the most important of which are four pavanes and three or four chaconnes. No preludes by Chambonnières exist, although the genre was very popular: indeed, he is the only major composer of the period who has none to his credit (although nine anonymous unmeasured preludes from the manuscript B-Bc 27220 may have been composed by him). Numerous pieces exist in several versions, which presents considerable problems for scholars and performers, since the versions may differ dramatically. The Bauyn manuscript versions of the published works, for instance, are almost completely unornamented, whereas the published versions abound in ornaments. One particularly striking example is the Pavane L'entretien des Dieux. It has a single trill in the Bauyn version, while in the published version that very trill is omitted—but 62 other ornaments appear. Another example, Sarabande Jeunes zéphirs, is found in 11 sources, and no two versions are identical. Finally, the grouping of the pieces is another problem for scholars. Chambonnières chose to publish his works as suites defined by key; frequently there are musical connections between the pieces of a single suite. However, such suites are absent from manuscript sources, where pieces appear grouped by key only and do not form suites. Mersenne justly praised Chambonnières for "lovely melodies and fine accompanying parts mingled together" and "beauty of rhythm", and indeed Chambonnières's strong sense of melodic line was one of the defining characteristics of his music. Broad, sweeping melodies frequently inform whole strains of his allemandes and courantes. However, beneath the pleasing melodic surface there frequently is a substantial degree of polyphonic complexity, and carefully concealed contrapuntal devices are quite common in Chambonnières's works even if most of the pieces are more homophonic rather than fully polyphonic. Such structural connections are not uncommon in Chambonnières's suites, and sometimes they define subgroups in manuscript collections: the three courantes of the third suite of the livre premier are a prime example, linked by a scale motif both in the published versions and in the Oldham manuscript, where they too appear together, in the same sequence. The same suite has more examples of imitative counterpoint worked into the dance texture, e.g., in the final gigue and in the thematic importance of the tenor voice in the three- and four-part textures of the first few pieces. Selected discography Since the advent of period performance practice in the 20th century, Chambonnières' works have been recorded by a