Choir of New College - Victimae Paschali

Eustache Du Caurroy (baptised February 4, 1549 August 7, 1609) was a French composer of the late Renaissance. He was a prominent composer of both secular and sacred music at the end of the Renaissance, including musique mesurée, and he was also influential on the foundation of the French school of organ music as exemplified in the work of Jean Titelouze.

Du Caurroy was a late practitioner of the style of musique mesurée, the musical method of setting French verse (vers mesurée) in long and short syllables, to long and short note values, in a homophonic texture, as pioneered by Claude Le Jeune under the influence of Jean-Antoine de Baïf and his Académie de musique et de poésie. Many of Du Caurroy's chansons written in this style were not published until 1609, long after the disbanding of the Académie, and they contrast significantly with his otherwise more conservative musical output. According to Du Caurroy, he was initially hostile to writing in the style, but was so moved by a performance of a composition of Le Jeune's, a psaum mesuré sung by a hundred voices, that he wanted to attempt it himself.
Du Caurroy was primarily interested in counterpoint, and was widely read in the theoretical work of the time, including that of Gioseffe Zarlino, who provided the best available summation of the contrapuntal practice in the 16th century. His contrapuntal interest is best shown in his sacred music, of which the largest collection is the two volumes of motets, 53 in all, entitled Preces ecclesiasticae, published in Paris in 1609. They are from 3 to 7 voices.
His Missa pro defunctis, first performed at the funeral of Henry IV of France, was the requiem mass which was played at St. Denis for the funerals of French kings for the next several centuries. It is a long composition containing the Libera me responsory, the chant for which is similar to the famous Dies irae.
Du Caurroy also used the musique mesurée technique in his sacred compositions, including seven psalm settings, published in his Meslanges (Paris, posthumously, 1610): one is in Latin, one of the few examples of a musique mesurée setting in a language other than French.
Marin Mersenne's Harmonie universelle contains a setting by Du Caurroy of Pie Jesu, which is a canon for six voices. In this same book, Mersenne held that Du Caurroy was the finest composer of musique mesurée, outranking even the renowned Claude Le Jeune.
Du Caurroy also wrote instrumental music, including contrapuntal fantasies for three to six instruments. The collection of 43 such pieces, published in 1610, is considered to be a strong influence on the next generation of French keyboard players, especially Jean Titelouze, the founder of the French organ school.

Dir.: Edward Higginbottom

http://www.newcollegechoir.com/discography-list.html

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[MrJamest3333]

Again thanks Treblechoir99 for your posts another excellent piece.

Regards James

[treblechoir99]

@MrJamest3333 Very appreciat, thank you.

[SimplyDavid42]

Magnifique. Le Victimae est la séquence incontournable, il devrait être chanté partout à Pâques.

Je ne connaissais pas cette version, qui reprend en partie la mélodie grégorienne. En tout cas c'est un délice pour les oreilles, Choir of New College oblige... Un des plus beaux choeurs du monde, quand même :-)

Merci pour ce moment d'intense émotion, cette magie que seule la polyphonie peut créer en nous.

[treblechoir99]

Oui c'est vrai. La polyphonie pour moi est une célébration de l'Univers, une voix pour chaque son de la nature. Si on accorde que la voix est aussi un instrument de musique, cette période de l'histoire de la Musique nous en a fait la démonstration. A condition d'être attentif à chaque pupitre.

[titussenlair]

Superbe : amplitude, profondeur, intériorité dans le style des de Lassus, Dowland ou Byrd avec peut-être plus d'intériorité et moins de pessimisme . Interprétation remarquable. Merci !

[treblechoir99]

J'apprécie au plus haut point vos qualificatifs, merci. Surtout cette période que j'apprécie particulièrement.

[NewCollegeChoir]

Please visit THE OFFICIAL NEW COLLEGE CHOIR page.

[tritonusgesang]

Oh, que c'est magnifique! Cette qualité de chant! Incroyable! Merci bien d'avoir publié ce "You Tube"