The bassoon was only able to establish itself as a solo instrument towards the end of the 17th century. The first virtuosos came from France, where the bassoon was used as a bass instrument in military orchestras and the outstanding bassoonists were also able to establish themselves in concert. The American bassoonist Danny Bond, who is active in many of Europe's leading early music ensembles, dedicated three albums, released on the Accent label between 1983 and 2000, to the French repertoire for solo bassoon. The first album highlights the French Baroque with works by Michel Corrette and Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, the other two albums present works by François Devienne and Etienne Ozi, who stand on the threshold from the Baroque to the Classical period.

The "Esterhazy Music Collection" series with the Orfeo Orchestra conducted by Gyorgy Vashegyi on the Accent label is dedicated to presenting musical treasures of the Esterhazy family, many of which have been largely forgotten over the centuries. The recordings usually take place in the Apollo Hall of the Esterhazy Palace in Fertod-Eszterhaza, whose acoustics are among the best in the world. The present production is the third volume and offers a selection of earlier symphonies by Joseph Haydn. In addition to Symphonies Nos. 24, 42 and 43 from the years 1764 to 1771, No. 30, which already bore the epithet "Alleluja" on contemporary copies from 1765, is also heard. This is based on the use of the Gregorian Alleluia of the Easter liturgy in the main theme of the first movement. The symphony may have been composed for ecclesiastical use; a possible performance took place on Easter Sunday 1765.

The Viennese Court Kapellmeister Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741) is regarded in music history as the forefather of modern counterpoint, and his instructional work "Gradus ad parnassum" continues to influence education in this subject to the present day. But the many compositions Fux wrote for the Viennese court are largely forgotten. If at all, one still knows of sacred compositions in which Fux followed this strict, academic style. On the other hand, the composer was able to free himself from this in his opera and in his "Componimenti sacri", which are operatic oratorios for Holy Week (during which no operas were allowed to be performed). Gunar Letzbor and his ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria present such a Fux's "Componimento sacro": after 300 years the oratorio Gesu Cristo negato da Pietro was performed for the first time in January 2020, now it is also available on CD. At the centre of the plot is the biblical passion scene about Peter's denial of Christ, which is theologically examined in dramatic disputes between various allegorical figures. Fux translates this drama into his music, showing that he was not just a good counterpoint artist!

Sigiswald Kuijken's Bach cantata recordings, and in particular his complete series for Accent which culminated almost a decade ago now, haven't enjoyed quite the degree of international attention garnered by those of John Eliot Gardiner and Masaaki Suzuki with their own respective series, and this perhaps isn't completely surprising when Kuijken has consistently championed the one-voice-to-a-part approach. After all, even if one can get on board with one-to-a-part from a historical accuracy perspective, many find it a little harder to get on board with from a pleasure-listening angle, when the casualty of all that authenticity is textural variety – and indeed there's evidence that Bach himself was often frustrated by the slim vocal forces at his disposal.

The content of “Schranck No: II” represents the rich Dresden instrumental repertoire from the first two thirds of the 18th century with a volume of about 1,750 pieces of music. After the end of the Seven Years’ War, these musical pieces were sorted, inserted into envelopes with their characteristic detailed title labels and deposited in an archive cabinet, the aforementioned “Schranck No: II”, in the court church. Like a time capsule, this treasure was rediscovered only after the middle of the 19th century by the court kapellmeister Julius Rietz.

Alessandro Piccinini, a contemporary of Monteverdi and Frescobaldi, hailed from a Bolognese family of lutenists that made its mark on Italian musical life for over one and a half centuries. Piccinini's two books of lute works are primarily influenced by the emergent Italian instrumental music, but French and Spanish influences can also be clearly heard. On the present recording, Monica Pustilnik performs selections from both books.