Gloria Poulenc

This 2004 survey of modern settings of the medieval sequence Stabat Mater Dolorosa is part of conductor Marcello Viotti's project to record the little-known but worthy sacred works of the twentieth century, in conjunction with the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Chorus for their concert series Paradisi gloria. The four works by Francis Poulenc, Karol Szymanowski, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Wolfgang Rihm are dramatically different in conception and musical content, and may be regarded more as reflections of personal faith than as practical works for ecclesiastical purposes.

Marking 50 years since the death of French composer Francis Poulenc, star soprano Patricia Petibon is the soloist in new recordings of his most rapturously beautiful sacred works; “Gloria” and “Stabat Mater”. Conductor Paavo Järvi also makes his DG recording debut, conducting the Orchestre de Paris and their renowned choir.

Understandably, Poulenc's Gloria and Stabat Mater have almost invariably been coupled together on LPs and CDs. Similarly scored for solo soprano, chorus, and orchestra, the two works are arguably the twin peaks of Poulenc's sacred music, that is, they are irresistibly melodic, energetically rhythmic, directly emotional, conservatively harmonic, and fervently religious. That said, however, the difference in tone between the two works is as striking as their similarities. Where the Gloria is light, bright, and at times even funny, the Stabat Mater, as befits its subject matter, is dark, heavy, and always deeply sorrowful. In this pair of performances with Georges Prêtre leading the Orchestre National de France and the French Radio Choir from the '80s, both works are given the deluxe French treatment. Prêtre is as skilled at balancing his forces as he is at keeping the music moving, and, as importantly, he is as capable of expressing the Gloria's joyous wit as he is of articulating the Stabat Mater's profound suffering. But the real star of these performances is American soprano Barbara Hendricks whose clear, warm voice and excellent diction breath vibrant life into all Poulenc's glorious melodies.

Francis Poulenc was the best-known composer of the iconoclastic group Les Six, and his reputation for blending sophistication and flippant humor in his songs and concert music made him something of an enfant terrible. Yet the deaths of several close friends and a visit to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour in 1936 brought about soul-searching and a fresh commitment to the Catholicism of his youth.

A generous selection of Poulenc’s wonderful and varied liturgical works has been recorded here by Westminster Cathedral Choir, whose natural and unforced style of singing is perfectly suited to the composer’s ‘naïve’, spontaneous outpourings. The Mass in G major is one of the most important a cappella works of the twentieth century, and includes some of Poulenc’s most beautiful and tender music.

Francis Poulenc - Poulenc d'après Poulenc (1988) {Pearl GEMM CD 9311}
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© 1988 Pearl | GEMM CD 9311
Classical / 20th Century / Chamber Music / Neo-Romantic / Piano / Historical

Francis Poulenc (1899 – 1963) was a French composer almost as famous for his personal life as his music, including his Gloria and piano works. Born in Paris in 1899, Poulenc's mother was an amateur pianist who taught him to play. As a young composer, he was influenced by musicians like Debussy, Satie, and Stravinsky - he caught the latter's attention with his first surviving composition, Rapsodie Nègre, written in 1917.