"saint Just"

Saint Just was a seventies Italian progressive group but not really reminiscent of the typical Italian sound. Influences from folk, psychedelic and classical can be heard in their music. The most remarkable instrument in their music is the vocals of Jane Sorrenti that float above the music. Her vocal delivery is definitely an acquired taste. The group released only two albums and the line-up is very different in these two albums. In the 1st album there were only three official members of which the saxophonist Robert Fix was not included in the 2nd album. For their 2nd album the remaining members Jane Sorrenti and Antonio Verde (classical guitar, bass) added electric guitarists Tito Rinesi and Andrea Faccenda as well as a drummer Fulvio Maras.

An uncomparable Italian band indeed, Saint Just played a weird mix of Ethnic music and Folk Rock with plenty of Classical passages, where folk atmospheres alternate with organ themes and piano passages all the time but occasionally supported by light electric tunes. The music is soft but rather dark with plenty of acoustic guitars and characterized by Jenny's Sorrenti poetic and haunting vocal lines. While the whole album flows in a relaxed mood,there are surprisingly lots of breaks and alternating ideas in almost every track,which makes ''Saint just'' a demanding release. Organs, pianos and saxes have a major role leading the way and the few electric parts are well-played yet quite smooth. Surprisingly the self-titled number of the album is entirely sung in French by Sorrenti in a theatrical way with a definite beauty surrounding this delicate track.

Accusateur (féroce) non seulement de Louis XVI mais encore des Girondins, de Danton et des hébertistes, représentant (impitoyable) de la Convention aux armées du Rhin et du Nord, membre (inflexible) du Comité de Salut public et enfin victime (impassible) du 9 Thermidor, l'" archange de la Révolution " fut-il un terroriste fanatique ou bien un esprit généreux peu regardant sur les moyens ? Faut-il le ranger parmi les premiers fascistes, les précurseurs des socialistes utopistes ou les ancêtres des léninistes ? Véritable Janus entré en politique à vingt ans et mort à vingt-sept, …

Avant la prise de la Bastille, Saint-Just, jeune étudiant en droit, démontre dans un long poème satirique, Organt, "l'analogie générale des mœurs avec la folie". La Révolution sera pour lui une remise en cause non seulement du monde politique, mais de la condition humaine. Son ultime raison d'être, il la livrera quelques jours avant de mourir dans ces phrases célèbres : "Je méprise la poussière qui me compose… Mais je défie qu'on m'arrache cette vie indépendante que je me suis donnée dans les siècles et sous les cieux.

Guillotiné le 28 juillet 1794 à l’âge de vingt-six ans, en même temps que Robespierre, Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just a suscité la fascination de tous les historiens de la période révolutionnaire et inspiré de nombreux philosophes, artistes et écrivains. Membre du Comité de salut public, auteur de rapports qui contribuèrent à bouleverser le cours de la Révolution, organisateur de la victoire aux armées, penseur des institutions républicaines et incarnation d’une Terreur fanatique, celui que Michelet surnommait l’archange de la mort a tout d’un personnage singulier. …

The essence of Camille Saint-Saëns' music comes through perhaps most clearly in his music for solo instrument and orchestra, which exemplifies his elegant combination of melody and conservatory-generated virtuosity. The two cello concertos are here, plus a pair of crowd-pleasing short works for piano and orchestra, and the evergreen Carnival of the Animals, with pianists Louis Lortie and Hélène Mercier joining forces along with a collection of instruments that includes the often-omitted glass harmonica. There are all kinds of attractions here: the gently humorous and not over-broad Carnival, the songful cello playing of Truls Mørk, and the little-known piano-and-orchestra scene Africa, Op. 89, with its lightly Tunisian flavor (sample this final track). But really, the central thread connecting them all is the conducting of Neeme Järvi and the light, graceful work of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; French music is the nearly 80-year-old Järvi's most congenial environment, and in this recording, perhaps his last devoted to Saint-Saëns, he has never been better.