Nicolas Bernier - 350 Years, 2. Compositions

The works of Nicolas Bernier (1664/65 - 1734) have come down to us in a number of publications and in manuscript form. They have been painstakingly catalogued by Nathalie Berton and are ordered by type of work. ⁽¹⁾

Nicolas Bernier was, together with Jean-Baptiste Morin, a pioneer of the French Cantata⁽²⁾. The form reunites French clarity with Italian drama ⁽³⁾, is secular, set to French text and for small ensemble. Bernier routinely set cantata  texts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Bernier's cantatas are compiled in seven books.

With the Petit Motet (French small motet) Bernier found his true voice and became its greatest master. In the first book (publ. 1703) he expands the form and introduces drama with sometimes up to three recitatives per motet. Some are conceived as a series of uninterrupted movements, others adopt a cyclical form. The petits motets of the second book (publ. 1713) are broader and more virtuosic especially in the instrumental parts.

Other works survive in manuscripts, for example eleven Grands Motets.  As a teacher of many students and writer of a treatise on composition ⁽⁴⁾ he would become 'perhaps the most distinguished teacher identified with the second generation of grand motet composers.'⁽⁵⁾

Bernier's genius is expressed in his harmonic creativity, his sense of rhythm, and his expertise in counterpoint and fugal writing.   Let's take a listen.

Grands Motets:

NsB A.02 Benedic anima mea… Domine Deus, date unknown and relatively short (five movements with the fourth marked "optional" in the original manuscript). It shows Bernier's melodic, individual style. ⁽⁵⁾



NsB A.03 Cantate Domino canticum novum quia mirabili.



NsB A.14 Laudate Dominum quoniam bonus on Psalm 147.



NsB A.16 Regina caeli laetare.



Petits Motets, all from the first book:

NsB C.01 Accurite fideles animae.





NsB C.13 Congratulamini congaudete consolamini and NsB C.12 Cantemus Domino canticum laudis.



NsB C.38 Ornate aras ornate angeli.



An excerpt from the series of Lessons for Tenebrae, three lessons for the first evening  (Thursday of Holy Week).

Tenebrae lessons like Bernier's were a very significant genre of sacred music in the 17th and 18th Centuries; nearly every great composer of the Catholic realms produced them and put every compositional resource they had into the production. Bernier's Lessons are remarkably sparse and simple, and all the more emotive for it.⁽⁶⁾

Bernier contributed two cantatas at the 1715 Grandes Nuits de Sceaux spectacles: NsB F.22 Apollon, la Nuit et Comus (Apollo, Night, and Komos) and NsB F.38 L'Aurore (Dawn), both included in the fifth book of Cantatas.

Bernier’s expert, stylish treatment of this relatively ordinary subject matter (both works are basically banters between the Pagan incarnations of times of day enumerating and arguing their respective virtues and vices) is a marvel. Though for the most part the action remains only moderately dramatic, Bernier’s often clever use of instrumentation effectively complements the dialogue.⁽⁷⁾

In the video excerpts we hear Apollo and the Night singing the Duchess of Maine's praises in Ici tout est prodige (Here all is marvelous), C'est une autre Minerve (She's another Minerva), Unissons-nous, chantons sa gloire (Let's unite and sing her glory). ⁽⁸⁾




From NsB F.33 La Vengeance de l'Amour (Love's Revenge), sixth book of Cantatas, the aria Beauté toujours fiere (Beauty Always Proud).



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⁽¹⁾ The works are indexed in the format 'NsB X.xx'. NsB stands for the composer's initials followed by a letter "A - F" and a two-digit number. The letter designates the type of work as follows:
  - A: Grands Motets (ordered alphabetically)
  - B: Choral works
  - C: Petits Motets (ordered alphabetically)
  - D: Tenebrae lessons
  - E: Plainchant
  - F: Cantatas
⁽²⁾ Don Fader, "Rethinking the Goûts-réunis: A Cautionary Tale of the Cantate françoise." Abstract of talk, Academia.edu. (http://www.academia.edu/1683821/Rethinking_the_Gouts-reunis_A_Cautionary_Tale_of_the_Cantate_francoise (06/01/2014))
⁽³⁾ According to Jean-Jacques Rousseau the Italian Cantata was a veritable dramatic work with several actors but performed in concert. Rousseau wrote twenty seven cantata texts. David Tunley, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn, 1974), pp. 49. (http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2737890?uid=3739808&uid=2134&uid=2473869753&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2473869743&uid=3739256&uid=60&sid=21104244127873 (06/01/2014))
⁽⁴⁾ Jean-Marc Warszawski, "Bernier Nicolas (1664 - 1734)." Biography, Musicologie.org, 2002, Revised 04/02/2010. (http://www.musicologie.org/Biographies/bernier_nicolas.html (06/01/2014))
⁽⁵⁾ John Hajdu Heyer, "Nicolas Bernier Motet." Abstract of article, Notes, Volume 67, Number 2, December 2010, pp. 417-419, Project Muse. (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/notes/summary/v067/67.2.heyer.html (06/01/2014))  The second generation of Grand Motet composers wrote motets for a wider audience, not solely for the French court.
⁽⁶⁾ Giordano Bruno, "Bernier: Leçons de Ténèbres du Premier Jour." CD Review, Amazon.com, 11/23/2009. (http://www.amazon.com/Bernier-Le%C3%A7ons-T%C3%A9n%C3%A8bres-Premier-Jour/dp/B00004V4FZ (06/01/2014))
⁽⁷⁾ John Greene, "Nicolas Bernier: Les Nuits de Sceaux." CD review, Classics Today website. (http://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-10891/ (06/01/2014))
⁽⁸⁾Ensleonarda, "Nicolas Bernier's "Les Nuits de Sceaux" [excerpts]." Notes to YouTube video, 06/21/2011. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT14MeHqaGQ (06/01/2014))