CLERAMBAULT
Livre d'orgue; Chants du Salut
Jean Boyer (organ) with
Les Demoiselles de Saint-Cyr/Emmanuel
Mandrin
Virgin Veritas VC5
61777 2 [65.47]
Crotchet
The present Music at Versailles series is devoted to discovering or rediscovering
little known gems from France's musical heritage. These are liturgical
presentations of several motets and two organ suites by Nicolas Clerambault
(1676-1749), recorded in 1994 on the historic organ of St Michel Abbey,
Thierarche. They explore the various solo stops of an attractive instrument,
built around 1710, the same time that the organ pieces were published. (Some
listeners may prefer to programme the organ pieces of the Suites for
uninterrupted listening; this is easily done on a CD player.)
The women's choir, with attractive, true-toned but pleasingly fresh and
unsophisticated soloists, comes into its own in the motets and gives great
pleasure. The acoustic is ideal for this music and the whole is inspiring
and memorable. It is well documented, but without organ specification and
the texts are given in Latin only.
Peter Grahame Woolf
