Musical Moments #38

Musical Moment #38

“Poulenc is "a fizzing, bubbling mass of Gallic energy who can move you to both laughter and tears within seconds. His language speaks clearly, directly and humanely to every generation."
Jessica Duchen

Gloria
(Movement #6)
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

As an individual known for his friendly and lighthearted personality, many assumed that writing music came easily for Francis Poulenc. He responded to this misconception by saying, “The myth is excusable, since I do everything to conceal my efforts.” Poulenc rejected both Romanticism and Neo-classicism in his compositions and forged a sound uniquely his own. He can be described as a non-revolutionary free spirit whose music is never boring, is often surprising, and always well-crafted.  
 
Poulenc was often criticized for the joyful nature of his music given the serious religious connotations of the text. He responded by saying, “I like the spirit of religion to be expressed clearly in the sun,” and the transparency found in “Qui sédes ad déxteram Pátris,” the last movement of the piece, possesses the most varied textual and harmonic treatment of the entire work.
 
The translated text for this movement is:
Thou who sits at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For thou alone art holy. Thou alone art the Lord.
Thou alone art the most high, Jesus Christ. 
With the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Poulenc achieves a striking freshness by rotating between a cappella sections and assertive fanfare motifs only to end phrases with polychordal harmony. He described the colors of his Gloria as “very clear, primary colors—rude and violent like the Provence Chapel of Matisse.”  (Look up the interior of this Chapel to appreciate his reference.) http://theprovencepost.blogspot.com/2019/04/matisse-called-it-his-masterpiece.html
 
As this work prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the piece sounds as new and exciting today as when it was premiered. While there is no “easy button” when performing his music, most singers find it rewarding and enjoyable. The composer Olivier Messiaen explains this supposition, believing that “directly or indirectly (Poulenc’s music is) inspired by the purely melodic associations of the human voice.”
The excerpt offered here is an unedited recording from a performance in April 2017 featuring soprano Sherezade Panthaki with the Bach Choir and Orchestra.

-John V. Sinclair
 
“My goal is to live the truly religious life and express it through my music.”
John Coltrane                                                                         

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