Duron: Musica para las Cuarenta Horas (CD)

The Forty Hours devotion is a mysterious celebration that consists of displaying the Blessed Sacrament on the altar for the time Christ remained in the tomb. In Spain this extraordinary prayer, lasting over three days, included siestas during which chamber vocal works were sung interspersed with instrumental pieces. Focusing on the music of Sebastian Duron, this album recreates the sound of one of these siestas using cathedral sources and the distinctive sonority of the dulcians. It mainly features tonos and villancicos, whose popular texts are a marvellous blend of simplicity and sophistication. The composer's art undoubtedly lies in expressing religious emotion using the same means as profane emotion: we are in church and at the same time surrounded by nature, like in a poem by Saint Francis of Assisi.