We Break the Silence of the Peaceful Night | Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine
Description: Gabriel Fauré was nineteen, a boarder at a Paris school for church musicians, when he wrote the Cantique de Jean Racine as his entry for the composition prize. It won. A hundred and sixty years later it is sung here by students of the Ljubljana Conservatory, as it was written by one.
The words are Jean Racine's, and they belong to the night: a French paraphrase of a Latin hymn for Matins, the office sung in the dark before dawn. “We break the silence of the peaceful night.” Fauré stages exactly that. Over an unbroken flow of triplets the basses enter alone; tenors, altos and sopranos join one by one, a phrase apiece. The second verse grows restless: it asks for fire, for hell to flee, for a drowsy soul to be shaken awake. Then the opening returns, and the last line is sung three times: may they go home laden with your gifts.
We film in a sanctuary of true beauty. No artificial intelligence has touched this footage, these voices, or these instruments. A real choir, a real orchestra, a stage dressed with flowers — the flaws left where they fell.
--- LYRICS ---
Verbe égal au Très-Haut, notre unique espérance,
Jour éternel de la terre et des cieux,
De la paisible nuit nous rompons le silence :
Divin Sauveur, jette sur nous les yeux.
Word, equal to the Most High, our only hope,
eternal day of earth and heaven,
we break the silence of the peaceful night:
Divine Saviour, cast Your eyes upon us.
Répands sur nous le feu de ta grâce puissante ;
Que tout l'enfer fuie au son de ta voix ;
Dissipe le sommeil d'une âme languissante
Qui la conduit à l'oubli de tes lois !
Pour out upon us the fire of Your mighty grace,
that all hell may flee at the sound of Your voice;
banish the slumber of a weary soul
that brings forgetfulness of Your laws.
Ô Christ ! sois favorable à ce peuple fidèle,
Pour te bénir maintenant rassemblé ;
Reçois les chants qu'il offre à ta gloire immortelle,
Et de tes dons qu'il retourne comblé.
O Christ, look with favour upon this faithful people,
now gathered here to praise You;
receive the songs they offer to Your immortal glory,
and may they return laden with Your gifts.
--- ABOUT THE WORK ---
Fauré wrote the Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11, in 1864–65, in his last year at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, where he had boarded since he was nine. He played the organ at the premiere, on 4 August 1866 at Montivilliers Abbey, and dedicated the score to César Franck. Racine's text (1688) freely renders Consors paterni luminis, the hymn for Tuesday Matins long attributed to St Ambrose. Its calm is the calm of the Requiem Fauré wrote twenty years later.
--- PERFORMERS ---
Symphony Orchestra of the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana
Conductor: Slaven Kulenović
Violas: Manca Kosmač, Brina Podgajski Kampuš, Tilen Udovič, Ema Poljanec, Miha Zupan, Tara Oblak
Cellos: Vida Furlan, Gabrijel Rakar, Leonard Razboršek, Manca Sečnik
Double Basses: Jaša Krevh, Jon Poljanec
Solo Violin: Gaja Žnidaršič | Harp: Adrian Ignjatović
Trumpets: Janez Jesenovec, Martin Tavčar
Horns: Evelina Kovačič, Jakob Skerbiš
Trombones: Črt Pačnik, Amelie Ulčnik Kulovec, Lenart Maček
Timpani: Tine Lestan | Organ: Anja Kovač
KGBL Chamber Choir (Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana)
Chorus Master: Ambrož Čopi, https://www.choirkgbl.eu
Soprano: Nika Zarja Čopi, Federica Lo Pinto, Barbara Potočnik, Maša Prah, Sara Rozman, Petra Kodba, Lucija Kovač
Alto: Amadeja Dvoršak, Liza Knez, Varja Kovačič Kraigher, Eva Majcen, Klavdija Miklič, Sara Ognjanovič, Lara Rozman, Maruša Škrubej Novak, Brina Vukovič
Tenor: Gorazd Ambrožič, Andraž Babšek, Žiga Čopi, Roko Kolmanič, Jakob Korošec, Žiga Mekiš Recek, Jakov Reić
Bass: Jernej Frelih, Blaž Kobal, Rok Kotar, Domen Kunavar, Blaž Pirnat, Lenart Ulaga, Gašper Zlobko, Jakob Žnidaršič
Director of the Conservatory: Betka Bizjak Kotnik
--- PRODUCTION & FILM CREW ---
Set Design: TATJANA KORTNIK | Floral Designer: ALEŠ FORJANIČ
Scenography Assistant: GAŠPER POLAJŽER
Camera Crew: ROK MISSON, GAŠPER GORENAK, ALEN HOČEVAR, TEVŽ SMOLNIKAR, MATEVŽ DERMOTA, LUKA BAVDAŽ, MAK DETELA, TAJUS PRODUCTION CAMERA CREW
Cable Cam: TINE LENART (Aircam.si) | Dolly: ALJAŽ ŽAVRLAN
Sound Engineer: Matjaž Mastnak | Music Producer: Matjaž Prah
Technical Crew: JANEZ DRAKSLER, NIK PLEVANČ, ANŽE TEŠAR KMETEC, DAVID ZAVRL, LOVRO BAKONIĆ, MAKS RUPNIK, MARK BERNARD, MATIJA REPINC, TOR ŽERJAV, ALJAŽ MAGDIČ, MATEVŽ DERMOTA, TEVŽ SMOLNIKAR, LUKA BAVDAŽ, MAK DETELA, TINA ERŽEN MILIČIĆ, ANA GRGIĆ
Production Assistants: DAN AŽMAN, GAL NAGODE, JUŠ HRASTNIK
Co-production: EGSŠ RADOVLJICA (Director: KSENIJA LIPOVŠČEK)
Producers: Juš Hrastnik, Primož Zevnik, Gal Nagode
Direction: Primož Zevnik
Special thanks: SLOVENSKA FILHARMONIJA (Director: MATEJ ŠARC); MESTNA OBČINA LJUBLJANA (Mayor: ZORAN JANKOVIĆ)
https://zevnikov.com
© TAJUS / © PPZ. All rights reserved.
#Fauré #CantiqueDeJeanRacine #ChoralMusic Close description
The words are Jean Racine's, and they belong to the night: a French paraphrase of a Latin hymn for Matins, the office sung in the dark before dawn. “We break the silence of the peaceful night.” Fauré stages exactly that. Over an unbroken flow of triplets the basses enter alone; tenors, altos and sopranos join one by one, a phrase apiece. The second verse grows restless: it asks for fire, for hell to flee, for a drowsy soul to be shaken awake. Then the opening returns, and the last line is sung three times: may they go home laden with your gifts.
We film in a sanctuary of true beauty. No artificial intelligence has touched this footage, these voices, or these instruments. A real choir, a real orchestra, a stage dressed with flowers — the flaws left where they fell.
--- LYRICS ---
Verbe égal au Très-Haut, notre unique espérance,
Jour éternel de la terre et des cieux,
De la paisible nuit nous rompons le silence :
Divin Sauveur, jette sur nous les yeux.
Word, equal to the Most High, our only hope,
eternal day of earth and heaven,
we break the silence of the peaceful night:
Divine Saviour, cast Your eyes upon us.
Répands sur nous le feu de ta grâce puissante ;
Que tout l'enfer fuie au son de ta voix ;
Dissipe le sommeil d'une âme languissante
Qui la conduit à l'oubli de tes lois !
Pour out upon us the fire of Your mighty grace,
that all hell may flee at the sound of Your voice;
banish the slumber of a weary soul
that brings forgetfulness of Your laws.
Ô Christ ! sois favorable à ce peuple fidèle,
Pour te bénir maintenant rassemblé ;
Reçois les chants qu'il offre à ta gloire immortelle,
Et de tes dons qu'il retourne comblé.
O Christ, look with favour upon this faithful people,
now gathered here to praise You;
receive the songs they offer to Your immortal glory,
and may they return laden with Your gifts.
--- ABOUT THE WORK ---
Fauré wrote the Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11, in 1864–65, in his last year at the École Niedermeyer in Paris, where he had boarded since he was nine. He played the organ at the premiere, on 4 August 1866 at Montivilliers Abbey, and dedicated the score to César Franck. Racine's text (1688) freely renders Consors paterni luminis, the hymn for Tuesday Matins long attributed to St Ambrose. Its calm is the calm of the Requiem Fauré wrote twenty years later.
--- PERFORMERS ---
Symphony Orchestra of the Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana
Conductor: Slaven Kulenović
Violas: Manca Kosmač, Brina Podgajski Kampuš, Tilen Udovič, Ema Poljanec, Miha Zupan, Tara Oblak
Cellos: Vida Furlan, Gabrijel Rakar, Leonard Razboršek, Manca Sečnik
Double Basses: Jaša Krevh, Jon Poljanec
Solo Violin: Gaja Žnidaršič | Harp: Adrian Ignjatović
Trumpets: Janez Jesenovec, Martin Tavčar
Horns: Evelina Kovačič, Jakob Skerbiš
Trombones: Črt Pačnik, Amelie Ulčnik Kulovec, Lenart Maček
Timpani: Tine Lestan | Organ: Anja Kovač
KGBL Chamber Choir (Conservatory of Music and Ballet Ljubljana)
Chorus Master: Ambrož Čopi, https://www.choirkgbl.eu
Soprano: Nika Zarja Čopi, Federica Lo Pinto, Barbara Potočnik, Maša Prah, Sara Rozman, Petra Kodba, Lucija Kovač
Alto: Amadeja Dvoršak, Liza Knez, Varja Kovačič Kraigher, Eva Majcen, Klavdija Miklič, Sara Ognjanovič, Lara Rozman, Maruša Škrubej Novak, Brina Vukovič
Tenor: Gorazd Ambrožič, Andraž Babšek, Žiga Čopi, Roko Kolmanič, Jakob Korošec, Žiga Mekiš Recek, Jakov Reić
Bass: Jernej Frelih, Blaž Kobal, Rok Kotar, Domen Kunavar, Blaž Pirnat, Lenart Ulaga, Gašper Zlobko, Jakob Žnidaršič
Director of the Conservatory: Betka Bizjak Kotnik
--- PRODUCTION & FILM CREW ---
Set Design: TATJANA KORTNIK | Floral Designer: ALEŠ FORJANIČ
Scenography Assistant: GAŠPER POLAJŽER
Camera Crew: ROK MISSON, GAŠPER GORENAK, ALEN HOČEVAR, TEVŽ SMOLNIKAR, MATEVŽ DERMOTA, LUKA BAVDAŽ, MAK DETELA, TAJUS PRODUCTION CAMERA CREW
Cable Cam: TINE LENART (Aircam.si) | Dolly: ALJAŽ ŽAVRLAN
Sound Engineer: Matjaž Mastnak | Music Producer: Matjaž Prah
Technical Crew: JANEZ DRAKSLER, NIK PLEVANČ, ANŽE TEŠAR KMETEC, DAVID ZAVRL, LOVRO BAKONIĆ, MAKS RUPNIK, MARK BERNARD, MATIJA REPINC, TOR ŽERJAV, ALJAŽ MAGDIČ, MATEVŽ DERMOTA, TEVŽ SMOLNIKAR, LUKA BAVDAŽ, MAK DETELA, TINA ERŽEN MILIČIĆ, ANA GRGIĆ
Production Assistants: DAN AŽMAN, GAL NAGODE, JUŠ HRASTNIK
Co-production: EGSŠ RADOVLJICA (Director: KSENIJA LIPOVŠČEK)
Producers: Juš Hrastnik, Primož Zevnik, Gal Nagode
Direction: Primož Zevnik
Special thanks: SLOVENSKA FILHARMONIJA (Director: MATEJ ŠARC); MESTNA OBČINA LJUBLJANA (Mayor: ZORAN JANKOVIĆ)
https://zevnikov.com
© TAJUS / © PPZ. All rights reserved.
#Fauré #CantiqueDeJeanRacine #ChoralMusic Close description