Ensemble Musica Lucis: Le long de la mer jolie – A musical Journey

Concert

Production scénique

In the 17th and 18th centuries, French settlers, missionaries, and religious communities carried their language, culture, and music across the Atlantic to New France. Ensemble Musica Lucis invites the audience on a musical voyage through repertoire that flourished on both sides of the ocean, juxtaposing elegant French airs de cour and sacred petit motets with rare motets preserved in the archives of the Ursuline and Hôtel-Dieu monasteries of Québec. Traditional Acadian songs reveal how French musical traditions continued to evolve in North America, while Montéclair’s cantata Le Retour de la Paix reflects the political and cultural world from which these repertories emerged. Together, these works reveal how music preserved identity, faith, and memory across generations and continents.