Alpha: ALPHA112

Polyphonies 'Jeune France'

Dating from 1953, Le Cantique des Cantiques is among Daniel- Lesur's finest pieces - and is perhaps the only one of his major compositions to be performed outside France with any frequency.Written for 12-part unaccompanied voices, it was one of the remarkable group of works commissioned by the brilliant choral conductor Marcel Couraud. In the late 1940s and ‘50s, Couraud commissions included two other classics of the 20th-century choral repertoire: Messiaen's Cinq Rechants inspired by the Tristan legend of love-death, and Jolivet's Epithalame, written as a celebration of his own 20th wedding anniversary. Daniel-Lesur's piece shares with these the common theme of love-songs, something which Couraud stipulated in his commissions from these three veterans of 'La Jeune France', founded in 1936 in a spirit of musical cohesion, quality and friendship by four French composers: Olivier Messiaen,André Jolivet , Daniel-Lesur and Yves Baudrier. 2008 is the centenary of the births of Olivier Messiaen and Daniel-Lesur.Vocal ensemble Sequenza 9.3, who were awarded a Diapason d'or in 2006, commemorate the composers through this recording.