The CMBV choir Les Pages & les Chantres and Collegium Marianum have come together to perform Louis-Nicolas Clérambault’s Grands Motets and resurrect these dramatic sacred frescoes, emblematic of the French Age of Enlightenment.

Louis-Nicolas Clérambault was a celebrated composer in the first half of the 18^th century, chiefly known for his superb French cantatas, although he also wrote several exquisite grands motets. In line with the Versailles tradition established by Lully and Lalande, the scores contain features that are very uncharacteristic of the composer and reveal a hidden aspect of his art - a blend of the Italian style and operatic theatricality.  Published by the CMBV and performed in public in 1999, they will now be staged again for the first time in 22 years and made into an album. It is this season’s landmark event as Olivier Schneebeli will be conducting for the last time in his thirty year career, having successfully forged the reputation of the CMBV choir via dozens of recordings and hundreds of concerts. The CMBV choir Les Pages & les Chantres is accompanied by four outstanding soloists (all former Chantres choristers) and the Czech orchestra Collegium Marianum, regular CMBV partners.  These musical masterpieces will be performed in the iconic Royal Chapel in the Palace of Versailles. 

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