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NOEL SOUS L'EMPIRE

Isaac-François Lefèbure-Wély (1754-1831)

Extracts from Recueil de tous les airs consacrés pour le temps de Noël et arrangés pour l'orgue par Isaac-François Lefébure-Wély, organiste de l'Eglise Saint Roch, Paris, 1823.

Maud Bessard-Morandas, soprano 
Quentin Guérillot, Grand Organ

French organ music under Napoleon and the Restoration is an overlooked period in musical history, inheriting the glories of classical organ and heralding the great romantic organ music. This pivotal time, teeming with great performers – most of them improvisers – counted Isaac-François Lefèbure-Wély among its masters, who presided over the prestigious Eglise Saint-Roch from 1805. In 1823 he published a collection of 34 Noëls, inspired by those of his predecessors yet deeply rooted in their time, imbued with the memory of the Incroyables and the Merveilleuses. These extremely popular works for nativity ring out in true splendour from the organ of the Chapelle Royale, shimmering with the mysteries of Christmas through Quentin Guérillot’s generous, familiar style.

Recorded on April 29th and 30th 2022 at the Chapelle Royale at the Château de Versailles.

You may find the booklet, available in French and English, by clicking here

You may find this  recording on our online shop by clicking here