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French Noels Of The 18th Century / Ensemble Les Boreades

Release Date: 08/22/1998
Label: Atma Classique Catalog #: 2118 Spars Code: n/a
Composer:  Jean-François Dandrieu ,  Michel Corrette ,  Louis-Claude Daquin ,  Claude-Béninge Balbastre Performer:  Éric Mercier ,  Rafik Samman ,  Francis Colpron ,  Marie Bouchard  ...  Orchestra/Ensemble:  Les Boréades Montreal Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo Length: 0 Hours 57 Mins.

Since the 15th century (except for several decades following the French Revolution) noëls were a part of French (and eventually other countries') Christmas celebrations, whether sung to existing secular tunes, played on various instruments, or arranged for organ. Generally pastoral in character, these little songs also strongly favored dance rhythms but also occasionally might reflect a more meditative, restful mood. Although some of these tunes have found their way into the wider Christmas carol repertoire, most listeners won't recognize the majority of the noëls performed here by the very fine Canadian instrumental ensemble Les Boréades. In fact, it isn't until track 7 where our ears perk up to a familiar Read more tune--"Joseph est bien marié" (you'll know it when you hear it!)--followed by one other (track 11), "Bon Joseph, écoute moy".

But most importantly, this entire collection--which focuses on the instrumental arrangements from the 18th century by Dandrieu, Daquin, and Corrette--provided a very pleasing hour of listening, owing to the appealing tunes, variety of period instruments, ear-catching arrangements, first-rate musicianship, and complementary sound. For me the only point where attention flagged was during the very, very long (more than 10 minutes) "Une bergère jolie", where the endless drone and very simple melodic/rhythmic material, beautiful in the beginning, wore out its welcome after one hearing. Nevertheless, these musicians have effectively captured the color, stylistic spirit, and occasionally virtuosic nature of this interesting, special area of Christmas music, so light, happy, and innocent of any encumbering complexity. Recommended.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
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