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The career of mid-17th century French composer Etienne Moulinié was subject to the vicissitudes that surrounded his master Gaston, Duc d’Orleans, the brother of Louis XIII. In 1630 Gaston had attempted to depose his brother; he was forced to leave France with his court, travelling around Europe, eventually returning from exile in 1633. Le mariage de Pierre de Provence avec la belle Marguelonne is a burlesque ballet set in the kingdom of the Chitterling Sausages featuring ‘Song of the Divine Bottle’ and was first performed in Tours in 1638 (later Cardinal Richelieu requested be performed at the court). The Ballet d’Apollon, by contrast, was composed for the court of Louis XIII by the king’s composer Antoine Boesset in 1621, and it draws on the rich allegories of classical mythology round which Louis XIII and his son Louis XIV fashioned their image (Apollo, the Sirens, Amphion).
The Ebor Singers’ chamber performance does not seek to slavishly recreate the ballets (a ritual intended to imitate – or subvert - social hierarchy and over-long and boring for all but those taking part in it!) but make it accessible to modern audiences by drawing on specific elements of the genre (humour, costumes, dance).