Antoine Dard: 6 sonates pour le violoncelle (1759) - Kristin von der Goltz

Antoine Dard (um 1715 - 1784)
6 sonates pour le basson ou violoncelle avec la basse continue (1759)

CoProduction  Bayerischer Rundfunk and Raumklang

Kristin von der Goltz – violoncelle
Hille Perl – viole de gambe
Christine Schornsheim – harpsichord / clavecin


Louis XV stood politically in the shadow of his famous great-grandfather Louis XIV, yet led a similarly dissolute and pleasure-loving life. The royal court at Versailles remained magnificent in its furnishings and still attracted the best musicians of the realm, among whom was a certain Antoine Dard. The origins of this oboist and bassoonist are unknown. In any case, he became a member of the famous Académie royale, and with his appointment as Grand hautbois de la Chambre he reached the pinnacle of his career. Yet Antoine Dard was able to do more; he published treatises on music theory and composed. With these six sonatas, he brought to the forefront two instruments that at that time were more likely to be found in the function of basso continuo accompaniment: bassoon and violoncello.

These sonatas astonish with rousing ideas, long melodic arcs, and virtuoso arabesques: Antoine Dard’s “fruit of sleepless nights” (as he himself remarked in the preface) are persuasive in the interpretation by Kristin von der Goltz, who is accompanied by Hille Perl and Christine Schornsheim.