In his series devoted to the musical heritage of Burgundy, Michel Cuvelier presents the only two extant motets by Jacques Fargeonnel (?–1690), canon and master of music at Dijon’s Sainte Chapelle. Both compositions are highly expressive, yet based on relatively simple harmonic sequences; this should make them accessible to a wide audience, and thus of interest to ensembles, even amateur ones (soloists and/or choir), in search of something original. A brief presentation mentions the few known biographical elements, the sources and a translation of the Latin texts.

Gustate et videte is written for 4 voices "à la française" (in the French manner), alternating soli and ensembles, with the dessus part lying often very high and relatively distant from the male voices. As Deus invictæ virtutis auctor is known only from Sébastien de Brossard’s arrangement (2 violins, 5 voices and continuo), which briefly mentions the nature of the alterations, this edition also offers a possible reconstruction of the original version (4 voices "à la française" and continuo), with a considerably less demanding range for the dessus.

(Jean-Marie Thil - L’Éducation musicale - 11/2001)