The project
Introduction
Cen is a letter of the runic alphabet, once used by the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples. It symbolises “the torch”, and is associated with light and the transmission of knowledge.
The aim of Cen, the accentus resource centre, is to transmit its knowhow and expertise and share its artistic and educational resources, thereby providing support for the practice of vocal music both in France and internationally.
Presentation
When approaching any programme of music, it is vital to take into account all the parameters that will inform the interpretation. This principle has underpinned the work of accentus, since its foundation. The ensemble has always referenced a corpus of professional material developed in collaboration with qualified experts. Its desire is to reproduce the expressive and technical value of the work, embracing as closely as possible the original inspiration and the conductor’s vision.
To extend the potential benefits to be derived from this corpus, accentus, supported by the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation, has chosen to make its resources available in both material and digital form through its new centre: the Cen. These include rare scores, literary and literal translations, recordings of pronunciation, rare records, live recordings of creative and little known works, and dedicated editions… The media library is organised in the form of a homogeneous, audited corpus for each work. It enables conductors, musicians and singers to approach specific areas of the repertory with real tools and to be helped in their choices as they build their own interpretation with accuracy and appropriate technique.
Cen’s goal is to facilitate access to the widest possible range of choral music and extend its outreach. This is why Cen has been conceived and developed to maximize use of the resources and knowhow of other ensembles. Working in collaboration with all stakeholders in the choral music field, this resource-sharing initiative will give new visibility to the choral art.
The documentary collection
Cen’s resources have been built up from two sources: firstly, the artistic, educational and scientific material collected by accentus in the course of its productions and those of the jeune chœur de Paris (the Paris youth choir); secondly, the sheet music collected under the artistic direction of Laurence Equilbey.
The collection is currently in the course of editorial, musicological and documentary processing, with the initial focus on the accentus and youth choir resources – the “active” collection – due to be completed by the end of 2017. At the same time, a large selection of sheet music from the “inactive” collection is also being processed to maximize the value of these assets and make them available to the public.
Cen has more than:
700 works from the repertories of accentus and the jeune chœur de Paris
2,000 scores across all styles and repertories
1,000 records of choral music
1,000 texts and translations
200 recordings of pronunciation
30 languages represented
Concept and standards
Today, all the 700 works that make up the accentus and jeune choeur de Paris repertories are available on the Cen Web site. The other works and resources are currently being processed in accordance with precise criteria embodied in a charter.
Each “musical work” is considered and valued not just in its material representations and artistic manifestations, but also for its aesthetic, immaterial value, freed from the constraints of traditional documentary media. In addition to a body of physical and digital resources, Cen thus offers historical and musicological data on each work and its composer.
This distinction encourages dialogue around a work, viewed from different angles, offering the opportunity to compare multiple bodies of resources, editions or interpretations of the work, taken as the central focus.
This is why the information stored in the Cen database is captured via a procedure that adheres to data exchange standards enabling interoperability and information sharing.
The historical and musicological data on the works and authors are taken from research initially carried out in Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Oxford University Press, and in the French National Library (BnF) authority records; as well as the catalogues of the Library of Congress and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, the Ircam’s Brahms database and that of the CDMC. In all cases, the sources consulted are mentioned precisely in the records.
The bibliographical data is either taken from the general catalogue of the BnF or entered in accordance with current effective standards.
accentus is committed to developing the Cen and its international outreach.
The Bettencourt Schueller Foundation contributed to the creation of the Cen and provides patronage.
Cen is supported by the City of Paris.