Ludus Verbalis, Vol. 1

CD Ludus Verbalis, Vol. 1 Ensemble vocal Aedes

The first part in a series of four – two volumes of secular music and two volumes of sacred music – this recording sets out to explore different facets of a cappella choral music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This first CD takes its name from one of the nine cycles of secular music presented here. In this panorama of works, the word, through poetry, is central to musical creation; it becomes the subject of play, with the composers appropriating it and translating it into music. Alongside famous cycles from the repertoire, we have chosen to record a work commissioned from Philippe Hersant by Aedes, as well as several cycles by other composers who are still active. These cycles set words by William Shakespeare, Joseph von Eichendorff and Paul Éluard; the listener will also discover (or rediscover) poems by Charles d’Orléans, Louise Labé and Henry Felix.
Such musical eclecticism, which is quite common in concert programmes (in which a Baroque overture, may be followed by songs of the Romantic period, then a new contemporary work), is rarely found on records. A desire for musical homogeneity, often leading to monographs, takes precedence over diversity, sometimes to the detriment of the prime pleasure of listening.