Lambert: Leçons de Ténèbres du Mercredi

Mankar-Bennis, Marouan, Mauillon, Marc, Rignol, Myriam, Roussel, Thibaut

HMM 902363.64

None of us knew what to expect when we immersed ourselves in Michel Lambert's first cycle of Leçons de Ténèbres. Lambert was the father-in-law of Lully and a great singer, composer and teacher in 17th century France. His worldly work was known to us: Each of us had already participated in performances of his wonderful compositions for the court. With this prior knowledge we thought we were on safe ground when we approached his religious music, but it seemed strange that these Leçons were not more well-known, that they were hardly performed and even less recorded.

At the first working session, we understood why that was the case. It took a good three hours to read only the first Leçon - for about ten minutes of music! In fact, the vocal part, rich in Gregorian elements, does not stand in a rhythmically strict relation to the continuo. We therefore had to organise the melodic and harmonic parts with a very careful and well thought-out approach. But as soon as we had overcome these initial hurdles, the music revealed itself in all its beauty and unique depth. Above the sober expressiveness of the Gregorian lines, the genius of Lambert develops in unbelievably inventive ornamentation.

Our extensive research work and the resulting interpretation met with great interest from musicologists, who had previously been somewhat perplexed by Lambert's composition. Several stages were necessary in order to find the best solution for the performance of the cycle while remaining as close as possible to the original manuscript. (Marc Mauillon, Myriam Rignol, Thibaut Roussel, Marouan Mankar-Bennis)

Works:

• Gaultier, E: Tombeau de Mezangeau
• Lambert, M: Leçons de ténèbres

CD x 2

Harmonia Mundi

6.04.2018

3149020236321