Maitrise Notre-Dame De Paris - Paques a Notre-Dame - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The world is looking forward to seeing Paris's Notre-Dame restored to it's familiar physical glory. In the meantime, the musical joys of the great cathedral can be experienced with the singers of it's choir school, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris. Backed by more than 800 years of choral tradition, the Maîtrise offers training and performance opportunities to talented children, teenagers and adults. On Cathédrale d'émotions they and the professional singers of the Ensemble vocal de Notre-Dame de Paris perform music that spans the entire history of the cathedral, including works premiered at Notre-Dame in the 21st century. Album Tracks 1. O Magnum Mysterium 2. Circa Canit 3. I Saw Three Ships (Arr. Rutter for Choir & Organ) 4. Magnificat, Op. 50 I. Magnificat 5. Magnificat, Op. 50 II. Et Exsultavit 6. Magnificat, Op. 50 III. Quia Respéxit 7. Magnificat, Op. 50 IV. Quia Fecit 8. Magnificat, Op. 50 V. Et Misericordia 9. Magnificat, Op. 50 VI. Fecit Poténtiam 10. Magnificat, Op. 50 VII. Deposuit 11. Magnificat, Op. 50 VIII. Esuriéntes 12. Magnificat, Op. 50 IX. Suscépit Israël 13. Magnificat, Op. 50 X. Sicut Locutus Est 14. Magnificat, Op. 50 XI. Gloria Patri 15. Hui Matin a L'ajournée 16. Organum a 3 Benedicamus Domino 17. A Babe Is Born 18. Christmas Day 19. Occidentem Illustrat Oriens (Responsory for the Office of the Crown of Thorns) 20. Vêpres de la Vierge Marie III. Psaume CXXI 21. Veni Sancte Spiritus

Guillaume de Machaut was born around 1300 in the environs of Reims, which at that time was a flourishing royal city with a population of almost 20,000, famous throughout Europe for it's textile workshops and trade fairs. Like most cathedrals of Western Europe, Reims is built on the site of an earlier edifice. The Rouelle altar, on the left in the nave, adjacent to the choir screen, was dedicated to the Holy Spirit. But in 1343 a magnificent statue of the Virgin Mary was placed there. In 1341 Archbishop Jean de Vienne established a plainchant Votive Mass for the Virgin, to be performed each week before the Rouelle altar. The Marian Mass was introduced by Guillaume de Machaut and his younger brother Jean as a perpetuation of the archbishop's wish, and it was for that particular liturgy, which was sung every Saturday throughout the year, that Guillaume wrote his famous polyphonic mass. The Messe de Nostre Dame, as it is called in only one of the five surviving manuscripts, is the first complete preserved polyphonic mass known to be by a single hand. It includes the five movements of the Ordinary plus the four-voice Ite missa est. The Mass is not strictly speaking a unified cycle, but there is nevertheless great coherence in it's rhythmic and harmonic languages. The succession of movements shows a broad construction and a harmonious and carefully established stylistic progression, from the Kyrie with it's strong harmonic structure to the Agnus Dei with it's melodic lyricism.

Claude Lejeune, who moved in Protestant circles but was also in the service of the royal court, composed both Huguenot polyphonic psalms in French and Catholic liturgical pieces in Latin. The genres are juxtaposed in this recording by Olivier Schneebeli directing Les Pages et Les Chantres of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. After the success of the Red, Yellow, Blue, Pink and White collections (a total of sixty reissues) which gave a new lease of life to the pearls of the Baroque catalogues from our house labels, here are fourteen new titles which offer a chance to discover other treasures, whether Baroque or dating from an earlier or later era. Like the most recent series, this sixth instalment opens out onto the Classical repertory (Mozart by Ensemble 415 and Chiara Banchini) and the Renaissance (Févin by Doulce Mémoire and Denis Raisin Dadre); recordings that are an integral part of Alpha's identity and history. Fourteen reissues performed by the leading musicians in the field, most of which received one or more awards on their original . Proper booklets accompany the discs, with notes in three languages (French, English, German). Photographers from all over the world have been selected to illustrate the covers, this time with the guiding thread of the color green, a symbol of nature, fertility... and hope! Album Tracks 1. Motets Pour Le Culte Catholique & Psaumes Protestants 2. 'Muze Honorons', Chœur en L'honneur D'henri IV 3. 'Deum Celebrate Vocantes', Psaume 33 en Vers Mesurés À L'antique 4. 'Magnificat', À 4, 5, 6 & 7 Voix 5. 'Adjuro Vos Filiae Hierusalem', Motet À Double Chœur À 8 Voix 6. Tristitia Obsedit Me 7. 'O Seigneur, J'espars', Psaume 88 À 2, 4 & 5 Voix 8. 'Quand Pour Egipte Éloigner', Psaumes 114 & 115 À 5 & 6 Voix 9. 'Louë Tous Ce Dieu Qui Est Dous', Psaume À Double Chœur À 8 Voix 10. 'Dieu, No