School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Marcel Pérès

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Marcel Pérès is a French musicologist, composer, choral conductor and singer, and the founder of the early music ensemble Organum. He was born in 1956 in Oran in Algeria, into a family of Spanish descent that returned to France. He grew up in Nice, where he sang in the cathedral and was organist at the Anglican church. He studied organ and composition, followed church music studies in England, worked in Montreal and studied medieval music in France with Michel Huglo.

Music and breakthrough

In 1982 he founded Ensemble Organum, which focuses on what he calls pre- and para-Gregorian chant. The group lived and worked in medieval monasteries, including Sénanque, Royaumont and Moissac. In 1984 he became director of a workshop for research into the performance of medieval music, which later became a European centre. His albums present chants from various traditions, such as Polyphonie aquitaine du XIIe siècle from 1984, Chants de l'Eglise de Rome from 1986, Chants de l'église milanaise from 1989 and Carmina Burana from 1990. He also worked with the Greek singer Lykourgos Angelopoulos on the connection between Western and Byzantine chant. In 1990 he received the Leonardo da Vinci Prize from the Italian government.

Influence

Pérès showed how medieval singing can sound like something alive. His own compositions include Le Livre des morts égyptiens from 1979 and Mysteria Apocalypsis.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording by Ensemble Organum of Gregorian or Byzantine chant and notice the low, sustained singing and the raw, direct vocal sound, unlike what we are used to from modern choirs.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists