Though one of the more talented and important figures of the French mid-Baroque, André Campra has never quite broken through into popularity with modern listeners other than with his impressive Requiem. The major operatic presence in Paris in the period between Lully and Rameau, he combined that with a distinguished career in church music which included posts at Notre-Dame and Versailles. In both areas he pursued a consistent interest in ‘Italianising’ French music, a process reflected in the five books of petits motets for one to three voices and continuo, sometimes with other instruments as well, that he published between 1695 and 1720, and in which we can witness him moving from declamatory lilt, rich textures and light shifts between sections to the closed da capo forms and indulgent vocal melismas of the cantata-influenced later ones. Yet the sensibility remains unmistakably French, an able reflection of Campra’s stated ambition to combine French délicatesse with Italian vivacité.

Five of those motets appear here and, while they may not grab at the emotions as the small-scale sacred music of Charpentier or Couperin can, they reveal a composer in whom dignity and poise are married to natural, yearning expressiveness. The same can be said of the excellent performances, in which supple and stylish singing are backed up by a gorgeous combination of sweetly tuned strings and the benignly cushioning presence of the organ at the Abbaye de Saint-Michel en Thiérache, much of which is original from 1714. This is not the first time I have heard a church organ used for continuo-playing in French music but it reminded me what space, depth and atmosphere it adds to the music; that it also has character of its own is shown in the short but colourful solos by Dandrieu which appear between the motets. With an Italianate Dandrieu trio sonata to enjoy as well, this is a thoroughly well-conceived and executed disc.