Music From Another World

Since the World Youth Day in 2005 in Cologne Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine op. 11 has been one of Paul Hogrebe’s favorite pieces: The music almost floated through the still, cool cathedral: gentle, unassuming, heavenly, as if from another world – directly in contrast with the outside world.

It was at the World Youth Day in 2005 in Cologne, which Pope Benedict XVI had said he would attend. We, at Carus Verlag, had an exhibition stand directly in the Cathedral Square. Of course it was tremendously busy all day long – hardly surprising when a million young people had travelled there.

One evening after the exhibition I made a brief visit to the Cathedral. Shielded by the mighty walls, an almost heavenly silence enveloped me there. At the other end of the Cathedral, at the altar end, a choir quietly sang Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine . This music almost floated through the still, cool cathedral: gentle, unassuming, heavenly, as if from another world – directly in contrast with the outside world. For me this was an unforgettable experience! Since then this work has been one of my favorite pieces.

The Cantique de Jean Racine is available from Carus both in the original version for choir and organ, and in a version arranged by the composer himself for choir and orchestra. This expressive choral work is of medium difficulty level.

For decades, Paul Hogrebe was a music dealer specializing in choral music; today, he works for Carus-Verlag on a freelance basis, advising clients from all over the world at fairs and exhibitions.