The programme is devoted to French music of the 16th century, above all that created during the reign of François I, the ruler to whom the country on the Seine owes the flowering of Renaissance culture and art. The core of the works presented at the concert are songs, dances and lute intavolations taken from collections published by Pierre Attaingnant, Jacques Moderne, Pierre Phalese and Tielman Susato between 1529 and 1550. Of these, vocal compositions in the style of the so-called 'chanson of Paris' deserve special attention. They are extremely varied in character, both musically and literarily. Apart from sophisticated love songs of courtly provenance and illustrative compositions, they also include frivolous, quasi-folk songs commenting on the lifestyle of the middle and lower classes or treating of the delights of the table or the alcove. Their authors - renowned poets and composers of the time - were able to handle such a variety of subject matter with grace and artistry, creating successful works, both serious and full of noble pathos, and rubbishy, serving the entertainment of the bourgeoisie of the time. Many of these songs also achieved considerable popularity beyond the borders of France, as evidenced by their numerous instrumental versions. The programme will feature both more subdued French lute pieces and Giovanni Bassano's late Renaissance virtuoso arrangements for solo elongated flute. The whole will be complemented by dances for instrumental consort from the time of Francis I - from serious pavans to folk branles.