French Baroque Music Interpretation Course

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Duration: From: June 12, 2026 to: June 14, 2026
Venue: Dürerbundhaus
Theaterstrasse 12
06366 Köthen
Germany
Telephone: 01701824121
Fax:
E-mail: This email address is protected against spambots! JavaScript must be enabled to view it.
Website:


Instruments:

Lecturers:
violin Prof. Midori Seiler
Chamber music Prof. Dr. Kai Köpp


Further information:
Registration deadline: 2026-06-10
Cost The participation fee is €198 (reduced* €139) *students
Registration/Information: Köthen Bach Society
Schlossplatz 5,
06366 Köthen,
Germany
Telephone: 01701824121
Fax:
E-mail: This email address is protected against spambots! JavaScript must be enabled to view it.
Website:
Remarks: Often quoted – rarely experienced: What does French Baroque music sound like when we follow Muffat's "user manual"?

Georg Muffat was the Leopold Mozart of the Baroque era. Two and a half generations older, he began his training at the age of ten in the Versailles court music under Lully, studied law in Germany at 19, traveled extensively, published in Latin and other languages, and from 1690 worked in Passau as a pagemaster – a teacher of young noblemen, much like Leopold Mozart later would be.

What can we learn from Muffat today? While he recounts fascinating details about Corelli's orchestral practice, in which the 28-year-old Muffat himself participated in Rome, his most spectacular lessons are the insider knowledge of French musical practice that he reveals in the preface to his suite collection "Florilegium Secundum" from 1698. This famous preface, however, is now only found in a single princely private library – it is not included in any other surviving copies of the suites. Muffat's later betrayal of the professional secrets of his initial training likely never reached France from the Danube.

Although Muffat is frequently quoted today, his teachings are rarely fully put into practice, not even by specialized ensembles. In our course, we aim to systematically reconstruct Muffat's detailed instructions: We will experiment with the effects of different bow holds, his legendary bowing discipline, and the use of improvisational elements, applying these to ensemble pieces by his contemporaries Lully and Corelli.

Practical source work for string and continuo players based on the writings of Georg Muffat.

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