One of the greatest composers in 17th c. France, de Lalande (1657-1726) was principally dedicated to religious music and has been styled the ‘Latin Lully’ by some musicologists. After Lully’s death he was the most important composer in the realm, until his own demise. His numerous and excellent works for the stage, written for the entertainment of the courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV have not found a place in our own generation unlike some of his religious compositions. They are perhaps too subtle and highly finessed for our own generation. Charpentier, Lully and François Couperin seem to have a lock on the public’s attention, or is it that today’s conductors and music groups in general are not familiar with his extensive and rich oeuvre? Notwithstanding, a few of his Grand Motets have been recorded and programmed in Europe, but these masterpieces have not found a place in the North American early music movement, something which this writer finds unfortunate and a loss. Because of the considerable forces involved in mounting these works, budgetary considerations are probably part of the problem. Its interesting to note that the seminal book A Thematic Catalogue of the Works of Michel-Richard de Lalande (first published by Oxford U. Press in 2005, in English) by Lionel Sawkins, has done little to raise this composers profile in the North American scene.
Daucé has given the listener a reconstruction of an actual period performance during the time these works captured the public’s acclaim, circa 1710-1735. He has placed them as in a convent setting with the virtuoso solo vocal works surrounded by short works for a chorus of female voices (i.e. Nuns), singing Latin chant. This gives the recording a reflective aura befitting the Lenten penitential masterpieces beautifully. This CD furthers the mounting and justifiable media and public attention being garnered by this young group of artists and focused especially on their leader Sébastien Daucé. Paul-James DWYER, 2015