CD 4: Michel-Richard de Lalande: De Profundis
Michel-Richard de Lalande: De Profundis
BG-640, original LP cover
Michel-Richard de Lalande's (1657-1726) De Profundis, composed in 1689, is one of the masterpieces of French church music. In quality and strength it ranks with some of the best choral compositions of the German School, including those of Schütz and Bach.
It was printed in the ninth book of an impressive collection of Lalande's 40 Motets de Feu for chorus and orchestra – written for the Royal Chapel at Versailles – posthumously and handsomely printed in 1729 for Lalande's devoted young admirer Louis XV. In spite of their popularity, the motets fell into almost complete oblivion after the Revolution. The importance of Lalande's contribution was brought to the notice of the musical world only through a study by the musicologist André Tessier; it was not until 1942 that the De Profundis was heard in a special performance at the Eglise Saint-Etienne-du-Mont.
Subsequently, a more complete version of this work came to light in a contemporaneous manuscript. This second manuscript, according to the story told by the editor of the modern edition of the revised score, Alexandre Cellier, would have fallen into the hands of "German amateurs" had it not been for Paul Brunold, the organist of Saint Gervais, who held it in secret during the Occupation until it was acquired by the Societé des Concerts de Versailles.
This manuscript includes two inner string parts not in the printed edition (which, following the practice of the time, represents a skeletal score). Presumably these parts, filling in the harmony between the violins and the figured bass, were meant to be played by tenor viols. Thus the composer seems to have conformed with the traditional concept of a five-part polyphony, which in this instance is reflected in his choice of five solo voices (two sopranos, contralto, tenor, bass), a five-part choir (soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone and bass), and the five-part string body (two violins, two viols, and basses), supplemented by the organ and two obbligato wind instruments, the flute and oboe. The organ in Lalande's day could, of course, have provided the missing inner voices "pour fortifier la symphonie," as one contemporary puts it; but a more homogeneous and richer sonority is achieved by the use of the fuller body of strings. In fact, Lalande's understanding of thee bowed instruments and his idiomatic treatment of them in ensemble add much to the expressive effect of the whole composition.
The work is based on the 130th Psalm with two additional lines of text, generally included for the Catholic Burial Service or for a Requiem Mass. Since the Latin plural pronoun is used, the latter was most likely intended.
In the grace and eloquence of his writing, Lalande belongs to the Grande Siècle. Though the influence of Lully and the Italian style can be traced in his work, a strong individuality is everywhere in evidence. He achieved a remarkable synthesis of old contrapuntal methods and the newer homophonic (Italian) approach, always producing something new and refreshing.
Lalande gave French sacred music a nobility and intensity formerly found only in secular forms.
He provided a maximum variety in texture by his judicious arrangement of the recitatives and solo arias with obbligato instruments accompanied by the organ, and of the arias for a trio and quartet of solo voices alternating with sections of orchestra and chorus. This was prophetic of the works of Bach a generation or so later.
Masterful fluidity of line and harmonic freedom is matched by a sensitive handling of the text. Lalande paid particular attention to the verbal rhythm and emphasis, which makes his music highly singable and gives the performer as well as the listener a sense of exhilaration and spiritual uplift unique in the art of the hedonistic society of the time.
It should be pointed out, however, that Lalande did not by any means limit himself to supplying music for the King's Chapel. As Surintendant de la Chapelle and Maïtre de Musique et Compositeur ordinaire de la Chapelle et de la Chambre de sa Majestie (Louis XIV), he also composed many ballets, pastorales, and divertissements for the court, Symphonies de Noëls, Musique pour les Soupers du Roy, and effective concertos for trumpets and timbales for the elaborate Fêtes Nautiques staged on the Grand Canal at Versailles, at which as man as a hundred instruments from the various bands of the Chamber and Chapelle were brought together with those of the Ecuries.
But it is on the church music he composed between 1695 and 1715 that Lalande's fame will rest; in this he was supreme.
– Sydney Beck, Head, Rare Book and Manuscript Collections, Music Division, New York Public Library
Originally released as Vanguard/The Bach Guild BG-640