Verbum Caro Factum Est

Par PART ARVO. 'In principio' takes its words from the Gospel of John 1:1-14 and puts them into a five-movement form. This work, as in all of Pärt's music, is governed by a strict formal design, with the clarity of the musical structure corresponding to that of the Latin text. The first movement (vv. 1-5) and the fifth (v. 14) are limited to two opposing formal elements: a static, syllabically articulated A-minor chord, and its timbral and tonal opposite, a fanfare-like figure that expands with each new section, growing in loudness and returning to its beginning after traversing all twelve keys. The second movement (vv. 6-8), devoted to John the Baptist, is conceived as a powerfully moving single-voice monody. The central third movement (vv. 9-11) is not only the longest but the one whose message Pärt specially emphasised by repeating the words three times - something he had never done before in his vocal music. He evidently did so to send a signal directly to each and every one of us. The fourth movement (vv. 12-13) seems to begin ex nihilo, growing slowly but with an ineluctable pulse in a mighty procession. The fifth movement (v. 14) constitutes, in combination with the first, the formal and expressive frame of the composition, albeit in mirror reflection. If the chorus in the first movement statically pulsates while the orchestra proceeds dynamically through the circle of keys, these roles are reversed in the fifth movement. Thus, the expanding thrust given to the orchestra in the opening movement is now focused entirely on the text of the chorus. (Wolfgang Sander, translation by J. Bradford Robinson)/ Répertoire / Chœur Mixte [SATB] et Orchestre

Ce premier volume de Frottole regroupe les 22 unica à 2 et 3 voix d'un manuscrit italien de 1502 conservé à la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Il s'agit à l'origine de pièces vocales religieuses ou profanes. Les textes étant rédigés en italien ancien - probablement un idiome de la région de Mantoue ou Ferrare, où résidait le copiste Lodovico Milliare - il nous a malheureusement été impossible de les reconstituer. Néanmoins, et comme cela était implicitement admis à cette époque, les pièces présentées sont tout à fait adaptées au jeu instrumental. Conducteur + 3 parties de viole de gambe (1 dessus (ou alto ou ténor) et 2 basses) / Niveau : Facile / renaissance / Recueil / Consort de Violes de gambe

With a text by G. M. Hopkins this work is interspersed with frequent solo passages initially for baritone (whose delicate solo opens the piece) but later for tenor soprano and alto soloists also. The polyphonic choral passages provide a balance to these frequent solos to mesmerising effect.