Cantate Domino, Omnis Francia! Sacred Music from Seventeenth-Century France The Ebor Singers Directed by Paul Gameson Organ: Peter Seymour

£14.99 +P&P Cat No: CLOCD0105

This is the choir's first recording devoted exclusively to French seventeenth-century composers. Composers and works have been selected that represent the evolution of sacred music over the century, from the contrapuntal motets of Du Caurroy (1609), the first evidence of the new Italian style in France (Bouzignac, Boesset, Du Mont) to the most gifted but most misunderstood composer of his generation, Marc-Antoine Chatpentier. The CD also focuses on a group of pieces written by Bouzignac with both musical and historical significance, that celebrates the Siege of La Rochelle, a decisive victory of Louis XIII over the rebel Protestants.

Recorded in 2004.

Reviews:

A disc that will appeal to connoisseurs and newcomers alike

It is not unusual to find an academic book that is the fruit of doctoral research. Much rarer is the CD spin-off. The Ebors' latest offering, subtitled `French sacred choral works of the 17th century', gives us 15 tracks taken from the territory of Paul Gameson's thesis. As the group's founder-director - and member of its tenor section - Gameson has been injecting vivid life into this largely forgotten corner of the repertory.

Two-thirds of the disc is devoted to Guillaume Bouzignac, who was born in the late 16th century and lived until about 1660. He rescued sacred music during the reign of Louis XIII from its provincial roots by injecting new Spanish and Italian flavours. The results are tasty indeed. He has a flair for rhythmic intensity, but can equally conjure a devotional atmosphere. Most of his texts are taken from the psalms or the New Testament, but often with little references to France. Throwing wide the gates to let the French king enter in - the title track, inspired by Psalm 24 - might be seen as bordering on sacrilege. No matter, the music is uniformly splendid.

The Ebors are blessed with a firm, clear soprano line, heard to considerable advantage in the beautifully controlled serenity of the motet for compline, In Pace. The acoustic of St Chad's Church, York adds further depth.

Bouzignac's fondness for dialogue comes across neatly in pieces geared to the Christmas shepherds and Herod's massacre of the innocents. A bouncy Benedicamus by the rather older Eustache Du Caurroy, a Magnificat by Henri Du Mont with lively tenor soloists, and a noble Salve Regina by Charpentier, add lustre to a disc that will appeal to connoisseurs and newcomers alike.

(Martin Dreyer, October 28 2005, Yorkshire Evening Press,  4 stars)

A disc of sheer perfection

A disc of sheer perfection from the York-based Ebor Singers as they explore the world of seventeenth century sacred music from France. The hauntingly simple melodies of Guillaume Bouzignac, with Ebor's sopranos sending music floating on air, have a serenity that transports us to a world of peace. The vocal soloists are superb, and with organ accompaniment ideally balanced, this recording made in a spacious church captures a timeless atmosphere.

 (David Denton, September 30 2005,Yorkshire Post)

A recording worth buying

This is almost a one-composer disc: 10 of the 15 tracks are by Bouzignac. Some show him in the uncharacteristic guise as a composer of post-renaissance counterpoint (Du Caurroy does it better), but it is the dramatic pieces that reveal his individuality and which have rarely reached their potential on th recordings I have heard.  this is better than most, though there are pauses which disrupt the dramatic impetus and sometimes a lack of energy.  I'd like to see the director's editions since there seem to be some discrepancies from the plaudible but century-old ones by Quittard (nos 3 and 8) and more recently by Launay (1, 9).  Dum Silentium must be in high clefs and need putting down - the bass only goes an octave below middle C.  The musical high-point of the disc, though, is the final item, Charpentier's three-choir Salve Regina.  There are few vestiges of the director's Anglican background, despite the French Italain.  But a recording worth buying.

(Clifford Bartlett, October 2005, Early Music Review)

An innovative and exciting recording

There are few musical periods as under-represented in recordings as the early decades of seventeenth-century France: Lully, an Italian/naturalised-Frenchman attempting to establish a French musical language (and his own reputation), ensured that he took the credit for the development of new forms such as the grand motet , opera-lyrique (both of which had political importance as part of Louis XIV's representation) and introducing a new style of declamation that matched the natural inflexion of French speech. Research and performance has challenged this assumption, the most recent research also suggests musical style in the first part of the seventeenth century was more progressive than Lully would have us believe. And, unusually, much of this innovation is to be found in sacred music.

Such is the repertoire explored by the Ebor Singers, a chamber ensemble based in York. Charpentier excepted, the composers on this disc may be unfamiliar to most listeners: Du Caurroy, maitre de musique of Henri IV, a master of counterpoint; Jean-Baptiste Boesset, composer to Anne of Austria; Henri Du Mont, a Dutchman/naturalised-Frenchman who became maitre de musique at Louis XIV's Chapelle Royale. The most striking of all is Guillaume Bouzignac. While his works shows the skill at counterpoint expected of a church musican, it also shows the evidence of strong Italian influence: declaimed solo and chorus passages, musical imagery, rapid textural changes, and clear harmonic progressions.

This recording sets music for the church year, Marian, Christmas and Lent, alongside motets by Bouzignac dedicated to Louis XIII and Henri de Montmorency, (probably written during 1628 when Louis' forces were besieging the rebels at La Rochelle). In what could easily have been a heavy listen, contrast is offered between contrapuntal and progressive pieces, and the large-scale works are balanced by several motets for fewer (solo) voices. Highlights include Charpentier's magnificent triple-choir Salve Regina, and Bouzignac's Dum silentium , the story of the Angel's visit to the shepherds, and Ex ore infantium (for soloist and double choir), a description of the Massacre of the Innocents. The Ebor Singers are equally effective in the sustained polyphonic writing or the challenging changes of tessitura and texture, and solo singing is assured. The performance also benefits from stylised continuo, organ and theorbo. This is an innovative and exciting recording, and provides an excellent introduction to a much-neglected repertoire.

(Philip Titcombe, March 2005, Choir Schools Today)