François Couperin : Leçons de Ténèbres

au Festival d' Utrecht Yesterday evening I went to the rehearsal of my new piece, The House That I Built. The song was commissioned by the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht (Utrecht Early Music Festival), for the rather unusual scoring of positive organ, theorbo, bass gamba and two sopranos. Period instruments are not your usual suspects for contemporary music, plus my instrumental writing is a bit speedy and rhythmically relentless – it’s easy to spin out or miss a side street on the fast lane. But Gester and Le Parlement were focused and made it sound incredibly exciting and tight. Tonight will see the first performance of the song, together with the Leçons de ténèbres by François Couperin. I’m excited about tonight’s premiere. If you happen to be around, please don’t hesitate to drop by. Le Parlement also performs the Couperin Leçons with an expressive power never heard before". Anthony Fiumara, compositeur. www.anthonyfiumara.com