The extraordinary discovery in 1994 of an early musical collection in Le Puy-en-Velay cathedral, containing over 700 works, led to the launch of a major research project. This third and final part of the anthology devoted to the work of Louis Grénon (c. 1734–1769), the most represented composer in this collection, completes an exceptional panorama of this repertoire, that of an 18th-century French maîtrise (choir school).

The 4 works (Magnificat, Beatus vir, Petit Dixit, Regina cæli) featured in this volume use Louis Grénon’s most highly developed forces: motets for soloists, choir, continuo and symphonies for two violins (including one with horns, another with viola). The great diversity of inspiration, types of writing and, more generally, stylistic references, sometimes even within the same motet, must be emphasised. This diversity testifies to Grénon’s attention to the musical landscape of his time, assimilating the most modern styles, turns of phrase and techniques, and adapting them to his own compositional habits. In this respect, the Regina caeli is quite astonishing: it is close to Rameau or to Mondonville, tending at times towards pre-classicism, but it is also so singular in the composer’s work that one might think of it as a phenomenon of borrowing, influence, parody or arrangement. We do not know how widespread this practice was, and musicology is only just beginning to take an interest in it.

The volume’s bilingual (French-English) introduction considerably enriches current knowledge of the circulation of music in the 18th century. A precise description of the musical sources and a meticulous musical presentation of the corpus, in relation to the liturgical customs of the cathedrals where Louis Grénon practised (in Saintes, Le Puy-en-Velay and Clermont-Ferrand), complete this volume and will give musicians all the elements they need to give these works their rightful place in concert. All the motets are also available for performance as offprints and separate parts.

Thomas Leconte is a researcher at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and editor of the critical editions. Jean Duron is a researcher at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, specialising in music under the reign of Louis XIV; he is the founder of research at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles. Georges Escoffier teaches musicology at Blaise-Pascal University in Clermont-Ferrand.