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Reviewer: Barry
Brenesal
When Louis XIV moved the
center of his power to Versailles, Henri Du Mont and Pierre Robert retired
from their positions as masters of the Chapelle Royale. They had originally
been part of a group of four musicians, each responsible for sacred music in
the chapel over one quarter of the year; and this is the arrangement Louis
wished to return to while making a fresh start. The King held a competitive
examination, with each challenger having the same length of time to set the
same text. In the end, he appointed the four musicians—and among these,
Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657–1726) received the most important post,
since his annual quarter subsumed the music surrounding Christmas. His
grands motets so impressed Louis that eventually Lalande was given complete
responsibility for the chapel’s music. The composer was to end up writing 77
of these motets, in a post he held for over 40 years. This album provides us
with three of his earliest efforts, though one (not atypically for Lalande)
was repeatedly rethought, and is here presented in what is believed to be
its final edition. Du Mont was an avant-garde musician for his time, and much disliked in various Church circles for his innovations. He introduced solo instrument parts, basso continuo, rhythmic and expressive contrasts, and broke up the continuum of traditional French sacred polyphony. Lalande took all this and developed it still further. Under his hands, the orchestra assumed a central role in the Christian ritual of sacred music.
In the O caro, Christi vera
movement of the Deitatis majestatem, for instance, the tenor and bass duet
sing traces of the melody, a madrigalism of swooning over the flesh of
Christ. It is left to the orchestra to furnish a quick-moving ostinato that
anchors the key and rhythm. Meanwhile, in the In noctibus extollite from the
Ecce nunc benedicte, successively the bass, soprano, and tenor comment over
the theme, which the orchestra plays; and later, after their entries, the
orchestra also comments upon the theme in an entry of its own. Something
like that happens again in the opening movement of the Te Deum, but in a
jubilant mode, with the full chorus commenting briefly above the theme in
the orchestra, while occasionally both chorus and orchestra divide into very
active four-part counterpoint.
If this seems dryly schematic,
in practice it certainly isn’t. Lalande is a composer who always has
something musically interesting to offer; often, several things. The Te
Deum’s pleading Aeterna fac cum sanctis uses a bass ostinato to excellent
expressive effect, one that was to be applied to similar advantage by a few
other composers—notably Alessandro Scarlatti in Ombre voi d’un cor fedele
from his Serenata à Filli. The same work’s concluding In te, Domine, speravi
plays off a tripping theme to massed chorus against a singing one on the
trumpets, with unified cries of “non!” on non confundar in aeternum that
briefly halt the proceedings. Again, the massed chorus’s slow intoning of
the first line in the O bonitatis prodigium movement that concludes the
Deitatis majestatem is breath-taking in its effect. These are not isolated
instances. There is no coasting in these three grands motets, or in others
by Lalande that I’ve heard elsewhere on records or live.
I can find no other
performances of the Deitatis majestatem and Ecce nunc benedicte currently on
disc. Thus, it’s fortunate that Vincent Dumestre and the massed forces of Le
Poeme Harmonique, five added vocal soloists, and Mathieu Romano conducting
his choir of Ensemble Aedes manage their tasks so well. There’s excellent
balance between the various musicians, and no imprecision in choral or vocal
entries. Dumestre keeps things moving, and is always attentive to Lalande’s
rhythmic values—something at the core of French music over the centuries,
whether secular or sacred.
The Te Deum is something of a
special case. Several early recordings are out of print, though some may be
found on the web, if one is curious. (An anachronistic but touching one with
the Orchestre Jean-François Paillard led by Louis Martini can be found on
the IMSLP site. Marthe Angelici is past her prime, but still a joy to hear
for her very focused, typically French tone.) William Christie recorded it
along with two other of Lalande’s grands motets in 1990. That recording is
still available, on Harmonia Mundi Musique d’Abord 1951351. The composer,
who was concerned about changes in tempo when the music left his hands,
unusually noted the exact time each of the work’s movements took under his
baton. The sum of it all is roughly 35 minutes, but Christie takes only 20.
That’s because he uses the 1684 edition. It lacks much of the detail of
Lalande’s later thought. By contrast, Jeffrey Skidmore (Hyperion 67235;
alas, deleted) used the 1715 edition, which came in at just over 33 minutes,
while Dumestre uses one we’re told is from “the 1720’s,” and “his last
version of the work.” It clocks in at 34:05. Dumestre’s vocal quintet is fairly solid, though I find Dagmar Šašková’s tone a bit too heavy for the soprano part. (Carolyn Sampson, under Skidmore’s baton, was more to my liking.) Where Skidmore gave some orchestral solos to the strings, Dumestre stays with the winds, and his orchestral soloists are both technically adroit and stylish. The sound is excellent, as is the balance. This is a most welcome release, both from the standpoint of the music itself, and these fine performances. Solidly recommended. | ||||
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