D'un feu secret (Michel Lambert)

D'un feu secret je me sens consumer
by Michael Lambert (1610–1696)

Northwestern University Recital Chorus
Matthew Cramer, conductor

Performed live March 17th, 2019 in Galvin Recital Hall at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). Recording by Sean Keenan.

Ensemble:
Aryssa Burrs
Micah Dingler
Hannah Dixon-McConnell
Jeremy Edelstein
Lucy Evans
Corey Everly
Megan Fleischmann
Dimitri German
Dominic German
Ilana Goldstein
Benedict Hensley
Paul Hunter
A.J. Keller
Lauren Kelly
Zachary Kurzenberger
Chelsea Lyons
Andrew Major
Kira Neary
Molly Phelan
Bahareh Poureslami
Jack Reeder
Hannah Schiller
Tiana Sorenson
Ryan Townsend Strand

Chuck Foster, keyboards
Brandon Acker, theorbo
Kate Shuldiner, viola da gamba
Pauline Kempf & Alexandria Hill, baroque violins

***

Note:
This air de cour – literally, ‘air (song) of the court;’ a term for a secular, accompanied, typically strophic song that flourished during the reign of King Louis XIII – can be found in a variety of publications in slightly different versions. The earliest, for two voices (dessus and basse) was published in 1660. The one heard here is for four voices, taken from a collection of Lambert’s airs de cours for 1, 2, 3, and 4 parts published in 1689. Michel Lambert was the leading composer and interpreter of airs de cours in the 17th century, alongside being one of the most important composers, singing teachers, violinists, and dancers of the period. Save for a few sacred works and additions to ballets by Lully, nearly the entirety of Lambert’s catalogue is comprised of airs de cours, of which just over 300 are extant (although an equal number are thought to have been lost). Airs de cours began as simple songs, to be sung by anyone. As the genre became more popular among the aristocracy, it in turn became more nuanced: formerly simple songs were now serious, or joyful, or even licentious.

Text:
D’un feu secret je me sens consumer // By a secret flame I feel myself consumed
Sans pouvoir soulager le mal qui me possede: // powerless to ease the pain that possesses me:
Je pourrois bien guerir si je cessais d’aimer; // I might well be cured if I were to stop loving;
Mais j’aime mieux le mal qui remède. // Yet I love my ailment more than its remedy.
–Charles Bouchardeu, 1660