The buyer seeking an overview of Francis Poulenc's music and of its place in its own time would be disappointed upon purchasing this disc, despite its title of Poulenc and His Contemporaries. The program focuses on one specific part of his career: the religious choral music, mostly a cappella, that he wrote later in life, after a experiencing a renewed impulse toward Catholic worship after the untimely death of a friend. And the other composer with multiple works appearing on the album, Pierre Villette (there is also one ...
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The buyer seeking an overview of Francis Poulenc's music and of its place in its own time would be disappointed upon purchasing this disc, despite its title of Poulenc and His Contemporaries. The program focuses on one specific part of his career: the religious choral music, mostly a cappella, that he wrote later in life, after a experiencing a renewed impulse toward Catholic worship after the untimely death of a friend. And the other composer with multiple works appearing on the album, Pierre Villette (there is also one short but tantalizing piece by Messiaen), is not a contemporary of Poulenc; born in 1926, he was very much Poulenc's successor. What the disc does do, however, it does very well. Several of the Poulenc pieces sung here (O magnum mysterium, Quem vidistis pastores dicite) are well loved among habitual choristers; they combine a classical sobriety with a very seductive French tunefulness. The all-male Choir of New College Oxford takes a rather cool approach to Poulenc; if you like to hear...
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