Regards sur l'Infini

This set of twentieth-century French songs contains one of the best performances on record of “Dors,” part of the song cycle L’âme en bourgeon (“The Budding Soul”) by Claire Delbos. Delbos, known primarily as the first wife of Olivier Messiaen, led a difficult life whose story has typically been overshadowed by that of her famous husband. “Dors,” written during her pregnancy with their son after a series of miscarriages, is a rapt meditation on a sleeping child. Delbos’s musical setting is a powerful musical image of stillness.