Hymne sacrée

Restored to faith by the sermons of Lacordaire whom he heard in Rome in 1840, Gounod was drawn to the Association de Jean l’Évangéliste, which brought together young French artists keen to “practise a Christian art to convert people of the world”. When envisaging future compositions, he dreamed of “realising a truly religious form with the power of modern developments but without their excesses”. In 1841, his took his first steps in that direction by writing a sacred hymn, Cantique pour la fête de tous les saints for voice and piano, to a text by Édouard Turquety (a Christian poet, who was a friend of Lamennais). This more ambitious hymn called for four soloists, a mixed chorus and a full orchestra with the sole artistic aim of creating something large, simple, and striking. Unlike the Vienna Requiemin this respect, this work could be viewed as an illustration of this type of musical proselytism, even if it is not unlikely that Gounod might have had the (successful) intention of finally pleasing the members of the French Institut by sending them this third envoi de Rome, completed in 1843. There is no mention of a performance. Exhorting the listener to support the Church in company with Jesus, the composition alternates pastoral tranquillity with marching rhythms. It moves from the mellow courage of the tenor’s appeals to the broad melody of the bass singing the hymn (“Prions pour que l’autel reste à jamais vainqueur”) echoed by the quartet of voices, then the chorus. The hymn swells to a crescendo with melodic repetitions that lead to a tuttiof the sort found in grand opera. The diminuendo conclusion is particularly remarkable.