The originality of this album’s programme is its focus on famous sacred pieces transcribed for the warm and lyrical voice of the cello, an instrument whose tone is certainly one of the closest to the singing voice. The words of the Magnificat, Requiem, Stabat Mater or Ave Maria - well known in the repertoire of vocal sacred music - fade here to better reveal the development of musical emotion aroused by the melody itself, and the subtlety of the accompaniments (organ, viola, theorbo, voice) in reinforcing and supporting the expressiveness of the singing.

Inspired by sacred texts, the melodies by Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and Pergolesi reveal the strength and intensity of their expression, even without words, and reinforce the idea developed from the late eighteenth century that music, by its power of suggestion and evocation, goes beyond words to express the unspeakable, sometimes with simplicity and depth. From Taverner to Thierry Escaich, and also Allegri, Handel, Franck and Fauré, the recorded repertoire covers a period from the sixteenth to twenty-first century and includes some of the most important names in sacred music.

Track listing:

Allegri: Miserere mei, Deus

Bach, J S: Deposuit potentes

St Matthew Passion, BWV244: Erbarme dich

Et misericordia

Adrien La Marca (viola)

Chorale Prelude BWV639 ‘Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ’

Barber: Agnus Dei

Escaich: Enluminures

Patricia Petibon (soprano)

Fauré: Requiem: Pie Jesu

Franck, C: Panis Angelicus

Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor)

Handel: Dixit Dominus: De Torrente in via bibet

Adrien La Marca (viola)

Mozart: Ave verum corpus, K618

Patricia Petibon (soprano)

Pergolesi: Stabat mater: Opening duet

Adrien La Marca (viola)

Piazzólla: Tanti anni prima (‘Ave Maria’)

Saint-Saëns: Prière for cello & piano, Op. 158

Tavener: Funeral Ikos

arr. Samuel Strouk

Vivaldi: Stabat Mater, RV621: Stabat mater dolorosa