A uniquely Canadian tribute: The NAC Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir join forces on landmark recording of Jacques Hétu’s Symphony No. 5
The NAC Orchestra (NACO) is proud to release Two Orchestras, One Symphony, a grand-scale interpretation of the late Quebec composer Jacques Hétu’s monumental Symphony No. 5. It is produced in collaboration with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (OSQ) and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir led by NAC Music Director Alexander Shelley.
The groundbreaking recording follows a critically acclaimed 2024 tour that saw the mega ensemble perform Hétu’s Fifth live at three of Canada’s most iconic concert halls: Le Grand Théâtre de Québec in Quebec City, Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, and Southam Hall in Ottawa.
Among those who performed on the tour was NACO Fourth Horn Louis-Pierre Bergeron, who describes Hétu as “one of the most important composers in Canadian history.”
Bergeron, who plays on the album, adds that Hétu was a “highly sophisticated” composer who wrote “very accessible music.” This project marked the first time Bergeron performed a symphony by Hétu, who hails from his home province.
“With his Fifth Symphony, I discovered his symphonic voice,” he says. “I really liked the different movements. They were all very distinctive.”
Comprised of four movements, Hétu’s final work begins with a joyful prologue set in Paris before the devastation and destruction brought on the city by the Second World War, followed by movements depicting the invasion and ultimate occupation by the Nazis. The fourth and final movement draws inspiration from Paul Éluard’s Second World War poem Liberté, which Hétu set to music.
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