Delalande: Leçons de Ténèbres
Expected to ship in 2-3 weeks.
Shipping Policy- Composer: Michel-Richard Delalande (1657-1726)
- Editor: Thomas Leconte
- Instrumentation (this edition): Piano Reduction, Voice
- Originally for: Basso continuo, High Voice
- Work: Leçons de Ténèbres, S. 118, 121, 124
- Work Language: Latin
- ISMN:
- Size: 8.9 x 12.2 inches
Description
Published by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, Michel-Richard de Lalande's three Leçons de Ténèbres form part of the Tenebrae service, the celebration of which enjoyed immense popularity with the public in Paris between the 1660s and 1735. The Major congregations would call upon lay singers to enhance the splendour of an already elaborate liturgical event. The publication, for high voice and continuo, is also available in a version with a realisation of the continuo part. Both specialists and amateurs will be able to make these sublime works their own; they are emblematic of the ‘theatre of faith' in the 18th century.
Charpentier, Couperin, Gilles, Lambert … To this long list of inspired Lessons – which, through their limited instrumentation, embody the sobriety and restraint befitting Holy Week – Michel-Richard de Lalande makes a truly remarkable contribution. He alternates between declamatory passages, akin to recitative, and more measured passages, often built on closed forms with repeats. He adds a palette of contrasting emotions by varying the tempo and character. To guide the listener, he uses recurring elements in the text or the music, such as the final call for the conversion of Jerusalem.
Of the complete cycle, only these three Leçons de Ténèbres by Lalande have survived; the fact that they were published four years after the composer's death suggests that he revised them. Are these the ones that could be heard at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris in 1680? or were they the ones performed at the Dames de l'Assomption, sung by the Demoiselles Lalande before 1711? Thomas Leconte traces the history of these Lessons in a comprehensive preface, which also examines the composer's system of ornamentation.
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Delalande: Leçons de Ténèbres
