Clérambault: Motets à trois voix d'hommes et symphonies

Featuring

Alain Buet
Cyril Auvity
Fabien Armengaud
Jean-François Novelli
Ensemble Sébastien de Brossard
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault

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Compositional Technique

Clérambault was known for his unprecedented precision in musical notation, especially for bass continuo, where he inserted continuity markings for chords, a novelty for his time.

Composer Biography

Nicolas Clérambault, the composer, was a career church musician in Paris, serving as organist at the Jacobins Convent and Saint-Cyr.

Composition History

Clérambault organized regular concerts at his home, approximately every two or three weeks, which were well-attended and helped launch the careers of other musicians.

Composition History

The motet "Exurge atque iterum" was commissioned by an anonymous Dominican poet to celebrate the canonization of Pope Pius V in 1712, with lavish services held in Dominican convents across France.

Critical Reception

Clérambault's contemporaries praised his music for its purity, consistent quality, noble simplicity, and aptness of expression, with Jean-Jacques Rousseau admiring its accurate prosody.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Clérambault was highly committed to publishing his works, with almost two-thirds of his output being engraved and circulated, reaching audiences in Paris, New France, and various institutions.

Composer Biography

Clérambault's cantata "Orpheus" was his masterpiece and so charmed King Louis XIV that he appointed Clérambault as Special Concerts Intendant for Madame de Maintenon.