Especially for the Mass of Joan of Arc!

The third symphony with organ Saint-Saëns has a very nice clean version of any demonstrative pathos, by Paul Paray sovereign head of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, though the ropes at times spoil all their transient acidity. Too bad that the whole is served by a balance that leaves the organ lost in the distance.

But this record is especially by the second work he has, then recorded for the first time, and composed by Paul Paray itself: the "Mass for the fifth centenary of the death of Joan of Arc."

Paul Paray (1886-1979), one of the largest French conductors of the twentieth century, the brilliant international career, remains much less known as a composer in itself.
Paul Paray was a student of Gabriel Fauré. In January 1924, a few months before his death, the great composer offers a portrait of his student, who has just been appointed head of the Concerts Lamoureux. The dedication speaks for itself: "To Paul Paray, my friendships and my wishes for the conducting, where he excels, does not make him forget that he can and should excel as a composer. "

The "Mass for the fifth centenary of the death of Joan of Arc", created in the Rouen Cathedral, in May 1931, aroused the enthusiasm of Florent Schmitt in these terms: "The Mass of Joan of Arc is a work a strength and nobility hoist the outset the summits. "
Indeed, by its polyphonic choir and orchestra of great density, but without losing its clarity or its clarity, this work appear eminently French style qualities.
But the original signature of Paray is recognizable in its melodic inspiration, an inexhaustible wealth, remembering Gregorian chant, which is renewed every five numbers of the Mass, singing erecting means in absolute expression.
In this sense, this Mass often rises to the grandiose in its collected as passages ("Kyrie" and "Benedictus"), which are reminiscent of the "Requiem" by Fauré, in those more externalized as the coda of " Gloria "which excess is comparable to that of the" Te Deum "by Berlioz, or the brilliant and martial introduction of" Sanctus ", the accents similar to those of Poulenc or Honegger, author of an oratorio also dedicated to Joan of Arc.
Beyond the references to these prestigious predecessors or contemporaries, originality and boldness in Paray own talent agree to the evidence in the "Gloria" which opens with a solo viola, taken by tenor then the soprano, to mimic the call of a muezzin from the top of its minaret, as noted by Florent Schmitt.

Finally, brilliant climax to this dramatic and vigorous work and his "Agnus Dei" conclusive: the sublime main melody, which takes place in ethereal spirals, is entrusted to the strings, not the chorus, which is found in the position of accompany the orchestra in a daring role reversal, Berlioz had already experienced in "Offertorium" his "Requiem". Paray here repeats this process by improving the through greater uniformity in the complementarity between the instruments and voices, to a full musical and expressive potential.
And the Mass ends with this prayer airline, whose flexibility and all supremely feminine tenderness evoke the figure of Joan of Arc at the stake with his ardent youth to his Jesus ... And the work goes out with the fire of punishment, a "morendo" appeased, the choir whispering "pacem" ("Peace"), in a last divine breath, opening onto eternity ...

This marvel is here led by Paul Paray himself at the head of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. One finds there all the rigor and all the fire of the great leader in the service of his own music: a kidnapped interpretation and unchangeable force that takes the listener into a flood of strong emotions. The choir rises to the height of its power and expressiveness. However, we would have preferred a more uniform level soloists, tenor not located in great shape, which some swear beside the beautiful Chinese bass-baritone Yi Kwei Sze. Although the sound is very good for its time (1956), she begins dating a lack of clarity and spatial in the tutti. When will SACD reissue?

Forty years later, the American leader Paul James has recorded this work in a tremendously convincing interpretation - and maybe even more than that of Paray - thanks to its commitment without half measures, all in a sound recording exceptional. For more details see the following link: Joan of Arc Mass / Symphony 1.