Mouret spent much of his professional career in courtly circles, writing music for royal events while also composing for the Opéra de Paris and Paris' Italian theater. His two Suites of Symphonies were composed in 1729, while he was director of the Concert Spirituel. The first suite has also been called "Sinfonie de Fanfares" because it consists of four fanfare movements. It (and, indeed, Mouret's entire output) is pretty much known today only for its opening Rondeau (aka the Masterpiece Theatre theme). Mouret wrote the suites to make better use of a full range of instruments. This first suite is scored for trumpets, violins, oboes, bassoons, tympani, and continuo. It was dedicated to the Prince of Dombes, Louis Auguste de Bourbon, who had fought against the Turks in 1717, specifically to recognize his valor in battle. The Rondeau is followed by Gracieusement sans lenteur, Allegro, and Guay. The Rondeau is justifiably well-known, with its distinctive theme and harmony and celebratory demeanor. The "Gracieusement" is also a rondo, beginning as a regal slow march, stated by just the strings and woodwind before the brass and tympani come in. This pattern is repeated throughout the movement, interspersed with brief episodes of contrasting material for the strings and continuo. The Allegro is more dance-like in 2/4 meter, opening with the full ensemble, before the strings and occasionally the trumpets also begin developing the theme. The final Guay is a courtly Sicilienne, built much in the same fashion as the second movement, with each statement made first by the strings and woodwinds, then the full ensemble.

© Patsy Morita, Rovi

1.Bourrée en rondeau (Theme from 'Masterpiece Theatre')

Tremendously popular for his extended stage works during the reign of Louis XIV, Mouret today is remembered only for this fanfare lasting less than two minutes. Oddly, it became associated with the pomp and glory of England, not of France, when in 1971 WGBH radio announcer Robert J. Lurtsema proposed it as the theme for Masterpiece Theatre, WGBH-TV's repackagings of BBC historical dramas for broadcast on American public television.

The rondeau, or rondo, opens the first of Mouret's two Suites of Symphonies, this one for trumpets, oboes, timpani, and strings. It's frequently played in an arrangement for trumpet and organ, particularly at weddings. The rondo's famous principal theme is a fanfare that keeps the trumpets in their high register; played in period style, it has a little bounce. The two intervening episodes originally featured the oboes and are more restrained. The first is little more than the kernel of the main theme given a gentle jiggle; after the main theme returns, the next, more elaborate episode provides a stately interlude before the final blast of the fanfare.

© James Reel, Rovi