At last there are signs that the French and, indeed the English, are doing something about the sacred music of La Lande, de Lalande, Delalande— he, himself was inconsistent in the spelling of his name. Delalande was a master, indeed the master, perhaps, of that sacred form which epitomizes one aspect of courtly life at Versailles, the grand motet. He wrote 79 of them, mostly during the first ten years of a 43 - year tenure of office at court. The author of the accompanying note, Lionel Sawkins, provides much interesting background material to his life and work.
The grand motet developed during the mid seventeenth century, above all in the hands of Dumont. Lully, too, left fine examples of the form in his Te Deum, Miserere and Dies irae, but it was Delalande and his older contemporary Charpentier who in their very different ways brought the grand motet to an expressive peak. In the case of Delalande a technical mastery, a gift for melody and a feeling for noble gestures—qualities fulsomely acknowledged by Colin de Blamont, a former pupil of the composer—that contribute towards the undoubted distinction of his works in this genre.
Edward Higginbottom, an ardent and informed champion of French music of the grand siecle, has chosen three of Delalande's greatest sacred pieces, to which he does considerable if not entirely consistent justice. Best known and most impressive of the group is the De profundis, a setting of Psalm 130. At least four previous recordings of the work have failed to bring out either the grandeur or the depth of feeling in this score; Higginbottom understands the stylistically disparate elements which characterize the idiom and draws them together with assurance; I was not always convinced that everybody else felt as comfortable in the style as he, but all things considered this performance comes closer to the spirit of the music as I understand it than any that I have previously heard. Less obviously Italianate than Charpentier, for instance, Delalande nevertheless shows greater eclectism in his informed application of a wide variety of styles; above all, these are on display in his airs, dances, obbligato writing and counterpoint, vocal and instrumental.
To the best of my knowledge neither the Miserere nor the Confitebor tibi Domine has been previously recorded. The Miserere is an entirely different kind of piece for solo soprano and continuo with alternating verse sections of plainchant. Gillian Fisher gives a crystal clear, youthful sounding performance with the boys' voices of the Choir of New College, Oxford providing as affecting if at times unsteady plainchant; the ornamental contours are indeed a tricky matter for unison voices.
The Confitebor is another fine example of Delalande's mastery of the grand motet; in fact this one was performed at the inauguration of the Concert Spirituel in Paris in 1725. Here, as in the De profundis it is the richness of the five-part writing, fugal and homophonic, and the skill with which Delalande develops it, which make the deepest impression. Sometimes, as in the first chorus of the piece, the choir does not sufficiently convey either the grandeur or the nobility of the music and this is a feeling that I experienced intermittently elsewhere in the performances. The soloists comprise a convincing team with Charles Daniels providing the nearest thing I have heard to what I imagine a true haute-contre to have been; but even he barely gets the better of the exacting ''Confessio et magnificentia''. Instrumental contributions are variable with members of the King's Consort, whether obbligato or ripieno, providing adequate support, seldom more than that.
To sum up: an important release, carefully prepared and well understood by Higginbottom but less so by some other elements in the ensemble. Some choruses sound a little scrambled to me, but at their best, as in the deeply felt ''Requiem aeternam'' of De profundis, the result is satisfying. In short, I felt the need for more grandeur, nobility and vigour and a greater degree of finesse. However these are sympathetic performances none the less; well recorded and well documented.'