Faites mon cœur, composition for SATB a cappella choir by Thomas Moreau, on a text by Guillaume de Machaut (ca 1300-1377)
Faites mon cœur is a composition built on a triolet, codified poetic form much used during the Middle Age, forgotten then exhumed by the last romantics, notably Théodore de Banville who gave back to this virtuoso form its nobility.
In this one, Guillaume de Machaut asks the beloved lady to make die her heart, since she does not wish to rejoice of anything, and especially not of the ardent passion that the poet shows to her.
The piece is written in three parts: the first and last, a desperate supplication, are processed in a strictly choral form, haunting and redundant, on mostly perfect chords in the solid key of C major; then the central part is, on the contrary, more agitated, with uneven rhythms highlighting the poet's cries and weeping around the vowel a, symbolizing pain.
The two contrasting aspects make this piece vibrant, both tormented and peaceful. A division in the bass section at the end reinforces the male voices and makes the complaint that underlies the whole piece resonate in the lower register.
Composition for four mixed voices choir (SATB) a cappella
