Cast

Soprano, Céline Scheen
Soprano, Eugénie Warnier
Viola de gamba, Isabelle Saint-Yves 
Harpsichord, organ & direction, Christophe Rousset

Programme

Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704) :
- Seconde leçon du jeudi (H103)
- Septième répons après la première leçon du troisième nocturne (H117)
- Cinquième répons après la seconde leçon du second nocturne (H115)
- Second répons après la seconde leçon du premier nocturne (H112)

François Couperin (1668-1733) :
Trois Leçons de Ténèbres pour le Mercredi Saint (1713-1717)
Première leçon à une voix
Deuxième leçon à une voix
Troisième leçon à deux voix

Intro

François Couperin was the harpsichordist of the King Louis XIV and also organist to the Chapelle Royale, he is mainly famous for his harpsichord’s works. Nevertheless he composed with enthusiasm religious vocal music. It seems that he preferred the vocal forms for small cast. His “Leçons de Ténèbres”, composed between 1713 and 1717, are impressed of a great intimacy which is put at the service of a deep spirituality. Only 3 of its 9 lessons written for the Holy Week arrived to us, those of Wednesday. The text inspired from the Jérémie's Lamentations is carried by the bewitching charm of the music and the art of the vocal declamation of the composer. The large variety of the rhythms and the har- monies rich in dissonances and chromatisms complete to raise these Leçons as a masterpiece.

Christophe Rousset is an enthusiastic interpreter of the music for harpsichord by Couperin. He needs to perform regularly these “Leçons des Ténèbres” that he particularly likes. He recorded them in 2000 for DECCA. For this new production, he will choose artists closed to him to be able to translate all the intimacy of this music.