William Dongois, Franck Poitrineau and Stefan Legée founded the Ensemble Ventosum in order to perform historically correct interpretations of the music for their instruments – cornetts and sackbuts (baroque trombones). An important concern of the ensemble is cooperation on equal terms between all the musicians without any fixed hierarchical structure; this enables them to play freely and creatively, combining musicological knowledge with a zest for improvisation.

Both instrumental groups existed in various sizes and ranges and were considered brass consorts – which is not actually correct, for cornetts were made out of wood, after all. These kinds of consorts were used in the areas of both secular and sacred music because their full, sustainable sound made them ideally suited for playing in churches, large spaces and outdoors.

The Ensemble Ventosum introduces Italian music from the "golden age" of cornetts and sackbuts - which lasted from about 1580 to 1650 - on the CD L’Arte dei Piffari. It includes works for grand princely weddings and dances as well as instrumental motets and madrigals, providing a representative overview of the wide variety of applications of these instruments and the "art of the winds" (L’Arte dei Piffari) of this epoch.