This project open conversations, possibly unions, between the inheritances we
received, those that we have forged through our individual journey, the one brought by
our curiosity for the sounds of the world…
From a family history, its rituals, everything that is transmitted directly or unconsciously, from new sounds brought by the friends we invited in the adventure, is born a composite creation that we humbly love to compare to the famboyant collaboration between Berio and Cathy Berberian.
Simultaneously with the great medieval novels, a lyrical poetry in vernacular developed
in the south and then the north of France: Troubadours and Trouvères.
From the beginning, in trouvère’s works, poetry and music are closely linked, giving rise to an entirely monodic secular art. Courteous Love is at the center of the important corpus they have bequeathed us. The worship of the woman – which extends and sometimes mingles with that of the Virgin Mary – is the main theme of these graceful poems.
To reform sacred music and raise it to a worthy level has always been a deep ambition
for Liszt. After a turbulent existence, he devotes the end of his life to sacred music.
Quite ignored works of the old Liszt, the vocal pieces we chose (among which the «
Septem sacramenta » almost unheard in our time) reveal an aspect of his creation often
despised although being of a very innovative musical scope and full of an intense
spirituality. The soloists of the Ensemble Gilles Binchois are joined in here by the Choir Altitude which serves this repertoire with investment and enthusiasm.
For this meeting, we set our sights on the Orient, “our” Orient, looking towards the Levantine musical traditions : Greek and sephardic songs, and early Ottoman repertoires.
The song is perhaps the musical form in which Dufay was able to best express his immense talent. Each of his 80 songs is a real gem. In his corpus of songs, from the simplest to the most developed, he approaches the genre from his own angle.
Each is worthy to enter the Parnassus of song and become a model. Dufay made his honey from all the aesthetics he met and thus enriched the History of the music of a masterly work that transcends stylistic and temporal boundaries.
My intention, when I wrote 7 short vocal pieces to enunciate the words spoken by
Christ on the cross, was to prepare the listener for the magnifcent slow movements of
Haydn. Each word develops into a three-voice writing: the voice of Christ (tenor)
begins and, as an echo, responds that of his mother (soprano grave) and an angel
(soprano). After having shared this program many times with the Quatuor Debussy, a
brand new cast of singers has been choosed for this recording.
Quite ignored works of the old Liszt, the vocal pieces we chose reveal an aspect of his
creation often despised although being very innovative and full of an intense
spirituality.
Opéra de chambre de Gilberto Scordari et Dominique Vellard sur le texte de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
