The requiem mass of Jean Gilles got off to a slow start; the work's commissioners, members of the Toulouse city council, refused payment, and Gilles angrily said that the work's first user would be he himself. This prediction proved grimly accurate as Gilles died at the age of 37 in 1705. Its reputation ascended rapidly, however, with performances over much of the 18th century at the Concerts Spirituels in Paris, and the Messe des Morts was performed at the funerals of no less than Rameau (in 1764, with nearly 200 musicians ...
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The requiem mass of Jean Gilles got off to a slow start; the work's commissioners, members of the Toulouse city council, refused payment, and Gilles angrily said that the work's first user would be he himself. This prediction proved grimly accurate as Gilles died at the age of 37 in 1705. Its reputation ascended rapidly, however, with performances over much of the 18th century at the Concerts Spirituels in Paris, and the Messe des Morts was performed at the funerals of no less than Rameau (in 1764, with nearly 200 musicians) and King Louis XV, in 1774. After that it went unheard until 1958, and Gilles' original version (the Rameau and Louis extravaganzas used a recasting of the work by Corrette, adding numerous winds, brasses, and drums) received its first performance in this 1981 recording by Belgian historical-instrument specialist Philippe Herreweghe and his Collegium Vocale Ghent, with an assist from the Musica Antiqua Köln under Reinhard Goebel. That makes the recording an interesting meeting of...
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