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Today, only three remain out of the nine Leçons de ténèbres that François Couperin has seemingly written. Composed for the “Religious Ladies” who belonged to the Order of the Poor Clares in the Abbey of Longchamp, near Paris, which was completely destroyed during the French Revolution, these Leçons represent the height of Baroque pietism from the end of Louis XIV’s reign, still completely permeated by the Jansenism from the previous century. As the abbey was open to the public, it became usual to give these Leçons de ténèbres not at night, but on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. This was a society event that the Parisians came to attend. Very popular in the second half of the 17th century, these lessons of darkness became a genre very sought-after by many composers, among whom Marc-Antoine Charpentier who composed at least thirty of them, but of those very few survived to the present day.
If François Couperin covers this slightly archaic genre at the beginning of the 18th century, he managed to breathe into it a new form by blending the proper austerity and a very Italian expression of pain which give his pieces a troubling sensuality. The Troisième Leçon (Third Lesson), for two voices, is particularly ornamented with coloraturas filled with affectation. Thanks to the genius of François Couperin, this exacerbated expression of pain isn’t very far from the opera, whose representations were forbidden during Lent. You could therefore follow the delicious spectacle of the most feverish and subtle human passions under the pretext of religion. The ensemble Les Ombres, co-headed by Margaux Blanchard and Sylvie Sartre, offers us this new album the Leçons de ténèbres and extracts from Couperin’s masses and motets, in a chiaroscuro mood which skillfully blends the French rigor spirit and the sweet Italian theatrics. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Les Ombres - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor - François Couperin, Composer
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Anne Magouët, Soloist, MainArtist - Chantal Santon Jeffery, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - François Couperin, Composer - Marc Meisel, Soloist, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
Copyright Control, MusicPublisher - François Couperin, Composer - Les Ombres, Ensemble, MainArtist - Benoît Arnould, Soloist, MainArtist - Sylvain Sartre, Conductor, MainArtist - Margaux Blanchard, Conductor, MainArtist
Mirare Mirare
Album review
Today, only three remain out of the nine Leçons de ténèbres that François Couperin has seemingly written. Composed for the “Religious Ladies” who belonged to the Order of the Poor Clares in the Abbey of Longchamp, near Paris, which was completely destroyed during the French Revolution, these Leçons represent the height of Baroque pietism from the end of Louis XIV’s reign, still completely permeated by the Jansenism from the previous century. As the abbey was open to the public, it became usual to give these Leçons de ténèbres not at night, but on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. This was a society event that the Parisians came to attend. Very popular in the second half of the 17th century, these lessons of darkness became a genre very sought-after by many composers, among whom Marc-Antoine Charpentier who composed at least thirty of them, but of those very few survived to the present day.
If François Couperin covers this slightly archaic genre at the beginning of the 18th century, he managed to breathe into it a new form by blending the proper austerity and a very Italian expression of pain which give his pieces a troubling sensuality. The Troisième Leçon (Third Lesson), for two voices, is particularly ornamented with coloraturas filled with affectation. Thanks to the genius of François Couperin, this exacerbated expression of pain isn’t very far from the opera, whose representations were forbidden during Lent. You could therefore follow the delicious spectacle of the most feverish and subtle human passions under the pretext of religion. The ensemble Les Ombres, co-headed by Margaux Blanchard and Sylvie Sartre, offers us this new album the Leçons de ténèbres and extracts from Couperin’s masses and motets, in a chiaroscuro mood which skillfully blends the French rigor spirit and the sweet Italian theatrics. © François Hudry/Qobuz
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 30 track(s)
- Total length: 01:02:24
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Les Ombres Margaux Blanchard Sylvain Sartre Chantal Santon-Jeffery Anne Magouët Benoît Arnould
- Composer: François Couperin
- Label: Mirare
- Genre: Classical Sacred Vocal Music
Mirare Mirare
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