Since the early 1990s, the excellent French label Opus 111 has released a number of recordings by the Russian Patriarchate Choir, which was founded in 1980 by Anatoly Grindenko. Grindenko, a successful performer on the double-bass and viola de gamba, has combined a devotion to the living tradition of the Orthodox liturgy with important and original musicological scholarship. The result has been the careful editing and inspired performance of a number of manuscripts representing early, and sometimes all but lost, traditions of Orthodox chant.

Mr Demachy's 'Pieces de violle' of 1685 are for viole solo, scored without basso continuo. Demachy represents the previous generation to Marais and Forqueray le pere, whose works included a separate bass voice in addition to the viole.

Janitsch was a superb contrapuntist, so it's fortunate his historically significant compositions are among the surviving manuscripts in the Archive of Berlin's Singakademie. In this recording on CPO, they offer the modern listener a vibrant impression of the cultured and imaginative spirit that animated Janitsch's Musical Academies in Berlin. The members of the chamber music ensemble Epoca Barocca share a passion for the performance of baroque music on original instruments, and their programmes regularly feature unjustly neglected works from the baroque era.