Geohistoire de la Mondialisatio

La prise de contrôle de l’Amérique par une poignée d’Européens marque le début de la construction d’un Monde qui s’achève au XXe siècle. Il aurait certainement pu en être autrement. Gengis Khan ou Zheng He initièrent des mondialisations bien différentes. Ces logiques géographiques très anciennes n’ont jamais totalement disparu sous l’aventure européenne et ressurgissent aujourd’hui vigoureusement. Et si le Monde nous paraît si évolutif, c’est bien parce que le récit unique de l’Occident n’était pas sans amnésie. …

Thanks to Julien Chauvin and his ensemble La Loge, the programs of the Concert Spirituel’s evenings in the late 18th century Paris come back to life. The so called Haydn’s “symphonies parisiennes” are the core of their musical project which also features contemporary composers, some of them are still unknown.

When the French court moved into the magnificent residence of Versailles on May 6, 1682, France was at the zenith of its power. The king, no longer a young man in his mid-forties by the standards of the time, was increasingly coming under the influence of Madame de Maintenon, who had risen from the position of governess to his illegitimate children to become the Sun King's maitresse and later wife. The pious lady brought the king back into the arms of the church, which was not without influence on the musical entertainment of his majesty. In addition to chamber music, which Louis always appreciated, sacred cantatas in French were now in demand for the court's devotions.

Jérôme Lejeune continues his History of Music series with this boxed set devoted to the Renaissance. The next volume in the series after Flemish Polyphony (RIC 102), this set explores the music of the 16th century from Josquin Desprez to Roland de Lassus. After all of the various turnings that music took during the Middle Ages, the music of the Renaissance seems to be a first step towards a common European musical style. Josquin Desprez’s example was followed by every composer in every part of Europe and in every musical genre, including the Mass setting, the motet and all of the various new types of solo song. Instrumental music was also to develop considerably from the beginning of the 16th century onwards.