SSATB Choir, Piano -
Level 3
SKU:
CA.925200
Composed by
Gabriel Faure. Arranged
by Denis Rouger. Separate
edition to the CD.
Secular choral music.
Full Score. Op. 2, No. 1.
Duration 2 minutes. Carus
Verlag #CV 09.252/00.
Published by Carus Verlag
(CA.925200).
ISBN
M-007-24914-4. Key: A
major. Language: French.
Text: Hugo,
Victor.
The
exuberant amorousness of
a newly-wed couple
pulsates in every note of
Gabriel Faure's Dans les
ruines d'une abbaye (In
the ruins of an abbey).
In this piece, the
reverent silence of
prayer no longer
prevails, but within the
venerable walls various
shouts of joy and
sparkling laughter are
now heard. The old graves
have long been overgrown
by stinging nettles, and
a new dawn of spring and
of love fills the air.
Napoleonic
post-revolutionary
France, which drove the
author of the poem,
Victor Hugo, into exile,
is also building a new
world on the ruins of
olden days. Although the
setting by the composer,
40 years younger than the
poet, uses the
romanticized backdrop of
the old abbey, with its
6/8-meter it reflects the
uninhibited happiness of
the two lovers, who do
not look back. These art
songs were originally
composed not for chamber
choir, but for solo voice
and piano. Denis Rouger
has carefully adapted
them to suit the
requirements and
expressive possibilities
offered by a larger
ensemble, without losing
the any of the qualities
of the original in the
process. Each part in the
choir has a melodic line
drawn from the harmonic
and rhythmic framework.
In the process, the
variety and refinement of
the choral language
combines with an enormous
flexibility in form and
expression, as French
melodies or German art
song demand from a
soloist and pianist. The
songs have been recorded
by the figure humaine
chamber choir on the CD
Kennst du das Land ...
(Carus 83.495).
Dans les ruines d'une abbaye
