The "Goûts-réunis" in French Vocal Music (1695-1710)

Despite the difficulties involved in creating the first French "cantates," which required the adaptation of Italian musical forms to suit the French language, practically nothing is known about the process of experimentation required for such adaptations, or of critical reactions to it. The nature of this process is revealed by the "Recueil d'airs sérieux et à boire" (RASB), a monthly series issued by Christophe Ballard. The publication of arias and aria parodies poked fun at the idea of setting French to Italian aria characteristics, demonstrating the fascination with such characteristics, but also ambivalence about them. The interest aroused by such arias prompted Ballard to promise to print "cantates françoises" in the December 1704 RASB, the first time the term appeared in print. These airs demonstrate that the Italian-French controversy was already well underway by the time. In publicizing experiments with Italian-style vocal music, the RASB also reflected the breadth of interest among French composers for French airs "in the Italian style."