Messieurs Corrette and Boismortier between them kept Paris well supplied with entertaining chamber music for the greater part of the eighteenth century. Boismortier—to attempt a rendering of that name into English is perhaps, unwise—is the more original of the two, though Corrette's well-founded reputation as an arranger of other composers' music should not be considered a bad one. His sonatas for a variety of instruments, Les delices de la solitude, were published in Paris in about 1739 and not, surely, in 1766 as claimed on the sleeve. some of the music was original but melodies by other composers can be detected here and there. That is to be expected, perhaps, from one who actually wrote a full-scale grand motet based on the ''Spring'' concerto from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Corrette's style in these sonatas is graceful and unfailingly pleasing to the ear but the chief delight in the music lies, I am sure, in the playing of it. One understands the commercial pressures behind the assembly of seven sonatas for the same solo instrument on to a single LP; but when the fare is as insubstantial as this the listener may feel the need to act with caution. Five or ten minutes at a time will probably leave us better disposed towards these ''petits-maitres'' than if we subject ourselves to massive, if not terminal doses of their works. Some of Boismortier's invention is strikingly individual though, at the same time, bearing the telltale marks of Italian fashion which characterize almost all French sonatas and concertos of the period.
The performances are very good indeed. The producers have captured well the character of the instruments and the digital sound is irreproachable. Danny Bond is an accomplished bassoonist with a warm and gentle tone. Sleeve information is less than adequate. The note has been carelessly translated and no mention has been made anywhere of the keys in which these sonatas are written. Strongly recommended, even so, and in spite of reservations voiced in the previous paragraph.'