Founded by Mélisande Corriveau and Eric Milnes, L’Harmonie des saisons, a vocal and period-instrument ensemble, is dedicated through the expertise of its members to re-introducing audiences to the grand masterpieces of historic sacred music, principally through its series of large-scale performances featuring Early Music. Settled in the heart of the Eastern Townships region, the ensemble regularly tours in Quebec, Canada, the United States, South America and Europe.
The ensemble’s growing discography has garnered two Juno Awards, two Opus Awards and accolades from the critics. Year after year, these recordings have distinguished themselves amongst the most beautiful Canadian productions (CBC/Radio-Canada). Their album Marin Marais: Badinages has been selected among the best international classical albums of 2021 by Apple Music and has reached over 1.5 million listens on this platform. Their most recent release Solfeggio featuring soprano Hélène Brunet under the direction of Eric Milnes was awarded a 2022 Juno Award. Upcoming releases include Concerti of J. S. Bach (2022), Concerti of A. Vivaldi (2023), again on ATMA Classique.
PROGRAMMING
Magnificat & Concerti
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
Le lumineux Magnificat en ré majeur avec, en complément de programme, le Motet : Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf et deux concertos de J.S. Bach pour violons et hautbois.
35$
Magnificat & Concerti
Saint-Dominique church of Québec
Le lumineux Magnificat en ré majeur avec, en complément de programme, le Motet : Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf et deux concertos de J.S. Bach pour violons et hautbois.
35$
Requiem : In memoriam
Saint-Dominique church of Québec
$35 | Tickets on sale at the venue
Requiem : In memoriam
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
$35 | Tickets on sale at the venue
McCartney Baroque
St-George church of Granby
Benefit Event : Intimate concert followed by a Wine & Cheese with the artists
Eric Milnes re-invents his critically acclaimed Beatles Baroque creations as four singers join the baroque instruments and the focus is on the timeless compositions of Paul McCartney.
$100
Buy your ticketsMessiah
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
An Oratorio by G. F. Haendel
$40 | Tickets on sale at the venue
J. S. Bach Cantatas
Saint-Patrice Church
BWV 27 – BWV 155 and BWV 194
This program was requested by the Arte Musica foundation, who has been presenting all of Bach’s cantatas at the Bourgie Hall in Montreal for the last 7 years. This will mark our second concert in this series, which brings us great joy!
General Admission: $35 | Section 2: $45 | Prestige: $55 | Student: $22 | Children: $5
Buy your ticketsMeditations
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
Vocal ensemble and viol consort “Les Voix humaines”
Music for the Royal Chapel of Versailles
Numerous composers associated to Louis the 14th’s court have created pieces for Lent and Holy Week. L’Harmonie des saisons presents a moving anthology of this vocal and instrumental repertoire.
General Admission: $35 | Section 2: $45 | Prestige: $55 | Student: $22 | Children: $5
Buy your ticketsMeditations
Saint-Dominique church of Québec
Vocal ensemble and viol consort “Les Voix humaines”
Music for the Royal Chapel of Versailles
Numerous composers associated to Louis the 14th’s court have created pieces for Lent and Holy Week. L’Harmonie des saisons presents a moving anthology of this vocal and instrumental repertoire.
General Admission: $35 | Section 2: $45 | Prestige: $55 | Student: $22 | Children: $5
Buy your ticketsViva Vivaldi
Saint-Dominique church of Québec
Festive Music for Spring
An all-Vivaldi programme with celebratory arias performed by soprano Hélène Brunet, as well as the famous Four Seasons.
General Admission: $35 | Section 2: $45 | Prestige: $55 | Student: $22 | Children: $5
Buy your ticketsViva Vivaldi
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
Festive Music for Spring
An all-Vivaldi programme with celebratory arias performed by soprano Hélène Brunet, as well as the famous Four Seasons.
General Admission: $35 | Section 2: $45 | Prestige: $55 | Student: $22 | Children: $5
Buy your ticketsVespers of the Blessed Virgin
Saint-Dominique Church
Mélisande Corriveau & Eric Milnes, codirectors
You will be amazed by the splendours of the Italian Baroque and Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine, 1610, a hallmark of sacred music replete with vocal and instrumental gems. This magnificent work, at once resplendent, contemplative and occasionally theatrical, will be performed on period instruments by early music specialists.
General admission: $45,99 | Section 2: $57,49 | Prestige: $68,99 | Students: $25,30 | Children: $11,50
Buy your ticketsVespers of the Blessed Virgin
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey
Mélisande Corriveau & Eric Milnes, codirectors
You will be amazed by the splendours of the Italian Baroque and Monteverdi’s Vespro della beata Vergine, 1610, a hallmark of sacred music replete with vocal and instrumental gems. This magnificent work, at once resplendent, contemplative and occasionally theatrical, will be performed on period instruments by early music specialists.
General admission: $45,99 | Section 2: $57,49 | Prestige: $68,99 | Students: $25,30 | Children: $11,50
Buy your ticketsRequiem of Fauré and Messe des morts of Charpentier
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
Gabriel Fauré’s magnificent Requiem is distinguished by its intimate, nuanced expressiveness. L’Harmonie des saisons will reveal this masterpiece in the authentic manner of its 19th-century premiere by Fauré himself. Indeed, the work is rarely performed in its original “church” version of January 1888, with vocal forces and orchestra on period instruments adapted to this context.
When combined with the deeply moving Messe des morts by 17th-century composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, we can immediately grasp the complementary nature of these compositions, and hear the extent to which Fauré was influenced by his Parisian musical predecessor.
General admission 45,99$
Buy your ticketsMessiah: an oratorio by G.F. Handel
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
L’Harmonie des saisons, soloists, choir and orchestra on period instruments, presents its annual Christmas concert: G.F. Handel’s THE MESSIAH, on tour! This program celebrating the Nativity will bring together some 40 artists from Canada, the United States and South America.
This timeless work, composed in just 24 days by Handel, has captivated audiences and music lovers alike since its premiere in April 1742.
General admission 45,99$
Buy your ticketsJ.S. Bach: St.John Passion
Église Saint-Dominique, 175 Grande-Allée ouest, Québec
As we climb towards Easter, experience Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterly musical retelling of the Passion of Christ.
It is through human feelings – fear, pain, compassion – that the musician Bach, the preacher Bach, leads his listeners to contemplate the divine drama. _Gilles Cantagrel, Le Moulin et la rivière, 1998
General admission 45,99$
Buy your ticketsJ.S. Bach: St.John Passion
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
As we climb towards Easter, experience Johann Sebastian Bach’s masterly musical retelling of the Passion of Christ.
It is through human feelings – fear, pain, compassion – that the musician Bach, the preacher Bach, leads his listeners to contemplate the divine drama. _Gilles Cantagrel, Le Moulin et la rivière, 1998
General admission 45,99$
Buy your ticketsPURCELL: Anthems & Fantasies
Chapelle Saint-Louis, 4230 Drolet Street
The vocal ensemble of L’Harmonie des saisons collaborates with Les Voix humaines Viol Consort in a presentation of a magnificent program of English Baroque music, focusing on the sacred and instrumental repertory of Henry Purcell.
Purcell is considered one of the most illustrious English composers of the 17th century. He was also the last composer to include viol consorts in his sacred music. Rarely heard works by his contemporaries John Blow, John Jenkins and Michael Wise round out this unique program.
General Admission 42,66$
PURCELL : Anthems & Fantasies
Saint-Benoît-du-Lac Abbey, 1 Principale Street, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
The vocal ensemble of L’Harmonie des saisons collaborates with Les Voix humaines Viol Consort in a presentation of a magnificent program of English Baroque music, focusing on the sacred and instrumental repertory of Henry Purcell.
Purcell is considered one of the most illustrious English composers of the 17th century. He was also the last composer to include viol consorts in his sacred music. Rarely heard works by his contemporaries John Blow, John Jenkins and Michael Wise round out this unique program.
General Admission 42,66$
PURCELL: Anthems & Fantasies
Saint-Dominique Church, 175, Grande-Allée West
The vocal ensemble of L’Harmonie des saisons collaborates with Les Voix humaines Viol Consort in a presentation of a magnificent program of English Baroque music, focusing on the sacred and instrumental repertory of Henry Purcell.
Purcell is considered one of the most illustrious English composers of the 17th century. He was also the last composer to include viol consorts in his sacred music. Rarely heard works by his contemporaries John Blow, John Jenkins and Michael Wise round out this unique program.
General Admission 42,66$
Splendeurs de Venise et Rome
Église Saint-Dominique, 175 Grande-Allée ouest, Québec
The artists of L’Harmonie des saisons will perform some of the first sacred music composed in Baroque Italy at the beginning of the 17th century.
The two composers on the programme have held some of the most prestigious positions in all of Europe: Gabrieli at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice and Carissimi at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. Both were among the most famous of their time and, thanks to the fame of their works and the influence they exerted on both their students and contemporaries, they have turned the course of Baroque music around Europe upside down.
Among the works presented are some of the most famous Symphonia Sacrae (Sacred Symphonies) by Gabrieli, as well as two of the first Oratorios (Sacred Stories) never composed, the masterpieces of Carissimi: Jephte (Historia de Jepthe) and Balthazar (Historia de Balthazar).
General admission $45,99
Splendeurs de Venise et Rome
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
The artists of L’Harmonie des saisons will perform some of the first sacred music composed in Baroque Italy at the beginning of the 17th century.
The two composers on the programme have held some of the most prestigious positions in all of Europe: Gabrieli at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice and Carissimi at the Collegium Germanicum in Rome. Both were among the most famous of their time and, thanks to the fame of their works and the influence they exerted on both their students and contemporaries, they have turned the course of Baroque music around Europe upside down.
Among the works presented are some of the most famous Symphonia Sacrae (Sacred Symphonies) by Gabrieli, as well as two of the first Oratorios (Sacred Stories) never composed, the masterpieces of Carissimi: Jephte (Historia de Jepthe) and Balthazar (Historia de Balthazar).
General admission 45,99$
Requiem de Fauré
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
To commemorate the centenary of Gabriel Fauré’s death, L’Harmonie des saisons, soloists, choir and orchestra on period instruments will perform the composer’s magnificent Requiem. Fauré’s landmark work will be accompanied by the Cantique de Jean Racine and a Messe basse for women’s voices. For the occasion, a children’s choir will also join the ensemble!
Gabriel Fauré’s magnificent Requiem is distinguished by its intimate, nuanced expressiveness. L’Harmonie des saisons will reveal this masterpiece in the authentic manner of its 19th-century creation by Fauré himself. The work is rarely performed in its original “church” version of January 1888, with vocal forces and orchestra on period instruments adapted to this context.
The Cantique de Jean Racine is a composition by Gabriel Fauré to the text “Verbe égal au Très-Haut” by poet Jean Racine. It is one of Fauré’s earliest published pieces. He wrote it as a 19 year old student at the Ecole Niedermeyer de Paris, winning him the first prize in composition in 1865. The piece is an extraordinary example of the young composer’s unique talent.
The Messe basse pour voix de femmes has a most interesting history which charts the course of Fauré’s compositional career over a 25 year period. It was initially conceived in 1881 as collaboration with fellow composer André Messager, in which three of the five movements were composed by Fauré, and the other two by Messager. It was written for three part female choir, accompanied by organ and a solo violin. In 1906 Fauré returned to the work to fulfill a publishing contract. He replaced the Messager movements with newly composed music of his own. The intimate and expressive Messe has an undeniable charm, and is rarely heard in modern performances.
General admission 45,99$
Le Messie: un oratorio de G. F. Haendel
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
L’Harmonie des saisons, soloists, choir and orchestra on period instruments, presents its annual Christmas concert: G.F. Handel’s THE MESSIAH, on tour! This program celebrating the Nativity will bring together some 40 artists from Canada, the United States and South America.
This timeless work, composed in just 24 days by Handel, has captivated audiences and music lovers alike since its premiere in April 1742. Join our artists as they share the magic of this great work from the sacred baroque repertoire!
General admission 45,99$
Méditations et Lamentations : Bach et Buxtehude
Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, 1 rue Principale, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac
L’Harmonie des saisons presents a programme of German baroque music for the occasion of Lent.
This period of ascent towards Easter is certainly one of reflection and meditation. Many composers, including Bach and Buxtehude, have written for this liturgical season some formidable works of spiritual power and striking beauty.
On the programme, works by D. Buxtehude, J. C. Bach and the Cantata BWV 4 by J. S. Bach.
General admission 45,99$
PROGRAMMING ALSO AVAILABLE IN ITINERARIES
Christmas Concerts
What could be more festive than Christmas music? To get you in the festive mood, rediscover holiday classics, past and present!
