Wond'rous Mahine: French Fireworks!

Over the last two centuries the churches and cathedrals of Paris have been powerhouses of creativity, with composers producing countless masterpieces for choirs and the organ.

 

This concert – the third in the Wond’rous Machine season – gives a taste of that typically French sound with two monumental Mass settings written for the choir and organs of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris – Vierne’s grand and romantic Messe solennelle of 1899, and Yves Castagnet’s virtuosic and intense Messe “Salve Regina” of 2002/7. The choir is quite used to the sound of this great Cathedral, having sung a Mass there in 2013, where Castagnet himself accompanied us in the congregational parts of the service. Both works were originally composed with the two organs of the Cathedral in mind – with two separate players at the West and East organs, but the parts have been condensed into one, and performed with typical flair by the organist of Southwell Minster, Simon Hogan, on the grand four-manual Walker organ of St Matthew’s Church.

 

Northampton Bach Choir

 

Organ – Simon Hogan

Conductor – Lee Dunleavy

 

Alain – Litanies

Castagnet – Messe “Salve Regina”

Dupré – O salutaris hostia and Laudate Dominum

Duruflé – Prélude et Fugue sur le nom d’Alain

Poulenc – Litanies à la Vierge Noire

Vierne – Messe Solennelle