Francis Poulenc: Choral Works

Featuring

Harry Christophers
Robert Quinney
The Sixteen
Francis Poulenc

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Composer Biography

Francis Poulenc, the composer, was rejected by the director of the Paris Conservatoire at age 18, who told him, "Your music stinks, it is nothing but a load of balls."

Performer Biography

The Sixteen, one of the world's greatest ensembles, has over 150 recordings spanning 500 years of music and won the Classic FM Gramophone Artist of the Year Award in 2009.

Composition History

Poulenc regained his Catholic faith and composed his Trois Litanies à la Vierge Noire after the devastating death of his friend, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, in a car crash in 1936.

Performer Biography

Harry Christophers, the conductor, is the founder of The Sixteen and also serves as Artistic Director of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Poulenc believed his choral music represented his "best and most authentic side," and the American composer Virgil Thomson called him "incontestably the greatest writer of melodies in our time."

Compositional Technique

Poulenc's Mass in G, dedicated to his father, is a Missa Brevis (without a Credo) and features a "savage" Kyrie with strong rhythmic gestures and acerbic harmonies.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Poulenc's religious ideal was rooted in Romanesque art, particularly the examples found in the south of France, expressing itself clearly "in the sunshine with the same realism."