Members of Woodbridge Choral Society worked hard during Autumn 2020 to prepare a virtual concert of two works by Gabriel Fauré. This video presents the first of these works, the Cantique de Jean Racine.
The Cantique is a setting of words by the 17th century dramatist and poet Jean Racine. It was Fauré’s first significant composition, written in 1865 whilst he was in his final year at the École Niedermeyer, the ‘École de musique religieuse et classique’. He submitted the piece for the composition prize, and won, though it was only published eleven years later, with a full orchestral version following in 1906. Fauré went on to write a good deal of
religious music – most notably the Requiem – but of the shorter sacred pieces it is the Cantique that has particularly captured the affections of choirs and audiences.
If you have enjoyed the Cantique, please consider donating to our chosen local charity, the Suffolk Coronavirus Community Fund:
The second work, Fauré’s Requiem, will be completed in early 2021 and the whole virtual concert will then be made available.
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