Musique-Cordiale - Choral Origins

Choral Origins

Described in the European Festivals Guide for 2012 as "A fortnight’s fresh, unpretentious and sociable music-making", the annual Musique-Cordiale summer music festival is based in the village of Seillans and concerts take place there and in neighbouring villages and hill towns in the Pays de Fayence in the Var in SE France, including Bargemon, Mons, Bagnols-en-Forêt and Callian. Venues have also included the cathedral in St Raphael and the lovely old churches in Aups and Correns. In 2012, the Guide notes a "Strong choral presence in Mozart and Poulenc, plenty of Ravel, Debussy and Saint-Saëns". A Telegraph Review after this year's hot summer, was entitled "Poulenc in a Sauna" and highlighted the participative character of much of the festival. The choir, in particular, offers the opportunity for good singers, many from renowned choirs from all over Europe, to participate in the process of music-making with a range of "a capella" and accompanied works. The final concert in Seillans is invariably a grand and joyful occasion, featuring major works such as Bach's B Minor Mass and St John Passion and Mozart's Mass in C Minor among other rousing choral and orchestral pieces of music. 2012 was the 8th annual festival.

A key regular feature of Musique-Cordiale events is a period of rehearsal and performance of major choral works by the Ensemble Cordial, a European choir & orchestra with instrumental and vocal soloists. It consists mainly of French, British, German and Swiss musicians and singers and has included musicians from the USA, Japan, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and South America. The ensemble includes some internationally renowned instrumentalists and professional musicians, interacting educationally with budding young singing and playing talent from 'conservatoires'. It has provided a springboard for promising singers and musicians who tend to make their first appearance at the festival while at or soon after graduating from colleges such as the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, the Zurich University of the Arts (Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK)) and Nice Conservatoire (CNRR de Nice). It also includes good enthusiastic amateurs, there to build up or refresh their skills and contribute to the music-making.

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The festival features concerts and open rehearsals by the choir and orchestra, together and separately, and various other ensembles, choirs, chamber orchestras, quartets, trios and a small vocal 'Consort Cordiale', as well as performances and master-classes by other musicians and soloists. Concerts take place in churches, public buildings, out-of-doors and in specially-erected stadiums in the towns. There is also an "Academie", featuring small classes for promising young instrumentalists who later perform alone and with established players in a special concert.