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OUR Recordings is proud to announce the release of this great choir music by Francis Poulenc, which is standard repertoire for all professional choirs. On this release Stephen Layton and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, put together a program representing both Poulenc`s secular and sacred choral music.
This cd is launched in connection to the much praised release of The Nightingale: “New Nordic Music for Recorder and Choir” (2011) with Michala Petri and Danish National Vocal Ensemble. One further CD is planned for next year.
Poulenc was a man of contradictions. The traditionalists called him a modernist, the modernists called him old-fashioned. The contradictions were almost glaring: a declared homosexual and devout Catholic in the first half of the twentieth century! Courageous? Indeed! He wrote modern music but couldn’t help creating melodies. That was to be both his good fortune and his misfortune. He knew so much about instruments and voices, and his music sounded so good that it could be regarded as poppish, and many people were loath to admit him to the serious musical world of Europe. Some snobs spoke of “French elegance”
Francis Poulenc: 7 Chansons, FP 81
No. 1. La blanche neige (The White Snow)
No. 2. A peine defiguree (Hardly disfigured)
No. 3. Par une nuit nouvelle (A new night)
No. 4. Tous les droits (Every right)
No. 5. Belle et ressemblante (Beautiful and lifelike)
No. 6. Marie (Marie)
No. 7. Luire (Gleaming)
Francis Poulenc: 4 Petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise, FP 142
No. 1. Salut, Dame Sainte (Modere, mais sans lenteur)
No. 2. Tout puissant, tres saint (Majestueux et eclatant)
No. 3. Seigneur, je vous en prie (Tres expressif et fervent)
No. 4. O mes tres chers freres (Bien calme)
Francis Poulenc: Ave verum corpus, FP 154
Ave verum corpus
Francis Poulenc: Un soir de neige, FP 126
No. 1. De grandes cuillers de neige
No. 2. La bonne neige
No. 3. Bois meurtri
No. 4. La nuit le froid la solitude
Francis Poulenc: Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, FP 172
I. O Jesu
II. O proles
III. Laus Regi
IV. Si quaeris
Francis Poulenc: Chansons francaises, FP 130
No. 1. Margoton va t'a l'iau
No. 2. La belle se sied au pied de la tour
No. 3. Pilons l'orge
No. 4. Clic, clac, dansez sabots
No. 5. C'est la petit' fill' du prince
No. 6. La belle si nous etions
No. 7. Ah! mon beau laboureur
No. 8. Les tisserands
Francis Poulenc: Chanson a boire, FP 31
Chanson a boire
June 2012
“the Danish National Vocal Ensemble face some pretty stiff competition with his disc of unaccompanied Poulenc but they do not just hold their own; they sweep a lot of it aside. Under Stephen Layton's perceptive and often inspired direction, they capture the essential dichotomy of Poulenc's writing...this is a one-disc Poulenc compendium no Poulencophile should be without.”
The Arts Desk
19th May 2012
“This is music which can make life feel worth living. Stephen Layton’s Danish choir give exemplary performances. At times there’s a welcome edge to the sound, a toughness, coupled with superb control...Fabulous, in other words.”
July 2012
*****
“I have to say this is some of the most beautiful and moving choral singing I have ever heard. I suppose you could query the performance of the secular items in a resonant church. But it doesn't worry me, given the spirit and energy of the singing. Words too are crystal clear, with excellent French.”
July 2012
“It really is a superb disc, one of the finest collections of unaccompanied Poulenc choral music I have heard...Intonation is absolutely impeccable, and the vocal blend is perfect. The words, too, are very clear, with only the odd vowel, especially at the end of words such as “puisque” or “l’éternité”, betraying the fact that these are not native French speakers.”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
No. 1. La blanche neige (The White Snow)
