Beautiful sacred music created for Notre Dame of Paris

On December 7 and 8, Notre Dame will return to the rhythm of liturgical services — more than 2,000 a year! The vaults of the Paris cathedral will once again resound to the voices of the Maîtrise singers and the pipes of the great organ.

Even before Maurice de Sully laid the cornerstone of the Gothic edifice in the 12th century, sacred music had made its home in this mother church of the Paris diocese. However, the repertoire is not set in stone: to mark the reopening, a Magnificat was composed by Yves Castagnet — titular of the choir organ — and released on CD on November 29. This will be followed by five other creations in the cathedral to mark the event, part of the exceptional program for the 2025 season.

Here, then, is an admittedly subjective and partial selection from over a thousand years of compositions. They range from the beginnings of polyphony to more contemporary modal music and motets.

“O Mary, star of the sea,” sings this hymn, using a traditional title for the Virgin Mary. Its composer, Adam de Saint-Victor (d. circa 1146), was cantor of Notre Dame of Paris starting in 1107, before Maurice de Sully began construction of the Gothic edifice (1163). He died at the Abbey of Saint-Victor, today in the Mutualité district (Paris Ve), a place of intellectual efflorescence founded by a scholastic of the Cathedral School.

Considered the first master of the School of Notre Dame, Magister Albertus Parisiensis (d. circa 1177) was also Adam de Saint-Victor's successor. Congaudeant catholici (“Let us rejoice universally”) comes from the Codex Calixtinus, the first manuscript to give the names of the cantors. It’s one of the first polyphonic compositions, a new musical genre created at Notre Dame.

Although he was not the first, Leonin (Leoninus, c. 1150-1210) is known as the founder of the School of Notre Dame. He wrote the score for the pieces composed at the time, known as organum or conductus. Viderunt omnes belongs to the first category, that is, a plainchant melody to which are added counter-chants, in this case for two voices. The text is taken from Psalm 98, sung at Christmas: “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

Along with Léonin, Pérotin (c. 1160-1230) is the best-known master of the School of Notre Dame. His compositions are more modern than those of his predecessor, and more complex, notably in his use of four voices. Manuscript sources mention that the most developed Alleluias, like this one, are sung during the Octave of the Nativity.

Hac in die salutari (“On this beneficial day”) was sung on the first day of the year. It represents the emergence of motets, polyphonic pieces in which one syllable corresponds to one note (“motet” means “little word”). One of the initiators of this musical style was the master of the School of Notre Dame from 1217 to 1236, who composed music that blended the sacred and the secular.

Antoine Brumel (c. 1460-1515) is a representative of Renaissance composition at Notre Dame. Influenced by Flemish polyphony, he became Master of Music in 1498. Sicut lilium inter spinas (“Like a lily among thorns”) is an antiphon for the feast of the Assumption, which he wrote for four voices.

In 1725, the Concert Spirituel was created. This institution organized concerts, which were very much in vogue in the Tuileries at the time. Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (1724-1799) played his pieces there, then performed them again at Notre Dame, where he became organist in 1760. Large crowds came to hear him (and his colleagues), particularly for this composition, which was in no way liturgical. The craze even led the Archbishop of Paris to cancel some performances for fear of disturbing the peace!

The Eucharistic hymn O salutaris hostia (“O Saving Victim”) has given rise to numerous compositions. Among them, one by Joseph Pollet (1806-1883), organist at Notre Dame for six years starting in 1834. This period marked a return to splendid organ music at the cathedral.

Even in death, Louis Vierne (1870-1937) is associated with the cathedral. He died on the podium, during a concert, after thirty-seven years as titular of the great organ. He had brought in great names (Gabriel Fauré, Camille Saint-Saëns) and trained promising pupils (Maurice Duruflé, Marcel Dupré). He notably composed this Solemn Mass, performed here on the organ by Pierre Cochereau, Vierne's famous successor from 1955 until his death in 1984.

Along with Pierre Cochereau, Jehan Revert (1920-2015) is the other emblematic figure of twentieth-century sacred music at Notre Dame. As choirmaster, from 1959 to 1991, he promoted the cathedral's musical heritage. He organized numerous concerts in France and abroad, as well as revitalizing and harmonizing ancient pieces. The best-known of these is the Victimae paschali laudes, an Easter Day sequence.