Album Description

Three composers from the group which styled itself ‘La Jeune France’ test vocal technique as never before, in music that can be rapturous and visceral, perfumed and mystical, fresh, sensuous, erotic; music that was wholly new and yet recognisably French, a subtle mix of primitive emotion and sophistication overlaid with the élan and self-confidence of a re-born Paris, striding into the second half of the twentieth century.

Artists

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Reviews

'This disc is something not far from a revelation ... elaborately sonorous, radiantly glowing ... as usual from this fine group, the performances are immaculately detailed, and, especially in the Messiaen, they have a very un-English sense of the sumptuousness that binds it in to a compelling whole.' The Daily Telegraph

Track Listing

André Jolivet (1905-1974)
Épithalame 
1. I
2. II
3. III

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) 
Cinq Rechants 
4. I
5. II
6. III
7. IV
8. V

Jean Yves Daniel-Lesur (1908-2002) 
Le Cantique Des Cantiques
9. I Dialogue
10. II La Voix du Bien-Aimé
11. III Le Songe
12. IV Le Roi Salomon
13. V Le Jardin Clos
14. VI La Sulamite
15. VII Épithalame

TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1hr 1mins