CREATION 2026
O MARIA !
MARIAN GRACES AND SPLENDORS
FRENCH AND ENGLISH FROM THE 19TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
Composition
12 singers
Style
Sacred music
Instruments & Direction
Thomas Ospital, organ
Christopher Gibert, conductor
Contact
ABOUT THIS PROGRAM
Proposing a programme of works dedicated to the Virgin Mary is undoubtedly the most difficult task for a choral conductor, given the immensity of the repertoire and the number of Ave Maria composed from the earliest polyphonic works to the present day.
Elgar, Britten, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc, ...
We've come up with a programme that matches energies and dynamics, with a range of forces from unison to mixed voices and organ, from mixed voices a cappella to Gregorian chant in unison. It's also a programme with different characters: playful, introverted, jovial, abrasive in Poulenc, incandescent in Macmillan.
Last but not least, this repertoire is part of a choral revival, with little-known works of great interest and world premieres.
The four Marian antiphons sung in Gregorian structure the programme as milestones around which we propose modern rewritings, or extensions with contemporary creation.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Edvard ELGAR (1857-1934) - Ave Maria - 3'00 (FRENCH CREATION)
Andrew CARTER (1939- ) - Mary‘s Magnificat - 3’00 (FRENCH CREATION)
Grégorien - Alma redemptoris mater - 2’00
Jean ROGER-DUCASSE (1873-1954) - Alma redemptoris mater - 5’00
Pierre VILLETTE (1926-1998) - Salutation angélique - 2’30 (FRENCH CREATION)
Grégorien - Ave regina caelorum - 2’00
Benjamin BRITTEN (1913-1976) - A hymn to the Virgin - 3’30
Francis POULENC (1899-1963) - Litanies à la vierge noire - 8’00
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921) - Ave Maria op. 145 - 3’30
Grégorien - Regina Caeli - 2’00
Grégoire ROLLAND (1989- ) - Regina Caeli - 7'00 (WORLDWIDE CREATION)
Pierre VILLETTE (1926-1998) - Hymne à la vierge - 3’30
James MACMILLAN (1959-) - Ave Maria - 4'30 (FRENCH CREATION)
Grégorien - Salve regina - 3’00
Herbert HOWELLS (1892-1983) - Salve Regina - 5’00 (FRENCH CREATION)
Thomas OSPITAL (1990- ) - Gaude et laetare - 4’00 (WORLDWIDE CREATION)
Program duration : about 1h