Catherine Trottmann and Ana Vieira Leite, stars of the younger generation of sopranos, bring this musical miracle back to life under the direction of Chloé de Guillebon, as night falls and the candles are extinguished one by one...
In the mid-17th century, Leçons de Ténèbres became the subject of increasingly popular musical compositions. Michel Lambert was the first in France to compose a cycle in 1662, quickly followed by Charpentier and Lalande. But the most famous – and the first to have regained the honours of recording and the general public today – are those of François Couperin, dated 1714.
At the end of Louis XIV's reign, France was a land of piety, but also of Italianism in music, including religious music. As a result, the emotions composed by Couperin for his singers are so dramatic that they could be mistaken for opera... Vocality and spirituality are skilfully combined, reflecting the refinement of beautiful French singing practised in salons and theatres as well as in places of worship. People flocked to Parisian convents to listen to these divine voices singing Les Leçons pour les jours de la Semaine Sainte (Lessons for the Days of Holy Week), the faceless voices of young conventual recluses, voices from heaven... but often opera singers when the theatres were closed during times of penance! Traditionally, the candles were extinguished as the Tenebrae service progressed, ending in the darkness of night... The three lessons preserved by François Couperin were written for Holy Wednesday. They represent one of the high points of French sacred art in the early 18th century.
At the end of Louis XIV's reign, France was a land of piety, but also of Italianism in music, including religious music. As a result, the emotions composed by Couperin for his singers are so dramatic that they could be mistaken for opera... Vocality and spirituality are skilfully combined, reflecting the refinement of beautiful French singing practised in salons and theatres as well as in places of worship. People flocked to Parisian convents to listen to these divine voices singing Les Leçons pour les jours de la Semaine Sainte (Lessons for the Days of Holy Week), the faceless voices of young conventual recluses, voices from heaven... but often opera singers when the theatres were closed during times of penance! Traditionally, the candles were extinguished as the Tenebrae service progressed, ending in the darkness of night... The three lessons preserved by François Couperin were written for Holy Wednesday. They represent one of the high points of French sacred art in the early 18th century.
