As a Swiss composer, Arthur Honegger was probably the bird of paradise among the Paris composers of the “Groupe des Six”.

The fact that he managed to combine the simplicity and plainness demanded above all by Jean Cocteau with his fascination for Wagner and Debussy indicates a strong personality.

It is also reflected in his numerous song compositions and can be experienced wonderfully in the selection that Holger Falk and Steffen Schleiermacher have made for their latest album.

As with the other Five of the “Groupe des Six”, Honegger preferred to set contemporary poems to music; Apollinaire and Claudel were particularly popular. But older texts also seemed to fascinate him.

The wonderfully purring stories by Saluste du Bartas and Pierre de Ronsard transport us into a baroque world in which biting irony and the most serious passion are barely disguised.