Under the Cover

The Commonplace Book of John Sigismond Cousser (1660–1727) is a rare window into an itinerant musician’s world. Born in Hungary, Cousser worked in Stuttgart, Braunschweig, Hamburg, London and Dublin. Along the way he copied, collected and catalogued the music of his contemporaries. Under the Cover turns that notebook into a programme of seven theatre suites and concertos from the years around 1700. It brings together Lully’s Le Temple de la Paix (with its great Chaconne), Steffani’s I Trionfi del Fato, Purcell’s Abdelazer, Artemio Motta’s Concerto sesto and the incidental music from Handel’s The Alchemist. Two of Cousser’s own works frame the journey: the dance suite Apollon Enjoüé and the overture to An Idylle on the Peace.

Les Muffatti have long been drawn to composers who fall between the cracks of national narratives, and Cousser is a perfect example. He was a German-born master of the French style who moved easily between Paris-inspired overtures, Italian opera and English theatre music. The Brussels ensemble, led from the violin by Rachael Beesley, plays with the colour of recorders, oboes, bassoon, theorbo and harpsichord alongside the strings. The result is a lively 43-track tour of the European Baroque, recorded in May 2025 in a Belgian church. The ensemble’s own note calls Cousser “a perfect zinneke”, the Brussels word for a mixed-origin native.

Les Muffatti
Rachael Beesley, violin & direction