In the collection of French cantatas published by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles is added Pomone by Charles-Hubert Gervais, for upper voice and symphony, including the very beautiful aria "Quel doux concerts! Quels sons touchants !" accompanied by the flutes alone. Pomone was intended for inclusion in the famous ballet Les Amours de Protée, as indicated in the original edition; the latter is therefore sold as a supplement. It is the first time since the eighteenth century that this cantata has been published in its entirety.
 
This work can be performed with a chamber ensemble, ----as Ballard’s original edition suggests, one per part with 2 piccolos, flute (traverso), violin and basso continuo. It is also suitable for a large group appropriate for the Académie royale de musique. The publication specifies, in this case, when the basses of the large choir reinforce the basso continuo. This latest version joins the series of orchestral cantatas that the CMBV offers.
 
Charles-Hubert Gervais (1671–1744) was the son of a "garçon de la chambre" of Louis XIV’s brother. From 1697, he was appointed ordinary and then maître and surintendant de la musique to the Duke of Orléans, the future regent of France. Gervais was one of the architects of the fusion of French and Italian tastes. He enjoyed immense success with Hypermnestre, a tragédie en musique premiered in 1716, and Les Amours de Protée, a ballet created in 1720. In 1723, Gervais' career took a major turn when he was appointed sous-maître of the Chapelle royale, and with the death of the Regent. Thereafter, he wrote only for the Chapelle and the Concert Spirituel: his subsequent output comprises about forty motets for large choir which were among the very first of their kind.