Suites op. 2

Born in 1674, the French flautist, composer and instrument maker Jacques-Martin Hotteterre is the founder of the long and impressive French flute playing tradition. The great importance in music history of his five suites for flute and basso continuo, Op. 2 is that subsequently in their second, enlarged edition they were provided with embellishments, directions for performance, and remarks concerning execution by their composer. The present volume is the first modern, critical edition of the pieces, which were published in 1708 and revised seven years later. It has been prepared by comparing the two sources, and from it performers can glean much information about contemporary performance practice. This edition includes the composer's foreword to the original edition, and a table of embellishments.