With The Personal Archive Sessions, the Netherlands Chamber Choir presents a unique series of five episodes about the personal musical preferences of the top singers of the Nederlands Kamerkoor. Together with their colleagues they perform their own chosen music and talk about their choice. It leads to a moving series of personal conversations and intimate performances. In this session we meet Jasper Schweppe, bass of the Netherlands Chamber Choir. A man who, amongst many other things, knows all about the music of Francis Poulenc.
‘Het op muziek zetten van poëzie is een liefdesdaad, geen verstandshuwelijk.’
French was already included in Jasper’s curriculum at secondary school, but his love for the French language was really awakened by a singing teacher at the conservatory in Zwolle. Since his participation in a singing competition in Paris, where music by Poulenc was a mandatory part of the program, he has immersed himself in the music of the French composer, who dedicated his Christmas motet to the Dutch Chamber Choir in 1951. Jasper especially likes the pieces in which the French composer uses the poetry of Paul Éluard. He did extensive research into this and also published a book about it. He speaks passionately about the importance of knowledge of the text and the contrast between the freedom of the language and the strictness of Poulenc’s compositions. During Jasper’s session, the Dutch Chamber Choir will sing Un soir de Neige, four choral pieces by the French composer.
Lees meer over Jasper Schweppe
