Musicians in the shrubbery, an exotic shepherdís instrument, a ballet diva, a chivalrous admirer who is himself the object of admiration. This image perfectly conjures up the essence of the fête champêtre - or rural celebration - as played out by the French aristocracy in the 17th century.
Here, one would dream oneself away to an Utopian idyll according to oneís own interpretation of the grand philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseauís theories on the ideal state: being closer to nature and that which is natural. Here, one would play with the idea of the foreign, the savage but alluring world outside the park grounds. Here, the reality of the common people, at once both tempting and repulsive, would be refined, rebuked and cultivated.

Bolette Roed and Poul Høxbro's idea with the concept of Concert Pastoral is to, based on scenes such as the one depicted in Nicolas Lancretís painting above, recreate some of these pastoral ensembles and play around with the French baroque music in the same fashion as the musicians of the time. To instrumentate and interpret everything from movements written for orchestra to solo sonatas based on the sounds of the instruments at hand. To play this wonderfully melodious music - so full of bucolic inspiration and elegant finesse. To create a musical fête champêtre.

For in the artistic music of the time, there are clear parallels to the common, the so-called pristine. Even the foremost composers, such as Jean-Philippe Rameau, enlivened their operas with intermezzi of pastoral or exotic character and the chamber music is filled with dance movements inspired by the traditional music, which was the common people's natural means of musical expression. This inspiration was not limited to the music itself: even some instruments, traditionally played by only peasants and shepherds, were now adopted by the highest levels of society. Of course in a much refined form so as to satisfy both the discerning musical tastes as well as the aesthetic requirements of appearance. In keeping with this, the instruments were adorned with ebony, silver, ivory and other precious materials.
One such instrument, the medieval pipe-&-tabor is seen on the far right in the painting above. Here in the 17th century it was elevated to galoubet & tambourin, beautifully crafted from precious materials and refined for expert use by professional musicians and noble amateurs. The recorder, seen to the left of the dancer, was often used by composers to invoke the pastoral. It too was extensively refined to meet the demands of the artistic music of the time.

Combine these two instruments and add perhaps other instruments from the time and you get the essence of the noble shepherds orchestra, with an infinite number of musical possibilities.