Musical Moments #11
MUSICAL MOMENTS #11
“I like the spirit of religion to be expressed clearly in the sun.”
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Gloria by Francis Poulenc. (Movement #4, “Domine Fili unigenite”)
As one of Francis Poulenc's most celebrated works, Gloria, was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation and premiered in January 1961 by the Boston Symphony. In general, Poulenc’s music represents a reaction to the overt seriousness he was rebelling against in the Romantic and Impressionistic Eras.
Gloria melds a solemn religious subject with a lighter musical tone, and the fourth and shortest movement of the work demonstrates this playful nature. While the rhythms give an impression of dancing, the quick tempo, with an often-pentatonic melody, always returns to the compelling tune. A single line of text is repeated throughout the piece: “Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe” or poetically translated, “Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son.” So why such a jovial musical treatment of a traditional element in the ordinary Latin Mass text? Poulenc’s friends believed it was his way of expressing his joyful and exuberant expression of faith.
Historically, Poulenc was the most successful member of the Les Six, a group of young French composers whose names have mostly fallen into obscurity, but the group claimed influence from Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel. Poulenc’s compositions, as noted above, often display humor and charm but were taken more seriously by his peers and audience with the passage of time. Though we celebrate him as a composer, Poulenc primarily paid his bills through his skills as a pianist, which allowed him to tour extensively throughout Europe and America.
This excerpt is an unedited recording from an April 2017 performance.
One should not be deceived by the lighthearted nature of his writing. At work is a meticulous craftsman.
—John V. Sinclair
“At the thought of God (my) heart leapt for joy, and (I) could not help (my) music’s doing the same.”
Joseph Haydn (apologizing for his masses being so cheerful)
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“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”
Maya Angelou
Shades of Gray by Barry Mann/arr. Maclane Schirard
I am a little embarrassed that I still remember a song recorded by the Monkees, a group from my rock band days. (Yes, I played in a rock band.) But, “Shades of Gray” is atypical of the group’s usually light-hearted tunes as its lyrics speak to the confusion the younger generation felt and often expressed in the turbulence of the 1960s. As we experience another troubling time in history, I find that these thought-provoking lyrics once again have relevance over fifty years later.
Mark Twain once said, “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds,” and that is exactly what I thought of this song for years. In selecting music for this past Bach Festival’s “Spiritual Spaces” program, I called on a very talented Rollins College music graduate, Maclane Schirard, to take this rather simple tune and arrange and orchestrate it to match the insightful lyrics. This was a tall order, but he not only accomplished the charge and exceeded my expectations, he restored my belief that this song actually had good bones.
There are three verses of lyrics with the second verse being my favorite:
I remember when the answers seemed so clear.
We had never lived with doubt or tasted fear.
It was easy then to tell truth from lies,
Selling out from compromise,
Who to love and who to hate, the foolish from the wise.
But today there is no day or night. Today there is no dark or light.
Today there is no black or white…only shades of gray.
This is non-traditional fare for the Bach Festival, though a worthy and timely message; and not to worry, next week’s “Musical Moments” will resume business as usual.
—John V. Sinclair
“Music doesn’t lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can happen through music.”
Jimi Hendrix
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