French Choral Music

The French Choral Collection is a real treasure trove for choirs to explore music from France. The collection contains 45 sacred compositions for mostly four-part mixed choir, all of which were composed in France. In compiling the collection the editor Denis Rouger, Professor of Choral Conducting at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart, has drawn on his extensive experience as Music Director at Notre-Dame and Sainte-Madeleine in Paris, as well as on his work with many professional and amateur ensembles in Germany and France.The result is an extremely varied choral collection with works from the Renaissance to the present day.

In addition to well-known works by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Gabriel Fauré, and Camille Saint-Saëns, the collection includes first editions of previously largely unknown works by composers such as Adolphe Adam and Charles-Marie Widor. The choral director’s volume includes a CD with recordings of selected works, sung by the figure humaine chamber choir conducted by the editor, which will help with learning and rehearsing the repertoire.

Most of the pieces have texts from the Latin liturgy which are also familiar in other countries. Added translations into German, English and French help to understand the original singing texts.