Concluding the Month of the Holy Souls and the Liturgical Year - The Jean Gilles Requiem (Audio Suggestion)

Jean-Philippe Rameau indicated that his Requiem Mass was to be celebrated with the setting composed by Jean Gilles in 1696, and to take place at the Oratory of the Louvre. The Mass was celebrated on September 27, 1764. (Jean Gilles' setting for the messe des morts would also be used at the main funeral mass for Louis XV, ten years later.)

Unfortunately, with the Revolution, like several French churches, the Oratoire du Louvre was confiscated and given to the Reformed - and, not long afterwards, many of Congregation's priests were murdered (15 priests of the Oratory were guillotined or died in prison) or expelled. It was never returned to the Church, and it remains a publicly-owned Protestant-run building to this day.

Anniversary of Jean-Philippe Rameau (25 September 1683 – 12 September 1764) - 3 video suggestions

Today is the 250th anniversary of the death of one of Europe's greatest Baroque composers, whose music continues to sparkle and dazzle, stir our feelings and plumb the depths of our souls. Here is a magnificent all-Rameau concert with the Musiciens de Louvre, conducted by the great Marc Minkowski: