Jean-Philippe Rameau is one of my favorite French Baroque composers - I am especially fond of his Les Indes Galantes with its beautiful final chaconne. Rameau wrote quite a lot of opera and dance music, but I didn't associate him with church music - until I found the below recording of his "grands motets," the exception which proves the rule.
Indeed, although for at least 26 years Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)
was a professional organist in the service of religious institutions,
the body of sacred music he composed is exceptionally small and his
organ works are even nonexistent. Rameau's few religious compositions
are nevertheless remarkable and compare favorably to the works of
specialists in the area as Lully or Delalande. Four motets have been
attributed to Rameau: "Deus noster refugium," "In
convertendo," "Quam dilecta," and "Laboravi" (a fifth, "Diligam te," has
been dismissed from the canon).
Rameau's motets belong to the
genre called in France "grand motet," which was truly grand (big)
in proportion, calling for double choirs and massed orchestral forces.
It contrasted with the "petit motet," a chamber genre for one or two
solo voices, one or two solo instruments,
and basso continuo - the basso continuo typically provided by the
harpsichord at home or organ in a smaller church. The texts varied also; a grand motet was generally a Latin psalm, hymn,
Biblical cantique or Dies irae, while the petit motet could consist of shorter
Latin verses from a variety of religious sources.
Virtually all
major, and some minor, composers of the French baroque tried their hand
at the genre, but only performance at court or, later, the Concert
spirituel, conferred approval.
Of Rameau's four "grands motets," Laboravi clamans (1722), a setting of verse 3 of Psalm 69, is a very short work which is skipped in the below performance.
The other three motets are on a considerably larger scale, alternating contrasted solo verses with those for full chorus. Each has its own distinctive character.
The longest motet, Deus noster refugium (God is our refuge, Psalm 46, composed in 1713-15 at the occasion of the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht)
has a text filled with vivid imagery characteristic of Rameau who was soon to
become one of the great dramatic composers of the age.
Quam dilecta tabernacula (‘O how amiable are thy dwellings’, a setting of Psalm 84, composed in 1713-15) opens with tranquil, luminescent flutes and a soprano solo. It is a mood sustained throughout the work.
In convertendo (‘They that put their trust in the Lord’, Psalm 125) has a text that juxtaposes the pain of captivity in Babylon with joy at the prospect of release. The original
version of this motet has
been lost, and what we have today is a much later revision, which the
composer provided for a performance at the Concert Spirituel in Paris in
1751. It is a version, therefore, which was performed as a concert
piece and which incorporates much of his later, operatic style. The scoring, too, is operatic, with more developed wind
parts than we might expect in Rameau's earlier music.
Listen to vocal ensemble Vox Luminis during the Early Music Festival Utrecht 2018. Lionel Meunier leads the ensemble.
Choral Masterworks