Purcell: Odes & Welcome Songs Le Banquet Céleste & Damien Guillon

• Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695): From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326:
• 1Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: I. Symphony01:56
• 2Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: II. "From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys"03:27
• 3Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: III. "Behold the Indulgent Prince is Come"01:24
• 4Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: IV. "Welcome Home"00:34
• 5Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: V. "Not with an Helmet or a Glittering Spear"01:18
• 6Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: VI. "Allegro vivace"01:11
• 7Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: VII. "Welcome as Soft Refreshing Showers"01:38
• 8Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: VIII. "Welcome Home"00:40
• 9Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: IX. "Welcome, More Welcome Does he Come"03:03
• 10Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: X. "Nor Does the Sun More Comfort Bring"01:13
• 11Purcell: From Those Serene and Rapturous Joys, Z 326: XI. "With Trumpets and Shouts We Receive the World’s Wonder"02:30
• Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324:
• 12Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: I. Symphony01:44
• 13Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: II. "Fly, Bold Rebellion"01:07
• 14Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: III. "The Plot is Displayed"00:36
• 15Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: IV. "Then With Heart and With Voice"00:31
• 16Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: V. "Rivers From Their Channels Turned"02:33
• 17Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: VI "For Majesty Moves"00:42
• 18Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: VII. "If Then We’ve Found the Want of His Rays"00:44
• 19Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: VIII. "But Kings, Like the Sun"01:38
• 20Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: IX. "But Heaven Has Now Dispelled Those Fears"01:24
• 21Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: X. "Come Then, Change Your Notes"00:48
• 22Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: XI. "But With Heart and With Voice"00:34
• 23Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: XII. "Be Welcome Then, Great Sir"03:15
• 24Purcell: Fly, Bold Rebellion, Z 324: XIII. "Welcome To All Those Wishes Fulfilled"01:38
• Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343:
• 25Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: I. "Why, Why Are All the Muses Mute?"01:29
• 26Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: II. Symphony01:27
• 27Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: III. "When Should Each Soul Exalted Be"01:10
• 28Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: IV. "But When for Caesar’s Welcome We Prepare?"01:07
• 29Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: V. "Britain, Thou Now Art Great"03:30
• 30Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: VI. "Look up, and to Our Isle Returning See"01:19
• 31Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: VII. "Great Caesar’s Reign With Conquest Did Begin"00:36
• 32Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: VIII. "Accursed Rebellion Reared His Head"01:57
• 33Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: IX. "So Jove, Scarce Settled in His Sky"03:17
• 34Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: X. "Caesar for Milder Virtues Honour’d More"01:36
• 35Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: XI. "The Many-Headed Beast is Quelled at Home"01:47
• 36Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: XII. "In the Equal Balance Laid"01:00
• 37Purcell: Why Are All the Muses Mute, Z 343: XIII. "The Glory of Earth and the Darling of Heaven!"06:39
• Total Runtime01:03:02

Info for Purcell: Odes & Welcome Songs

There are 24 Odes and Welcome Songs composed by Purcell between 1680 and 1695: 4 celebrate St Cecilia, 6 are to welcome royalty, 3 celebrate King James II’s birthday and 6 celebrate that of Queen Mary (from 1684 to 1694). The others were written for specific events – royal wedding, Yorkshire festival, Duke of Gloucester’s birthday, hundredth anniversary of Dublin’s Trinity College, etc. For these occasions, Purcell composed incredibly imaginative music of amazing quality – often keeping his most beautiful pieces for less remarkable texts, most of the time conventionally obsequious when it came to royalty. According to the registers, the number of singers and musicians were surprisingly small during special events. Purcell’s most elaborate Odes (namely Come Ye sons of Art and Hail! bright Cecilia) seem to have been designed for about twelve instruments and four singers, for solos and choruses. The Banquet Céleste chose a chamber music-like spirit for these extremely expressive and musical works.

Le Banquet Céleste
Damien Guillon, director

Damien Guillon
began his musical life at the Maîtrise de Bretagne before pursuing his vocal training at the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Whilst there he also studied the harpsichord and organ, and deepened his research on early music interpretations with renowned teachers such as Howard Crook, Jérôme Corréas, Alain Buet and Noëlle Barker. He completed his studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Scholl under the tutelage of Andreas Scholl.

His vocal and musical qualities have earned him regular invitations to perform with renowned conductors including William Christie, Vincent Dumestre, Emmanuelle Haïm, Bernard Labadie, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Paul McCreesh, Hervé Niquet, François-Xavier Roth, Christophe Rousset, Jordi Savall, Masaaki Suzuki and Philippe Herreweghe.

His wide ranging repertoire spans from Songs and Odes of the English Renaissance to major Italian Baroque oratorios and operas, as well as sacred German works, to which he is particularly sensitive.

He took part in several stage productions, including Athalia (Joad) by G.F Handel with the Académie Baroque Européenne of Ambronay, Teseo (Arcane) by G.F Handel at the Opera in Nice and at the Festival de Beaune, Giulio Cesare (Tolomeo) at the theatre in Caen, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse (Anfinomo) by C. Monteverdi at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels and Il Sant’Alessio by Landi on a European and America-wide tour with Les Arts Florissants.

Damien Guillon performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie, under whom he also appeared with the New World Symphony in Miami and at Tokyo City Opera Hall, as well as in Kobe and Sapporo with the Bach Collegium Japan and Masaaki Suzuki; in France and China (Beijing and Wuhan) as part of the Banquet Céleste, and in Europe both in Barcelona and at the Château de Versailles conducted by Jordi Savall, and lastly at the Festival de Herne with Accademia Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone. He was particularly sought after in Germany: in Frankfurt with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm; in Leipzig together with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, in Dresden with the Staatskapelle Orchestra and in Amsterdam with the prestigious Concertgebouw orchestra conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.

In 2009, Damien Guillon founded Le Banquet Céleste with which he has conducted extensive work in the baroque repertoire, supported by a regular group of talented solo singers and instrumentalists.

His large discography includes – among other projects – a recording of JS Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Collegium Vocale Gand (Phi-Outhere label), conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, as well as Cantatas and Motets by JS Bach and a record of Cantatas by JS Bach with Pygmalion: “Köthener Trauermusik 244°” (Harmonia Mundi). Damien Guillon took part in the entire recording of the Cantatas by JS Bach conducted by M. Suzuki (Bis Record, vol 54) and with Le Banquet Céleste, he recorded two Solo Cantatas for Alto for Outhere; “Affetti Amorosi” devoted to the Arie Musicali by G. Frescobaldi as well as Nisi Dominus by Vivaldi and Psalm 51 by JS Bach combined in a collaboration with the Glossa label. Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo was produced in September 2018. This oratorio by A. Caldara (Alpha Classics label), was granted a CHOC award by Classica.

In addition to his singing, Damien Guillon is also a renowned conductor and was invited to direct La Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo by A.Caldara with Les Musiciens du Paradis, the Magnificat by J.S Bach with Café Zimmermann, a programme of cantatas by J.S Bach at the Festival de Saintes with the Collegium Vocale Gent upon an invitation from Philippe Herreweghe, the Requiem de Bouteiller with Hervé Niquet’s Spiritual Concert, a staged production of Acis and Galatea by Handel with Le Banquet Céleste at the Centre Lyrique d’Auvergne, at the Opera in Avignon, at the Chaise Dieu Festival, as well as concerts at the Opera in Rennes and at the Beaune Festival. In 2019, he conducted San Giovanni Battista by A. Stradella on tour with the Angers-Nantes-Opera (staged by Vincent Tavernier), in addition to a series of concerts of the St John Passion.

Booklet for Purcell: Odes & Welcome Songs