CHARLES-HUBERT GERVAIS (1671-1744)
Grands Motets

Exaudi Deus (Psalm 54)
01 Trio : Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam
02 Choeur : Contristatus sum in exercitatione mea
03 Récit de basse-taille : Cor meum conturbatum est in me
04 Récit de dessus : Et dixi : Quis dabit mihi pennas sicut columbae
05 Récit de taille : Expectabam eum qui salvum me fecit
06 Choeur : Jacta super Dominum curam tuam

O filii et filiae (Hymn)
07 Trio et Choeur : Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
08 Récit de haute-contre : Et mane prima sabbati
09 Duo et Choeur : Et Maria Magdalene
10 Récit de dessus et Choeur : In albis sedens Angelus
11 Récit de haute-contre : Et Joannes Apostolus
12 Choeur : Discipulis adstantibus
13 Duo : Ut intellexit Didymus
14 Duo : Vide, Thoma, vide latus
15 Trio : Beati qui non viderunt
16 Choeur : In hoc festo sanctissimo

Judica me Deus (Psalm 42)
17 Récit de basse-taille : Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam
18 Choeur : Quia tu es, Deus, fortitudo mea quare me reppulisti
19 Duo : Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam
20 Choeur : Et introibo ad altare Dei, ad Deum
21 Récit de dessus : Confitebor tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus meus
22 Choeur : Spera in Deo

Usquequo Domine (Psalm 12)
23 Récit de basse-taille : Usquequo, Domine
24 Choeur : Usquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus
25 Récit de dessus : Illumina oculos meos
26 Trio : Qui tribulant me
27 Récit de haute-contre et Choeur : Exultabit cor meum

Te Deum (Hymn)
28 Choeur : Te Deum laudamus
29 Récit de haute-contre : Tibi omnes angeli
30 Choeur : Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
31 Trio : Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus
32 Choeur : Te per orbem terrarum
33 Récit de basse-taille : Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium
34 Récit de basse-taille : Tu, ad liberandum suscepturus hominem
35 Choeur : Judex crederis esse venturus
36 Récit de dessus : Te ergo quaesumus
37 Récit de haute-contre et Choeur : Per singulos dies benedicimus te
38 Trio : Dignare, Domine, die isto
39 Choeur : In te, Domine, speravi

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About this album

Amply demonstrating that Charles-Hubert Gervais didn’t just excel in composing operas, György Vashegyi turns his attention to the French Baroque composer’s sacred music, with a new disc of “Grands Motets” containing five extended and sumptuous psalms and hymns, involving soloists, chorus and orchestra.

Gervais’ relative modern-day anonymity in this genre can to a large extent be placed at the door of historical circumstance: during the end of the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV he was employed by the king’s younger brother Philippe d’Orléans and continued so during d’Orléans’ Regency and it wasn’t until 1723 that Gervais obtained an official post as one of the four sous-maîtres of the Chapelle du Roi. And then any motet he wrote went straight into the royal library without publication and has required today’s transcribers to create performing editions.

Tones of celebration, relief (on Louis XV’s recovery from a nasty illness), solemnity, meditation, a dash of restrained theatricality, bold harmonies and lighter orchestral textures than with Lalande (or Bernier and Campra) provide Vashegyi’s Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra with plenty of scope to demonstrate their collective mastery and experience of the idiom, and they are more than ably assisted by the solo contributions of Olivia Doray, Katalin Szutrély, Cyrille Dubois, Mathias Vidal and David Witczak.