This cantata by Nicolas Clérambault, one of the best known, is an undeniable masterpiece of the French orchestral cantata, for the first time reproduced in this new publication of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. Performed for the restoration of the health of King Louis XV in 1721, it was revived at the Académie royale de musique in the form of an entertainment, then published in a "reduced" format the same year. The Chamber Music acquired it in 1726, probably to be performed, as it was at the Concerts de la Reine the following year and regularly performed at the Concert Spirituel. There are interpretations of it in the provinces, notably in Dijon.----
 
The Sun, Conqueror of the Clouds is undoubtedly one of the most complex works in Nicolas Clérambault’s entire corpus of cantatas. The score requires a full chamber ensemble: vocal top, flutes, oboes, violins, violin basses, bassoons and basso continuo (with solo bass viol). It can also be performed in an orchestral version, with or without the hautes-contre and violin size parts reproduced for this edition.
 
Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749), son of one of the Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi, was himself an organist; he succeeded Nivers at Saint-Sulpice, and at the royal house of Saint Cyr. His books on the harpsichord, organ, motets, and printed divertissements reflect his duties, but it was above all as a composer of 25 cantatas that Clérambault became famous in his day. However, a large part of his work has remained in manuscript: instrumental sonatas, nearly a hundred motets, an oratorio, and spiritual arias are only just beginning to be rediscovered. They reveal the importance of this Apollonian composer, craftsman of the fusion of French and Italian tastes, musician of the Enlightenment.