On November 15, the National Arts Centre Orchestra will release Two Orchestras, One Symphony, a recording that was made in collaboration with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Jean-Sébastien Vallée Artistic Director.
The album features the late Québec composer Jacques Hétu’s Symphony No. 5, which he wrote inspired the Second World War poem Liberté by French poet Paul Éluard (1895-1952). The album will be released digitally worldwide on the Analekta label as of November 15, 2024.
With two orchestras and one of Canada’s finest choirs, the work is given a monumental presentation.
The Album
The concept for the album began to take shape after Alexander Shelley guest conducted the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. It was his suggestion for the two orchestras to come together to perform Hétu’s masterpiece. The finished version features more than 100 musicians and the 114 singers of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir in a celebration of Canadian talent.
The project went on a three city tour that saw them perform at Le Grand Théâtre de Québec in Québec City, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, and Southam Hall in Ottawa.
Jacques Hétu was born in Trois-Rivières, and left a legacy of about 70 works that include symphonies, chamber music, concertos, and opera. He became a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and in 2001 he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is one of the most frequently performed Canadian composers today.
The NAC Orchestra began to work with Hétu back in 1977 under former music director Mario Bernardi. The first collaboration was a commission titled Antinomie. The relationship continued under Pinchas Zukerman (as former NAC Orchestra music director), who took some of Hétu’s music on a European tour in 1990.
At the time of his death in 2010, Hétu was working on another National Arts Centre commission. Symphony No. 5 is Hétu’s final completed work.
The album was recorded on March 8 and 9, 2024 in Southam Hall at Canada’s National Arts Centre.
Symphony No. 5 by Jacques Hétu
Jacques Hétu (1938-2010)
Symphony No. 5, Op. 81
I. Prologue: Allegretto (8:32)
II. L’invasion (The Invasion): Vivace (5:23)
III. L’occupation (The Occupation): Adagio (11:35)
IV. Liberté (Liberty): Andante (20:46)
“Much as Schiller’s eloquent summation of enlightenment ideals in his Ode to Joy was catalyst for Beethoven’s monumental Ninth, so Paul Éluard’s blistering Liberté inspired Hétu to compose his Symphony No. 5, his own masterpiece,” comments Alexander Shelley, NAC Orchestra Music Director, in a statement.
The Symphony’s four movements follow the fate of Paris during the Second World War. The first movement is playful, joyful, depicting the City of Light before the war began. The second movement charts the devastation of the Nazi invasion, and the third the harsh realities of occupation.
The final movement puts Éluard’s poem directly to music in a setting for choir, and tells of the liberation of the city after the Nazi occupation. You can check it out on Spotify here.
But, Éluard wrote the poem in 1942, during the German occupation. It was published in an underground collection of poetry titled Poésie et vérité. His vision of freedom, at the time, was based on hope and faith alone.
Hétu uses the French poet’s twin themes of freedom and hope in the music, finding a positive message in the midst of war.
- Find more details, and stream the album as of November 15, [HERE].
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