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Music along the Seine - Superb music in elegant châteaux and churches along France’s greatest river
8
days
from
£3,680
16th July 2025
- Eight private concerts in beautiful historic buildings along the Seine Valley.
- Repertoire ranges from medieval to modern, weighted towards the greatest eras of French music, including Renaissance song, Baroque (Couperin, Rameau) and Late-Romantic (Debussy, Ravel, Fauré).
- International stars Quatuor Modigliani, soprano Justina Gringytė and pianist Clare Hammond all perform.
- The Sixteen, one of the world’s most renowned choral ensembles, close the festival with Fauré’s Requiem, in Sainte Chapelle (Paris).
- Daily talks by leading French music expert Professor Katharine Ellis.
- Visits accompanied by architectural historian John McNeill include the abbey of Jumièges and the remains of St Wandrille.
There is little to match the pleasure of a curated sequence of concerts in beautiful historic buildings. This event combines the two to produce an experience which is quite exceptional and unique.
A rare opportunity to experience a range of French repertoire performed by world-class musicians – the first iteration of this festival in almost a decade. Performances take place in elegant châteaux, outstanding churches, and the Théâtre le Ranelagh, where we hear Rameau on the site of ‘his’ theatre. All venues are beside the River Seine or a short drive away.
Musicians of the highest calibre
The eight private concerts include repertoire from the medieval to the 20th century, weighted towards the greatest eras of French music. The Renaissance is represented by song (Ensemble Près de votre oreille), and the Baroque by Rameau, Couperin and Charpentier – some performed on the harpsichord (Kenneth Weiss) and others during a lively and engaging evening of 18th-century cantatas (Saraband, ft. Hilary Cronin, Emily Gray, Samuel Boden).
Captivating Late-Romantic works are taken on by international stars Quatuor Modigliani (Debussy and Ravel string quartets), leading soprano Justina Gringytė presents Bizet songs, accompanied by Malcolm Martineau, and stellar pianist Clare Hammond performs several astonishing works of French pianism from the Classical and Romantic eras.
The Sixteen, one of the world’s most renowned choral ensembles, close the festival with Fauré’s sublime and serene Requiem (for choir and organ), in the intimate yet stunning Sainte-Chappelle, Paris, with its spectacular stained glass.
Exclusive concerts
The performances are private, being exclusive to the 100 or so participants who take the festival package. The small size of the audience and venues leads to an intimacy that engenders a rare intensity of musical communication. Musicians love playing for this festival. Not only are the venues an inspiring change from conventional concert halls, but the audiences are attentive and appreciative.
Expert enlightenment
There are daily talks on the music by Professor Katharine Ellis, 1684 Professor of Music at Cambridge and leading specialist on French music, and architectural visits led by John McNeill, renowned art historian and the author of a book on Normandy. Visits include the peerless ruined abbey of Jumièges and the striking remains of St Wandrille, among others.
Accommodation on a first-class river cruiser
Acting as both hotel and principal means of transport, MS Amadeus Diamond sails downstream from Paris as far as Caudebec-en-Caux, and then returns to Paris, enabling passengers to attend all the concerts and see some of the finest art and architecture in the region without having to change hotel or drive long distances.
The experience differs significantly from conventional cruising in many ways: little regimentation, no obligatory seating plan, no on-board entertainment, minimal announcements – and absolutely no piped music!
Brochure
Musicians
Programme
After dinner on board, coaches take participants to the Théâtre le Ranelagh for the first concert. There has been a theatre on this site since 1755; Rameau, Bizet and Wagner are among the composers who attended performances of their music here. Re-built in 1894, the interior has magnificent, neo-Renaissance oak-carved panels and fine acoustics.
Concert, 8.15pm:
Théâtre le Ranelagh
‘French Cantatas: The Theatre
of the Salon’
Saraband, Guido Martin-Brandis director
Hilary Cronin soprano
Emily Gray mezzo-soprano
Samuel Boden tenor
18th-century French composers who wanted to produce stage works often tried their hand at dramatic music in cantatas intended for private performance. Saraband have dived into this neglected repertoire and emerged with a range of unknown delights from composers such as Montéclair, Lefebvre and Clérambaut, as well as from more familiar names like Rameau and Charpentier. Blended with a range of instrumental music and contemporary popular songs, they have produced a lively and engaging evening of entertainment that is well-suited to the intimacy of the Théâtre le Ranelagh.
After the concert, return to the ship, which remains moored in Paris overnight.
Sail at 9.00am. There is a lecture on the music and lunch on board. Moor at Conflans-Sainte Honorine around 2.30pm.
Drive to the Château de Maisons, at Maisons-Laffitte. Designed by François Mansart and built 1642-51 for the President du Parlement, the Château was frequently visited by Bourbon kings. One of the finest accomplishments of French architecture, it combines classical perfection, variation of massing and dramatic roofscape, and is exceptionally complete and homogeneous.
Concert, 4.00pm:
Château de Maisons
‘Mes amours durent en tout temps’
(My loves last forever)
Près de votre oreille
Robin Pharo director, viola da gamba
Ensemble Près de votre oreille offer a glimpse into the fluid world of Renaissance song, where musicians moved back and forth across Europe and between genres. Many of the French and Franco-Flemish composers in this programme travelled to Italy and set Italian texts for their madrigals. However they also brought a mastery of complex polyphony and a deep love of the popular songs of their homelands to the Italian forms. The results are often witty and emotional in ways that transcend the scholarly craft that underpins them.
Sail from Conflans to Vernon, mooring in the early hours of Friday morning.
Moor at La Roche-Guyon, a small town nestling between the Seine and the high chalk cliffs behind.
After a talk on the music, walk from the ship to the morning recital (which is repeated: the audience divides).
The keep of the Château de la Roche Guyon is perched on the clifftop, merely the topmost element of an extensive series of fortifications (developed further by Rommel in 1944) and of a grand residence which evolved between the 16th and the 18th centuries. Somewhat ramshackle inside, the Grand Salon has precious tapestries and its large windows look out towards the Seine.
Recital, 10.00am or 11.30am:
Château de la Roche Guyon
‘Les Elemens’ (The Elements)
Kenneth Weiss harpsichord
A distinctive feature of the French school of harpsichord composition was the common practice of giving pieces colourful titles to indicate the meaning of the music. Concepts such as a nightingale in love, blossoming violets, or a discussion between the muses all received charming musical treatments that often last no more than a few minutes each. This diverse repertoire has been augmented by Kenneth Weiss’s own transcriptions of other instrumental pieces from the period, all engaged in the same business of making music meaningful.
Lunch is on board the ship.
Giverny is only a short drive from La Roche Guyon. Claude Monet lived here from 1883 until his death in 1926, progressively extending his garden and creating one of the finest horticultural domains in France. There is time before the concert to see the garden or visit the Musée des Impressionnismes. The latter brings new perspectives to the history of Impressionism through temporary exhibitions.
Concert, 5.00pm:
Venue to be confirmed
Debussy & Ravel String Quartets
Quatuor Modigliani
Quatuor Modigliani explore the sensual sounds of the string quartet in turn-of-the-century Europe. Claude Debussy’s Quartet from 1893 offered radical new harmonies and sonorities for strings, and served as a model for Maurice Ravel for his piece from 1903, a sharper-edged and more dizzyingly virtuosic piece using the same structure. The Debussy and Ravel quartets in turn inspired Joaquín Turina, whose La oración del torero from 1925 blends French techniques with Spanish folk music to invoke a bullfighter’s prayer.
Return to the ship for dinner and sail overnight to Caudebec-en-Caux.
Today the audience is split in two (Groups 1 & II), with each attending a different recital at the Château d’Ételan. On Monday 21st July the groups are reversed and attend the other recital.
The Château d’Ételan, a manor house built in the first decade or two of the 16th century, is evocatively located in tranquil countryside on the edge of a plateau overlooking the final bend in the Seine. Though modest in scale, it is quite advanced for its time and is unique in Normandy for the use of banded brick and stone. It is still in private hands.
Group 1 attend a morning talk and then a recital at Château d’Ételan, with the option of an excursion in the afternoon.
Recital, 11.30am:
Château d’Ételan
‘Études, Images, Nocturnes’
Clare Hammond piano
This recital brings together several astonishing works of French pianism. The Études by Hélène de Montgeroult are decades ahead of their time in terms of their romantic sound and textures. The later pieces by Mél Bonis, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel share common interests in using dazzling technique and experimental sonorities to portray stories or poetic images. In particular, Ravel’s depictions of night-time demons in Gaspard de la nuit are some of the most challenging pieces in the repertoire.
After lunch there is an optional excursion. The ruin of the once great abbey of Jumièges – monumental, roofless, sun-bleached and spare – is one of the seminal buildings of Romanesque Europe and was particularly influential in England. Likewise ruinous, the most striking remains of the Benedictine Monastery of St Wandrille are the 13th-century choir and the 14th-century cloister walk.
Group II have the option of an excursion in the morning, and attend a talk and then a recital at Château d’Ételan in the afternoon.
Morning optional excursion: the ruin of the once great abbey of Jumièges – monumental, roofless, sun-bleached and spare – is one of the seminal buildings of Romanesque Europe and was particularly influential in England. Likewise ruinous, the most striking remains of the Benedictine Monastery of St Wandrille are the 13th-century choir and the 14th-century cloister walk.
Recital, 4.30pm:
Château d’Ételan
Bizet Songs
Justina Gringytė soprano
Malcolm Martineau piano
It is a rare treat to hear all twenty of the Op.20 Mélodies by Georges Bizet performed as a group. Brought together by the publisher Choudens in 1873, they include a wide range of vocal works that Bizet had composed during the late 1860s and early 1870s, including standalone songs as well as extracts from the incidental music to L’Arlésienne and the operas Djamileh and Les pêcheurs de perles. Aside from their vocal virtuosity, the sparkling accompaniments show Bizet’s extraordinary capability as a pianist.
The ship sails from Caudebec to Rouen, where it remains overnight.
A musical talk precedes a free morning in Rouen, capital of Normandy, architecturally and scenically one of the finest cities in France. There is time to explore the city independently; the mooring is within walking distance of the cathedral and the quartier St-Maclou.
In the afternoon, drive from Rouen to the pretty village of St Martin de Boscherville.
The Abbey at Boscherville has a monastic fruit garden and a garden of aromatic plants hidden in its cloisters. To walk from these into the vast Romanesque basilica provides an unparalleled way of plugging into the past – especially if the church is filled with French church music.
Concert, 4.00pm:
Abbey of Saint Georges
Virgo Mater: the Notre Dame school
Ensemble Gilles Binchois
Dominique Vellard director
Helena Winkelman violin
The incredible survival of music from the 12th century allows us to travel back in time to the roots of the Western musical tradition. Pérotin and colleagues from the Notre Dame cathedral began embellishing the unison Gregorian chant with other simultaneous lines in other voices, creating some of the first examples of notated polyphony. These graceful, otherworldly sounds have inspired new compositions by Dominique Vellard (director of the ensemble), as well as the innovative improvisations of violinist Helena Winkelman, tailored to this performance.
Sail overnight from Rouen to Les Andelys.
The morning talk is followed by the option of various visits.
Château Gaillard, built by Richard the Lionheart in 1196, occupies a commanding site with tremendous views over the Seine valley. Though ruined, the remains are sufficient to demonstrate that this was one of the most formidable fortifications of the Middle Ages.
In Grand Andely, the town below, Notre-Dame is a fascinating and beautiful church which incorporates late Gothic parts with elements of Italianate Renaissance design and outstanding stained glass. An alternative would be free time in Petit Andely, a charming village where the ship is moored.
Sail downstream to Vernon for the afternoon recitals (for which the audience divides) at the privately-owned Château de Bizy, a beautifully detailed 19th-century reconstruction of a château of the 1740s. The monumental stable block is indeed 18th-century, and magnificent grounds are laid out in true Baroque form.
Group 1 attends the first recital.
Recital, 3.00pm:
Château de Bizy
Bizet Songs
Justina Gringytė soprano
Malcolm Martineau piano
See Day 4 (Château d’Ételan) for programme details.
Group II attends the second recital.
Recital, 4.30pm:
Château de Bizy
‘Études, Images, Nocturnes’
Clare Hammond piano
See Day 4 (Château d’Ételan) for programme details.
The ship sails overnight from Vernon to Paris.
Sail throughout the morning. There is a talk on the music before the ship arrives in Paris around lunchtime. Some free time in Paris, before the final dinner on board and evening concert in Sainte-Chapelle.
Built in the 13th century as a shrine for Christ’s Crown of Thorns, Sainte-Chapelle is an exquisite example of the Rayonnant Gothic Style which retains its spectacular stained glass. Divided into 15 bays of 15m height, the 1113 stained glass panels of the windows relate scenes of the Old and New Testament and tell the history of the world, according to the Bible, until the arrival of the relics in Paris in the 13th century.
Concert, 8.30pm:
Sainte-Chapelle
Fauré’s ‘Requiem’
The Sixteen
Eamonn Dougan conductor
The festival closes with an intimate performance of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. The piece illustrates Fauré’s sense of death as calm and wondrous rather than painful or sad, with references to wrath and judgement removed and replaced with ‘Pie Jesu’ and ‘In Paradisum’ movements. The Sixteen bring their refined approach to bear on the quiet and reflective sound that Fauré originally intended, emphasised by organ accompaniment instead of an orchestra, bringing listeners closer to the voices.
Moor in Paris overnight.
Leaving the festival. Participants have to disembark by 9.30am.
Expert speaker
Professor Katharine Ellis
Professor of Music at Cambridge and was educated at Oxford University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A cultural historian of musical France in the 19th and 20th centuries, she is a prizewinning author interested in the musical lives experienced by amateurs and professionals during an especially turbulent period of French history. Her publications focus on subjects including music criticism, the early music revival, cultural politics, and tensions between Paris and the French provinces.
Practicalities
The price includes:
– Eight private concerts.
– Daily talks on the music.
– Cultural visits led by an architectural historian (on board Days 1–6).
– Accommodation on a first-class river cruiser for seven nights.
– Return rail travel between London and Paris – reduced price if you make your own arrangements. See page 19.
– All meals, with wine and other drinks, and interval drinks.
– Coach travel for transfers between the ship and the Gare du Nord, and to the concert venues when not within walking distance of the mooring.
– Tips, taxes and admission charges.
– Programme booklet with full details of the event.
– Assistance of an experienced team of French-speaking festival staff.
Haydn deck – lowest
Two sharing: £3,930 per person
Single occupancy: £4,500
Strauss deck – middle
Two sharing: £4,810 per person
Single occupancy: £5,710
Mozart deck – top
Two sharing: £5,390 per person
Single occupancy: £6,340
Suites – Mozart deck
Two sharing: £6,240 per person
Not available for single occupancy.
Option 1
Wednesday 16 July
Depart London St Pancras at 10.31am. After arriving at Paris Gare du Nord at 1.48pm, you are collected by coach and set down near the Louvre for just under two hours of independent time. After rejoining the coach, you board the ship at c. 5.15pm.
Wednesday 23 July
Disembark by c. 9.00am to board a coach to Paris Gare du Nord. Depart by Eurostar at 11.12am and arrive at London St Pancras at 12.30pm.
Option 2
Wednesday 16 July
Depart London St Pancras at 12.31pm and arrive at Paris Gare du Nord at 3.48pm. You are then taken by coach directly to the ship, which you board at c. 5.00pm.
Wednesday 23 July
Disembark at c. 9.30am and transfer by coach to the Louvre area for some free time in Paris. Coaches leave for the Gare du Nord at c. 2.00pm for the Eurostar at 4.12pm and arrive at London St Pancras at 5.35pm.
If you would like to take Option 1 on the outbound journey and Option 2 inbound or vice versa, you would have to make your own arrangements. Unfortunately Eurostar’s group booking conditions do not allow us to make such arrangements.
No trains
You can choose to make your own way to and from the festival. You are welcome to join our transfers from the Gare du Nord, to meet in the centre of Paris or to go directly to the ship. We will confirm the ship’s mooring point closer to the festival. Boarding is permitted from 4.00pm but you can deposit your bags before this time.
Price reduction: £250 per person.
The ship
The MS Amadeus Diamond, fully renovated in 2019, is one of the more comfortable cruisers on the waterways of Europe. The multi-national crew is dedicated to the highest standards of service.
With a minimum floor area of 15m2, the cabins are reasonably spacious by the standards of river cruisers. All have windows to the outside and are equipped with the facilities one would expect of a first-class hotel including shower, WC, toiletries, individually adjustable air-conditioning, telephone, TV and safe.
In layout and furnishings the cabins are identical, the significant differences being the size of windows and height above water level (higher cabins enjoy better views and fewer stairs).
Cabins on the top two decks (Mozart and Strauss) are the most desirable, with floor to ceiling windows which slide open. Also on the Mozart deck are 12 suites measuring c. 22m2 which have a sofa, table and armchair, a bath, minibar and safe. Those on the lowest (Haydn) deck have smaller windows which do not open. There are no single cabins as such but we are allocating some cabins for single occupancy (these have double beds).
The public areas include the lounge and bar, a library, gym, and restaurant which can seat everyone at a single sitting. Free WiFi is available but can be variable according to location.
Prices
Haydn deck – lowest
Two sharing: £3,930 per person
Single occupancy: £4,500
Strauss deck – middle
Two sharing: £4,810 per person
Single occupancy: £5,710
Mozart deck – top
Two sharing: £5,390 per person
Single occupancy: £6,340
Suites – Mozart deck
Two sharing: £6,240 per person
Not available for single occupancy
No trains: if you choose not to take one of the train options on page 19, there is a price reduction of £250 per person.
Quite a lot of walking is necessary to reach the concert venues and to get around the towns visited. Most of the concert venues do not have a lift. Participants need to be averagely fit, sure-footed and able to manage everyday walking and stairclimbing without difficulty.
We ask that you take the simple fitness tests before booking.
If you have a medical condition or a disability which may affect your holiday or necessitate special arrangements being made for you, please discuss these with us before booking – or, if the condition develops or changes subsequently, as soon as possible before departure.
Private. All the performances are planned and administered by us, and the audience consists exclusively of those who have taken the festival package.
Seating. Specific seats are not reserved. You sit where you want.
Audience size. There will be up to c. 110 participants on the festival. Three of our venues cannot hold this number, so at these, the performance will be repeated.
Acoustics. This festival is more concerned with locale and authenticity than with acoustic perfection. The venues may have idiosyncrasies or reverberations of the sort not found in modern concert halls.
Changes. Musicians fall ill, venues may close for repairs, airlines alter schedules: there are many circumstances which could necessitate changes to the programme. We ask you to be understanding should they occur.
Floods and droughts. We cannot rule out changes to the programme arising from exceptionally high or low water levels on the Seine, either of which may bring river traffic to a halt. These might necessitate more travel by coach or the loss of a concert, though we would always try to minimise the impact on the itinerary.
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
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Dates & prices
2025
Date
Speaker
Price
Date:
16th - 23rd July 2025
Speaker:
Professor Katharine Ellis
Price:
£3,680 ex flights
(Based on two sharing)Testimonials
“What a fabulous week.
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“First class musicians, lecturers, MRT staff, ship and travel arrangements. Nobody does it as well as MRT!
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“There are three particular characteristics of Martin Randall tours. The first is the choice of programme and the high quality of the performers. The second is meticulous attention to detail, every aspect of the tour being worked out to ensure that it ran smoothly. The third is the calibre of the Martin Randall staff, who are both efficient and delightful.
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“The venues, performers and concert programmes as well as the various excursions through the Normandy countryside and within Paris all contributed to a richly layered experience. The festival components were so well planned and so superbly executed that it ranks as the most absorbing an rewarding tour that I have had the pleasure of undertaking with MRT.
”
