Here the Ensemble Aedes presents three major French composers of the Belle Époque. Contemporary audiences were struck by the peaceful serenity of Fauré’s requiem, and it is this version, on historic instruments, which the Ensemble Aedes has chosen. It is juxtaposed with key works by Francis Poulenc, including Figure Humaine, composed in secret during the German Occupation, premièred in 1945, and culminating in a setting of Paul Éluard’s overwhelmingly moving hymn to Liberty.

Claude DEBUSSY, Three Songs of Charles d’Orléans
Francis POULENC, Figure Humaine, poems by Paul Eluard
Francis POULENC, Litanies à la Vierge noire
Gabriel FAURE, Requiem (original version on historic instruments)

Ensemble Aedes
Les Siècles
Mathieu Romano : conductor