Lully, Motets

“SIRE,
Of all my works, it is these ones in particular that I would like to offer to Your Majesty. It has pleased you, Sire, to honour me with an office that has accorded me the duty of composing these sacred Concerts that both the Music of Your Chamber and that of Your Chapel have grown accustomed to hearing resonate on solemn days in the midst of holy ceremonies. You have entrusted me with the task of permitting you to listen to these Canticles chosen by the Church to ensure that the same prayers that are sung in Heaven are also sung on earth; You have approved of the way in which I have endeavoured to respect their admirable expressions; You have found the harmonies sufficiently touching to allow them to sustain the zeal that drives you when you sing with a piety so worthy of a most Christian King […]. I take such satisfaction in knowing that my songs have served to give voice to the thanksgiving that France has so often been compelled to offer to the God of the Armies for the success of your astonishing undertakings and the felicity of Your Reign! […]”
Excerpt from a letter from Jean-Baptiste Lully to King Louis XIV

An emblem of the Grand Siècle

Although Lully never held an official position in the King’s chapel, he had a decisive role in the development of the grand motet, an emblem of the Grand Siècle. He composed ceremonial motets for the court that celebrated the glory of God and that of the king. His Dies irae and De profundis were performed at Queen Maria Theresa’s grandiose royal funeral in 1683. However, his most famous motet is Te Deum, which was first performed in 1677 and became a favourite of the king’s. Lully conducted it again in 1687, but violently struck his foot with the heavy cane he used to beat time. The wound became infected and he died two months later. It was a tragic fate for a man who knew how to translate dazzling glory and the anguish of death with equal grandeur*. The theatricality of this grandeur comes across in this version, which was recorded at the Château de Versailles’ Chapelle Royale. In 2019 Lully was honoured at the 350th anniversary of the Académie Royale de Musique, an institution he directed from 1672 until his death. (*According to T. Leconte of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles.)

Artists

Sophie Junker, Judith Van Wanroij, sopranos

Matthias Vidal, Cyril Auvity, countertenors

Thibaut Lenaerts, tenor

Alain Buet, bass baritone

Cappella Mediterranea

Choeur de Chambre de Namur

Millenium Orchestra

Leonardo García Alarcón, conductor

Coproduction of Centre de musique baroque de Versailles and CAV&MA.

Released on 16 août 2018 by Alpha classics – collection Château de Versailles
92 minutes

Lully, Motets

An emblem of the Grand Siècle

Artists

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