Dies Irae

The great composer Jean-Baptiste Lully deployed all his musical science in his grand motets to express intense emotion; Madame de Sévigné said: "all eyes were filled with tears". With their large chorals, small ensembles, trios, duets, solos and orchestral symphonies, these large religious compositions are representative of the pomp deployed at Louis XIV's court, at the service of the monarch's absolute power. If O Lachrymae fideles, composed in winter 1664, goes from contained emotion to jubilant dance, the two other motets are deeply solemn. The Dies Irae and De Profundis were played at the funeral of the King's wife, queen Maria-Teresa of Austria, in 1683, in the Basilique Saint-Denis. Les Epopées will give a sparkling, theatrical and expressive version of this music, with rich and abundant ornamentation, echoing the sun's play on Versailles's windows, mirrors and gilt.

This recording is simply stupendous in terms of the music it presents, the performance, and the recording quality. Brumel was born only 20 years after Josquin but there is a world of difference between their respective compositional styles. Josquin's music cements the accomplishments of his predecesors and shows the way forward. Brumel's music pushes rapidly forward along–and in some senses, away from–that path. The "Missa ecce terra motus", featured on this recording, anticipates such great mid-16th century masterpieces as Tallis's "Spem in alium". The Huelgas Ensemble is in top form here and van Nevel's direction and interpretation are superb.

For more than forty years, Lalande was the French court’s favourite composer, cultivating the most elevated and touching aspects of the spirit of the Grand Siècle. Sébastien Daucé and the Ensemble Correspondances offer us some remarkable examples of his output here: with the imposing Miserere, ample and sombre, the Dies irae and the rarely heard Veni Creator, this ‘Latin Lully’ brought the art of the grand motet to its zenith.

Although Lully never held any post in the Chapelle du Roi, his influence on the development of the grand motet, so emblematic of the Grand Siècle, was of decisive importance. He wrote imposing motets celebrating the glory of God and the King for the great ceremonies at court. Of the many royal funerals, that of Queen Marie-Thérèse in 1683 was among the most grandiose. Lully’s Dies iræ and De profundis were sung there. But his most celebrated motet was undoubtedly his Te Deum, which rang out for the first time in 1677 and became the king’s favourite.

Despite all the differences in the musical language of the works by the Polish composers Karol Szymanowski and Krzysztof Penderecki included on this recording, they are united by their quality as a lament: Szymanowski's Stabat mater, completed in 1926 and based on a Polish translation rather than the original Latin text of the medieval poem, is still considered one of the most important contributions to 20th-century music.

The GRAMMY® Award-nominated and BRIT Female “Artist of the Year” Award-nominated cellist stands out as the rare talent who can bring an outdoor festival crowd to its feet or ignite the score of a record-breaking blockbuster. As a soloist, her cello courses through the soundtracks for Wonder Woman, The Lion King, Inception, Dunkirk, Pirates of the Caribbean 5, X-Men Dark Phoenix, Iron Man 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, 3, & 4, League of Legends, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, CSI: NY, and The Vikings, to name a few. She has accompanied Hans Zimmer, Steven Tyler, Skrillex, Joe Bonamassa, Foo Fighters, Al Di Meola, and Carlos Santana on stage and John Legend, Ciara, and many more on tape. She thrived in the spotlight on Cirque Du Soleil’s Michael Jackson “The Immortal” World Tour, which entertained 3.7 million-plus concertgoers in packed arenas and became one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.

Formula 3 were one of first and most popular Italian rock bands of the late 60's/early 70's era and their debut LP (released in February 1970 by Numero Uno label) without a doubt is one of the best psychedelic album ever recorded in Italy! Musically this trio was similar to early Deep Purple, Procol Harum and Vanilla Fudge - with heavy emphasis on Hendrix-like guitar (by Alberto Radius - one of the best Italian guitarists ever), tasteful Hammond organ passages and really fine vocals. The 7-minutes long title track is an amazing piece of dark, intensive and heavy psychedelic rock and must be heard to be believed! Other songs were divided for ambitious pop-psychedelia and heavy, intense pieces including fine rendition of classic Walk Away Renee.