Hetu: Two Orchestras, One Symphony

Jacques Hetu was a firmly established musical figurehead in Canada when he was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to write the Symphony No. 5. As a student of Clermont Pepin in Montreal and later of Henri Dutilleux and Olivier Messiaen in Paris, his tonal language bridged the Atlantic, making his choice of eluard - one of France's most celebrated poets (and Resistance members) - a natural one. Three short weeks before the symphony's premiere in 2010, Hetu passed away. Alexander Shelley brings this work back to life surrounded by two great Canadian orchestras, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra and l'Orchestre symphonique de Quebec, and a choir, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.