To mark All Saints’ Day, the shrine of Notre-Dame de Montligeon is hosting an exceptional musical event: Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, on Saturday November 1, 2025 at 6pm in the basilica.
Conducted by Mathilde Kohn, this concert will bring together nearly 100 singers, children and parents alike, from the Petits Chanteurs de Rueil, the Enjoie choir, and the Notre-Dame de La Salette choir (Paris). Arnaud Bahuaud will accompany this masterly work on the organ.
A luminous piece of work for All Saints’ Day
Composed between 1887 and 1890, Fauré’s Requiem differs from other Masses for the Dead in its soothing, almost celestial tone. The emphasis is not on the fear of judgment, but on a serene hope, permeated by peace and light. The famous In Paradisum sequence, sung here by children, closes the work on a note of clarity and confidence.
About this Requiem, Fauré himself used to say:
“My Requiem was called a lullaby of death… but that’s how I feel about it.”
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The choir director comments on her vision
Having settled in Montligeon two years ago, Mathilde Kohn has a long-standing relationship with this work, which she first conducted fifteen years ago. Today, she has chosen to share it with her family, with choristers from the age of 6 right up to their parents.
“In my view, Pie Jesu can only be sung by a child’s voice. Children carry this light in a very obvious way.”
This interpretation is fully in keeping with the spirit of Montligeon – to make prayer for the dead a proclamation of eternal life, a proclamation of hope.
🎟 Offering and entrance free, basilica Notre-Dame de Montligeon on Saturday Nov. 1, 2025
Saturday Nov. 1, 2025
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11:00 am All Saints’ Mass
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6:00 pm Fauré’s Requiem
A day of celebration and prayer
The singers will also take part in the All Saints’ Mass at 11am in the basilica. It will be a special moment for praying together, in music, for our deceased, in this shrine dedicated to their memory.
