GABRIEL PIERNÉ (1863-1937): L'An Mil for Baritone, Chorus and Orchestra, Paysages franciscains, Prélude to Les Cathédrales for Chorus and Orchestra.

Description: The 35-minute vocal/choral/orchestral tone-poem "The Year 1000" is a must-have addition to the French Romantic repertoire. In three movements, "Miserere mei", "The Feast of Fools and the Ass" and "Te Deum", the work (1897) depicts the hysteria of European Christians at the approach of the new millenium and the expected apocalypse. Quite Franckian in some respects, including the use of cyclic form, the work is quite original in others, especially the picture of the blasphemous parody of a religious service of the second movement. Les Cathedrales' prelude is heard here with its choir (not usually the case in recordings of this movement by itself) while the "Franciscan Landscapes" of 1918 are luminous, contemplative and evocative of the area around Assisi. French-English texts. Lionel Peintre (baritone), Chœur Nicolas de Grigny - Reims, Orchestre National de Lorraine; Jacques Mercier.