The shepherd on the rock

Description

During the 19th century, what the Germans call “Hausmusik” (house music) emerged, responding to the need of amateur musicians to make music with family and friends. Many composers, including some of the most celebrated, catered to these amateur musicians by favoring a simpler, more “popular” style, more humble in its aspirations, but without sacrificing the quality of the music. It is against this backdrop that the genre of melodies with instruments, particularly the clarinet, was born. For her first album on the ATMA label, soprano Aline Kutan, accompanied by clarinetist André Moisan and pianist Louise-Andrée Baril, offers us a representative collection of the genre, ranging from Franz Schubert’s famous lied “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” (The Shepherd on the Rock) to Peter Cornelius’s Christmas Carols, Op. 8.