatas in the Italian style. The works of his elder brother, Esprit-Philippe, in some ways resemble the style of the younger Nicolas but adhere more closely to the French school. As virtuosi, composers and renowned makers, the Chédeville brothers belong alongside other exceptional instrumentalists of the period such as harpsichordist Couperin and viol player Forqueray.

Jean-Pierre Van Hees was one of the founders of the revival of the musette, reintroducing the instrument to the international musical scene in the 1980s via chamber music and in opera, with renowned ensembles including The Orchestra of the 18th Century (Amsterdam, F. Brüggen), Les Arts Florissants (Paris, W. Christie), Le Concert des Nations (Barcelona, J. Savall), Les Agréments (Namur, G. van Waas), Stradivaria (Nantes, D. Cuiller), Les Amassadeurs (Paris, A. Kossenko). In 1989, he introduced the baroque musette into musical education, notably at the Leuven University College of Arts where he taught for nearly twenty years. In 2010 he was awarded a PhD by the Faculty of Musicology and Archeology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven for his work on the specific playing techniques of bagpipes as well as in musical archeology. Author of publications in the field of music, he has also published two novels under his pen name, Pierre-Marie Dumont-Saint Martin.

Pieterjan Van Kerckoven made his musette debut with Bart Van Troyen at the Academy of Music in Sint-Niklaas (province of Antwerp) before entering the early music department of the Leuven University College of the Arts (LUCA) where he studied with Jean-Pierre Van Hees. He successively obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in baroque musette, followed by a master’s degree in chamber music and a post-master’s degree in baroque musette. Building on the work of J-P. van Hees, he has written a guide to the use of bagpipes for composers, explaining in detail the specific resources of this type of instrument. Pieterjan is active as a concert artist and teacher, both in the field of classical music as well as traditional and folk music, where he is developing an international career. He is a member of the ensemble Bourdon Collectief and features on recordings with Les Menus Plaisirs du Roy, Les Agrément and Les Ambassadeurs.