Aurore

Over three verses, Aurore describes the approaching dawn through an intensifying piano accompaniment: shining out like fading stars, the short quarter notes in the first verse in G major give way in the second verse to a rippling sixteenth note accompaniment in the minor key. Shimmering harmonies allow the first rays of sun to shine in glistening drops of dew, and the dreams escape “like a light swarm”. The third verse returns to the key of G major, full of promise: the new day awakens with its promise of love and beauty.This art song was originally composed not for chamber choir, but for solo voice and piano. Denis Rouger has carefully adapted it to suit the requirements and expressive possibilities offered by a larger ensemble, without losing any of the qualities of the original in the process. Each part in the choir has a melodic line drawn from the harmonic and rhythmic framework. In the process, the variety and refinement of the choral language combines with an enormous flexibility in form and expression, as French melodies or German art song demand from a soloist and pianist.