Napoleon.2023

Napoléon Coste was born on the 27th of June 1805 in Amondans in the department of Doubs in eastern France, a date that was not established until 1982. He grew up in the neighbourhood of Ornans, to which he later dedicated several compositions. In 1813 he was in the Dutch town of Delfzijl with his father, a captain in the French army, he passed the Zuiderzee and crossed the river Rhine. The memory of these places returned in his compositions, the Souvenirs. He started his career as a guitarist in 1826 in Valenciennes, where he lived as a youth, began to compose, and played in a concert with the travelling virtuoso Sagrini. At the end of 1828 he settled in Paris, where he stayed for almost the rest of his artistic career. There, in the centre of important musical developments, he joined the circles of musicians who originated from Valenciennes, and also of famous guitarists, among whom Sor became of great importance to him, as he studied harmony and counterpoint with him and became his friend, joining him in concerts. His life in Paris is expressed in several programmatic compositions, after Berlioz’ invention of musical drama.

Camerata Trajectina has been the leading ensemble for Dutch music from the Middle Ages to the early Baroque for almost 50 years. With "Revolution!" it pushes its boundaries into the early 19th century.With this album Camerata Trajectina ties in with the current social and political unrest worldwide. With a bang, the French Revolution changes the face of Europe. Down with the rich autocrats, the citizen to power!The years around 1800 are also a time of conflict, social change and political upheaval for the Netherlands. The patriots fight against the royalists, and with Napoleon's invasion, another foreign party joins them.

Die Camerata Trajectina ist seit fast 50 Jahren das führende Ensemble für niederländische Musik vom Mittelalter bis zum Frühbarock. Mit »Revolution!« verschiebt es seine Grenzen bis ins frühe 19. Jahrhundert.

Austrian composer Thomas Larcher’s new album features premiere recordings of three strongly contrasting works. The Times has hailed Larcher’s music as a world “of haunting landscapes and dreams, stylistically disparate but fused by the composer’s astonishing ear and quizzical attitude to traditional forms”, a description borne out by the compositions here. The Living Mountain, for soprano and ensemble, draws upon the memoir of the Scottish poet and nature writer Nan Shepherd.