"In 1977 the French Lutenist Corpus compiled the works of Mercure d'Orleans in a tablature for the CNRS publishing house. It was on the basis of this work that I produced the transpositions and adaptations for the modern guitar that Van de Velde and Oz Productions (Canada) published in their respective catalogues. This is the first recording of these works." – Pascal Bournet

Mercure d'Orleans (1590-1619): Historically, there is no precise information about the composer, so research for this project was based on a study of his works.

Two hypotheses seem possible. The first is seen in Mercure d 'Orleans the person of Philippe-Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Mercoeur (1558/1602), also known as Mercure, a loyal servant of the Valois. Highly educated, the Duke was a patron of the arts and a close friend of scholars and artists.

The second hypothesis is that the compositions signed Mercure d'Orleans are the work of a young lutenist who was part of the Duke of Mercoeur's entourage and who, according to the practice of the time, adopted the name of his patron.

Born in Paris to a family of musicians, guitarist Pascal Bournet taught himself at the age of twelve to play guitar, inspired at that time by his discovery and immediate passion for the electric guitar sounds in blues, rock, rock'n'roll, and jazz. His interest in classical guitar came later - studying under master guitarists Alberto Ponce (France), Arnaud Dumond (Spain), and Leo Brouwer (Cuba).

Equally at home playing classical guitar or other genres, Pascal Bournet has produced some thirty albums under his own name, as well as collaborations with violinist Stéphane Grapelli, and French singer/songwriters Hugues Aufray, and Georges Moustaki. He has produced arrangements of compositions by John McLaughlin's and Astor Piazzolla and, more recently, completed a huge work of harmonisation of pieces by the Irish bard, Turlough O'Carolan.