This concert features non-liturgical 17th-century French-language sacred songs conceived primarily for women by Catholic priests in response to the Protestant Reformation.  Fundamental to the post-reformation Catholic Reform was the need to reach out to members of the laity, especially women of all classes, by creating a musical repertory to prevent conversions to Protestantism and to facilitate a deeper spiritual experience and knowledge of Catholic doctrine.  Sacred songs also served a variety of social functions, particularly educational, devotional, and recreational. Most interesting was the use of popular song forms, either tunes already in circulation with secular texts replaced by religious lyrics or newly composed sacred songs by notable composers like Bertrand de Bacilly, Michel Lambert, and André Campra.

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