Francis Poulenc thought highly of his own unaccompanied choral music, but when the two albums combined here were released in 1998 and 1999, major recordings of it were sparse. Since then, recordings by such crack choral groups as Tenebrae, the Sixteen, and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble have come along, and many of these do impressive things with the spacing and registral effects, what one writer called the "aeration," in the music. But this collection still has much to recommend it besides its budget price. The ...
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Francis Poulenc thought highly of his own unaccompanied choral music, but when the two albums combined here were released in 1998 and 1999, major recordings of it were sparse. Since then, recordings by such crack choral groups as Tenebrae, the Sixteen, and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble have come along, and many of these do impressive things with the spacing and registral effects, what one writer called the "aeration," in the music. But this collection still has much to recommend it besides its budget price. The combination of sacred and secular provides food for thought in connection with how the composer's style was affected by his religious conversion in 1936. Clearly, such works as the Quatre petits prières de Saint François d'Assise (Four Little Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi), composed in 1948, reflect a new style that is simplified and pared down over and above the music's religious function. That said, the melodic essence of Poulenc's music, whose semi-popular quality has led to its...
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