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Salut, Paris!
August 26, 2017 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
$30
Polyphonic Voices’ second concert program of 2017 is an exploration of rarely-performed secular and sacred French music from the past 120 years, featuring works by Yves Castagnet, Francis Poulenc, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.
Debussy and Ravel were both prolific composers of orchestral, instrumental and solo vocal music but wrote surprisingly little for unaccompanied choir. In fact, Debussy’s Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans and Ravel’s Trois Chansons are the composers’ only examples of completed and published works in this genre. Francis Poulenc’s output was much more comprehensive but his Chansons Françaises are rarely performed. This collection of eight songs, based on pop music tunes of the day, are direct and evocative expressions of bucolic pleasures and pains, but are certainly no less worthy of performance than the composer’s better-known collections of choral music.
Yves Castagnet has been organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris since 1988 and is also an acclaimed composer. His Messe Salve Regina for two organs and choir was written 15 years ago and is a tremendous example of modern French composition.
Thomas Gaynor, exciting young New York-based organist and winner of numerous international organ competitions, will join Polyphonic Voices for this performance in Carlton’s resonant Sacred Heart Church.
Tickets: Adult $30 | Student $20
About Polyphonic Voices
Polyphonic Voices is a Melbourne-based chamber choir formed in 2013, and since its inception has become renowned for its polished, innovative and engaging performances in non-traditional concert venues, often combined with multi-media elements. The choir prides itself on presenting a wide variety of music – both accompanied and unaccompanied – from the classical choral tradition, but also arrangements of music from jazz, pop, folk and other alternative genres.
Polyphonic Voices’ collaborations have included the Hilltop Hoods, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Indian film composer AR Rahman, the Adelaide Chamber Singers, and various local ensembles, freelance musicians and visual artists.