Intended to accompany a French choir invited to the United States (Voix Nouvelles, from St Germain-en-Laye) – in 1996 – by a choir from the city of Winchester (New England Close Harmony Ensemble, a suburb of Boston), this short choral opera stages the meeting between the 2 groups: first each one introduces itself in music, the French first since they are the guests, then the Americans. I adapted the music to the standards of both sides of the Atlantic, a French amateur choir from the 90’s on one side, and a choir specialised in close harmony vocal jazz on the other, under the leadership of an ex-arranger of the Singers unlimited, which gives a small idea of their virtuosity… The Americans had asked me to integrate the traditional song I want to see my Normandy again in the finale – in a double choir, and I didn’t hesitate to do so…
The dialogues were lost.
Difficulty rating: easy to moderate
Françoise Rouquié for the French texts
Benoît Machuel for the English texts
French and english
2 mixed choirs and piano
Duration: 15 minutes approx.
Small choral opera in three parts: 1.French song, 2.American song, 3.double-choir finale