Les Berceaux

In “Les berceaux” the ships of men setting off into the unknown and the cradles with children pushed by the women’s hands both rock in 12/8 meter. Amongst all of this, an eighth-note motif is heard rocking to and from in the Piano accompaniment in Fauré’s unique and subtle pianistic language.

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 rhythmicframework. 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).