Founded in 1985, the period instrument ensemble Les Couscous Bénévoles – or the « Benevolent Cuckoos » – takes its name from a harpsichord piece by François Couperin. Comprised of some of Canada’s most respected players in the field of early music, the Toronto-based ensemble is committed to performing both the great favourites and lesser known works of the Baroque and early Classical eras. Its programmes span the early French Baroque, the masterpieces of Johann Sebastian Bach and his talented and eccentric sons, up to the music of Haydn and Mozart. Their core instrumentation of flute, violin, cello or viola da gamba and 18th century keyboards presents an ideal orchestration for many of the finest chamber works of the 18th-century.

Since 1988, the ensemble has also been commissioning pieces from composers intrigued by the idea of writing for period instruments. Its contemporary repertoire includes music by Christopher Buterfield, Peter Hannan, Claude Vivier, Rodney Sharman, Michael Longtin, Peter Hatch, Owen Underhill, Linda Caitlin Smith, Martin Arnold, Michael J. Baker, Rudolf Komorous, John Abram, Allison Cameron and Christopher Fox.

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU

1-4. Pièces de Clavecin en Concerts, No.2 in G

JACQUES HOTTETERRE

5-8. IV. Sonate en Trio (Book III) in E minor

LINDA CATLIN SMITH

9. Versailles

JACQUES HOTTETERRE

10-12. VI. Sonate en Trio (Book III) in G major

HENRY KUCHARZYK

13. Rose

FRANCOIS COUPERIN

14-20. Suite in E minor from Les Nations: « La Françoise »