Studium Chorale & Hans Leenders Motetta Brevia de Tempore

Une mise en perspective historique de la pratique du chant choral en France : l'essor de l'apprentissage hors du cadre religieux consécutif à la période révolutionnaire, la place de la chorale dans l'instruction publique de la IIIe République ou encore son rôle culturel au XXe siècle. …

Director of music to the Darmstadt court, Graupner's output almost equalled that of Telemann and certainly surpassed that of J.S. Bach: he composed a number of operas, many concertos and orchestral suites, chamber music, keyboard works and more than 1400 church cantatas. Almost the entire body of Graupner’s work has survived in autograph but hardly any of his compositions were published during his lifetime or afterwards. Fortunately they were not burnt after his death as he himself wished, but were the subject of a legal dispute between the landgrave and Graupner’s heirs. Thanks to this the complete archive was taken to a place outside the city and thus spared a second burning, as very little of the old city of Darmstadt would be spared during the Second World War.

The motets of Johann Ludwig Bach occupy an outstanding position within this genre. Though rooted firmly in the shorter motets from the Thuringian tradition, nonetheless they reach dimensions which are seldom observed in that tradition. This is also true with respect to polychoral music, which here is raised from the exception to the rule – on the other hand, it is valid, when one bears in mind the necessity of representing the prestige of a royal court. Varying ensembles and dialogue-like passages contribute to these richly expressive compositions. Without a doubt these motets by the “Meininger Bach,“ highly regarded by J. S. Bach, are a treasured enrichment of the repertoire.

Guillaume de Machaut is the first “famous” composer in western musical history. In his time, the Middle Ages, most composers delivered their works anonymously (as part of their clerical duties), but Machaut was considered such a master of his creative art that he presented his works under his own name. He was in service of the highest monarchs, among whom Charles V, King of France. Machaut’s “Messe de Nostre Dame” is the first polyphonic Mass written, a complicated structure full of ingenious compositorial techniques. But even without the theoretical knowledge we are still spellbound by the haunting beauty and mystery of this masterpiece.

Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer has created a blood-pumping dramatic score for Hannibal that pulses with Wagnerian intensity. Sir Anthony Hopkins's monologue on three tracks adds a dimension of hair-raising eeriness to the already deeply affecting and suspenseful instrumental backing. (Just hearing him first enunciate on the opener "Dear Clarice" sets up the Pavlovian sense of dread.) Hopkins's Hannibal Lecter is still on the prowl 7 years after FBI agent Clarice Starling first interviewed the criminally insane doctor (and 10 years since The Silence of the Lambs hit the theaters). This sense of uneasiness is captured alternately by deep, sustained notes and the rapid attack of a full-throttle orchestra. Whether it's the dark, tonal clusters of "Firenze Di Notte"; the desperate, descending notes that punctuate "Virtue"; or the chorale solemnity of the 10-minute "Let My Home Be My Gallows," the intent to horrify never waivers.