Notes and Editorial Reviews
POULENC
7 Chansons for Mixed Chorus. 4 petites prières de Saint François d’Assise. Ave verum corpus. Un soir de neige. Laudes of Saint Antoine of Padoue. Chansons françaises. Chanson à boire
•
Stephen Layton, cond; Danish Natl Voc Ens
•
OUR RECORDINGS 8226906 (56:13
Text and Translation)
The title of this album,
Half Monk, Half Rascal
—originally coined as “half monk, half thug” by critic Claude
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Rostand in 1950—sums up perfectly the two personalities of Francis Poulenc, a man as devoted to his Catholicism as he was to his gayness, though not necessarily in that order. Poulenc himself is quoted as having said, “You know that I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality.”
One has to love Claus Johansen’s seriocomic album note in which he declares that “Poulenc wrote modern music but couldn’t help creating melodies,” as if somehow the two are incompatible. It was largely the deaths of Poulenc’s close friend, the composer and critic Pierre-Octave Ferroud, in a gruesome car accident in 1935, and fellow artist Christian Bérard in 1949 that jump-started the long-neglected spiritual side of Poulenc’s persona and gave rise to much of the exquisite
a cappella
choral music on this disc.
The Seven Chansons, for example, though not prayers to saints or based on liturgical texts, as is the Eucharistic hymn
Ave verum corpus
, were composed in 1936, the year after the Ferroud tragedy, and every one of the seven numbers is a deeply sorrowful metaphoric contemplation on the pain of loss. The poetry by Paul Éluard and Guillaume Apollinaire, even in English translation, is incredibly rich in symbols of mortality—“Fighting with the hands of the clock,” “A pebble among the pebbles,” “The shortest day of the year and the Eskimo night.” Poulenc picked well, and his ear for the words is matched by his ear for the music to which he set them.
From late 1936 onward, a stream of religiously inspired works poured from Poulenc’s pen in two phases, the first following Ferroud’s death—the
Litanies à la Vierge Noire de Rocamadour
(1936), the Mass in G Major (1937), the Exultate Deo and
Salve Regina
(1941), and the
Quatre petites prières de Saint François d’Assise
on this disc (1948)—and the second phase following Bérard’s death—the
Stabat Mater
(1951), the
Ave verum corpus
on the current disc (1952), the
Laudes of Saint Antoine of Padoue
, also on the current disc (1959), the magnificent
Gloria
(1959), and the
Sept répons des ténèbres
(1961), one of the composer’s last works. Of course, not all of Poulenc’s vocal music composed during these years is of a religious inspiration or subtext. The eight songs that make up the
Chansons françaises
of 1945–46 are lighthearted and filled with the sort of sexual double entendre reminiscent of the late 16th-century English madrigal—the kinds of songs that earned Poulenc his “rascal” epithet. And finally, the
Chanson à boire
(Drinking Song), dating from 1922, is the earliest work on the disc, written by the 23-year-old composer during his libertine days of frequenting the Parisian music halls where he was exposed to the “irreverent, flippant aesthetic stance of Les Six.”
I would suggest listening to this disc the first time through without following the texts just to savor the variety of sonorities, the textures and flavors, Poulenc achieves with his choral scoring. All of these works are
a cappella
, but they differ considerably in the combinations of voices for which they’re written. The
Seven Chansons for Mixed Chorus
, as is obvious from the title, is scored for a choir of male and female voices. But the
Quatre petites prières de Saint François d’Assise
is written for men’s chorus, while the
Ave verum corpus
is for women’s voices only. In the
Chansons françaises
, Poulenc mixes it up, so to speak, scoring six of the eight songs for mixed choir and two of them, Nos. 4 and 6, “Clic, Clac, dansez sabots” and “La Belle si nous étions,” for male voices only. The
Laudes of Saint Antoine of Padoue
presents yet another interesting variation; it, too, is for men’s chorus only, but the work is written in three voices with parts for tenor, bass I, and bass II.
A total of 18 members—10 men and eight women—constitutes the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. Formed only as recently as 2007, the group has been acclaimed as one of the most impressive choral ensembles before the public today. The group has performed under a number of conductors; at the time this recording was made between 2008 and 2009, it was led by Stephen Layton. As of 2011, the baton has passed to Olaf Boman.
All of the works on this disc have been recorded a number of times over, most of them by Harry Christophers with The Sixteen and Richard Marlowe with the Cambridge Trinity College Choir. While I have the highest regard for both conductors and their choral societies, there’s something about the English sound that, in my opinion, doesn’t quite capture the French fragrance and voluptuousness of Poulenc’s writing. The Danes sing with a basting of
foie gras
that seems especially enhancing of the richness and complex flavors of this music.
This is a really beautiful program beautifully recorded to optimize the articulateness of the singers and the internal balances among the voices. I can’t imagine these works being performed more satisfyingly than they are here, and whether you’re unfamiliar with Poulenc’s vocal music or not, you owe yourself the treat of this release.
FANFARE: Jerry Dubins
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Works on This Recording
1.
Un soir de neige by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1944; France
2.
Petites prières (4) de Saint François d'Assise by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1948; France
3.
Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1957-1959; France
4.
Chansons françaises (8) by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1945; France
5.
Chansons (7) by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1936; France
6.
Chanson à boire by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1922; France
7.
Ave verum corpus by Francis Poulenc
Conductor:
Stephen Layton
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Danish National Vocal Ensemble
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1952; France
Sound Samples
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 1. La blanche neige (The White Snow)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 2. A peine defiguree (Hardly disfigured)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 3. Par une nuit nouvelle (A new night)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 4. Tous les droits (Every right)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 5. Belle et ressemblante (Beautiful and lifelike)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 6. Marie (Marie)
7 Chansons, FP 81: No. 7. Luire (Gleaming)
4 Petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise, FP 142: No. 1. Salut, Dame Sainte (Modere, mais sans lenteur)
4 Petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise, FP 142: No. 2. Tout puissant, tres saint (Majestueux et eclatant)
4 Petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise, FP 142: No. 3. Seigneur, je vous en prie (Tres expressif et fervent)
4 Petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise, FP 142: No. 4. O mes tres chers freres (Bien calme)
Ave verum corpus, FP 154: Ave verum corpus
Un soir de neige, FP 126: No. 1. De grandes cuillers de neige
Un soir de neige, FP 126: No. 2. La bonne neige
Un soir de neige, FP 126: No. 3. Bois meurtri
Un soir de neige, FP 126: No. 4. La nuit le froid la solitude
Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, FP 172: I. O Jesu
Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, FP 172: II. O proles
Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, FP 172: III. Laus Regi
Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, FP 172: IV. Si quaeris
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 1. Margoton va t'a l'iau
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 2. La belle se sied au pied de la tour
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 3. Pilons l'orge
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 4. Clic, clac, dansez sabots
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 5. C'est la petit' fill' du prince
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 6. La belle si nous etions
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 7. Ah! mon beau laboureur
Chansons francaises, FP 130: No. 8. Les tisserands
Chanson a boire, FP 31: Chanson a boire
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