約瑟夫.康特盧布: 阿維農之歌
卡洛琳．桑普森 女高音
帕斯卡．羅菲 指揮
(芬蘭)塔皮歐拉小交響樂團

That Bailero, a shepherd's song from the highlands of Auvergne sung in the Occitan dialect of the area, should become a favourite with singers ranging from Victoria de los Angeles to Sarah Brightman by way of Renee Fleming and Karita Mattila, is all because of Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret. As a budding composer in Paris in the 1900s, Canteloube was unable to interest himself in the various musical cliques and currents. Instead he looked for inspiration in Auvergne in central France where he was born, starting to collect the songs of the farmers and shepherds that lived in the mountainous region. But he did so as a composer rather than a musicologist, and between 1923 and 1954 he published a total of thirty Chants d'Auvergne, arranged, harmonized and sumptuously orchestrated.

The result is, one might say, idealized folk music: Canteloube largely respects the melodic line of the originals, but adds instrumental introductions, interludes and postludes, and gives an important role to the woodwind section. For the present disc, Carolyn Sampson and Pascal Rophe have selected 25 of the songs – ranging from love songs and lullabies to working songs and laments. They perform them together with Tapiola Sinfonietta, bringing sparkle to Canteloube's luxurious scores halfway between the impressionism of Debussy and the bucolic lyricism of d'Indy.

Joseph Canteloube (1879—1957)
Chants d'Auvergne (selection)
1—5 ) 1st Series La pastoura als camps · Bailero · L'aio de rotso Ound' onoren gorda ? · Obal din lou Limouzi
6—9 ) from 2nd Series Pastourelle · La delaissado N'ai pas ieu de mio · Lo calhe
10—14 ) 3rd Series Lo fiolaire · Passo pel prat · Lou boussu Brezairola · Malurous qu'o uno fenno
15—19 ) from 4th Series Jou l'Pount d'o Mirabel · Oi ayai · Per l'efon Tchut, tchut · Lou coucut
20—25 ) from 5th Series Quan z'eyro petitoune · Là-haut, sur le rocher He ! beyla-z-y dau fe ! · Te, l'co, te ! Uno jionto postouro · Lou diziou be
TT: 69'02
Carolyn Sampson soprano Tapiola Sinfonietta Pascal Rophe conductor