Works by Barrière, Caix D’Herlevois, Boismortier and Dollé Mélisande Corriveau, viola da gamba & Eric Milnes, keyboard The works selected present a vibrant array of French musical styles developed during the eighteenth century before the French Revolution. The origin and development of the pardessus de viole - known in France as “the woman’s violin”- coincided with the increasing prominence of the violin in French instrumental fashion. The crowning glory of the viola da gamba family, the pardessus – the smallest of the viola da gamba family of instruments - facilitated the instrument’s rise in popularity in France. Most of the works which will be performed were selected from the microfilm collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Few had been recorded until Mélisande’s recent recording. The works are charming, playful, luminous and exquisitely elegant.