L'Harmonie des saisons - Ensemble vocal et instrumental

Discover our new season

2024-2025 season

FAURÉ CELEBRATION

Requiem, Cantique de Jean Racine & Messe Basse for women’s voices

To commemorate the centenary of Gabriel Fauré’s death, L’Harmonie des saisons, soloists, choir and orchestra on period instruments will perform the composer’s magnificent Requiem. Fauré’s landmark work will be accompanied by the Cantique de Jean Racine and a Messe basse for women’s voices. For the occasion, a children’s choir will also join the ensemble!

Gabriel Fauré’s magnificent Requiem is distinguished by its intimate, nuanced expressiveness. L’Harmonie des saisons will reveal this masterpiece in the authentic manner of its 19th-century creation by Fauré himself. The work is rarely performed in its original “church” version of January 1888, with vocal forces and orchestra on period instruments adapted to this context.

The Cantique de Jean Racine is a composition by Gabriel Fauré to the text “Verbe égal au Très-Haut” by poet Jean Racine. It is one of Fauré’s earliest published pieces. He wrote it as a 19 year old student at the Ecole Niedermeyer de Paris, winning him the first prize in composition in 1865. The piece is an extraordinary example of the young composer’s unique talent.

The Messe basse pour voix de femmes has a most interesting history which charts the course of Fauré’s compositional career over a 25 year period. It was initially conceived in 1881 as collaboration with fellow composer André Messager, in which three of the five movements were composed by Fauré, and the other two by Messager. It was written for three part female choir, accompanied by organ and a solo violin. In 1906 Fauré returned to the work to fulfill a publishing contract. He replaced the Messager movements with newly composed music of his own. The intimate and expressive Messe has an undeniable charm, and is rarely heard in modern performances.

Saturday, November 2 at 2:00 pm, Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac

Abbey tickets

Festival Burlington Baroque

September 26th thru September 29th, 2024, Burlington, US

L’Harmonie des saisons soloists and baroque orchestra on period instruments will be the ensemble in residence at the brand-new Burlington Baroque Festival, to be held September 26-29 at St. Paul’s Cathedral Church in Burlington, Vermont. A great weekend of music awaits us on the shores of magnificent Lake Champlain! Come here these magnificent works from the repertoire:

Thursday, September 26, 7:30 p.m.
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI –Vespers of 1610

Friday, September 27, 7:30 p.m.
G.F. HANDEL – Opera Acis & Galatea

Saturday, September 28, 2:00 p.m.
BEATLES BAROQUE

Saturday, September 28, 7:30 p.m.
VIVALDI, MARCELLO, HANDEL, BACH – Concerti Stravaganza!

Sunday, September 29, 4:00 p.m.
J.S. BACH – Magnificat & Brandenburg Concertos

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Founded by director duo Mélisande Corriveau and Eric Milnes, L’Harmonie des saisons, vocal and instrumental ensemble with international guest artists, moves audiences here and abroad with its unique approach to early music. The period-instrument ensemble has given over 150 concerts in Quebec, Canada and abroad. Its recordings on the ATMA Classique label have garnered critical acclaim and honors, including two JUNO Awards, two Opus Award, Radio-Canada Record of the Year, CBC Top 10, and a place in Apple Music’s Top 10 Classical Albums.

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