Francis Poulenc

Review:

40397b | Songbook $5.95 | SSA

Review: This is a fun a cappella arrangement of the Poulenc classic song.

Songlist: Clic, clac, dansez sabots

9272b | Songbook $9.95 | TBB French Choral Arrangements

Review: French/English. Cantata for double chorus (SSATBB/SSATBB).

Songlist: De Tous Les Printemps (Poulenc), En Chantant Les Servantes (Poulenc), Aussi Bas Que Le Silence (Poulenc), Toi Ma Patiente (Poulenc), Riant Du Ciel Et Des Planetes (Poulenc), Le Jour Metonne Et La Nuit (Poulenc), La Menace Sous Le Ciel Rough (Poulenc), Liberte (Poulenc)

4344b | Songbook $34.95 | SSATBB French Choral Arrangements

Review: Over 40 songs in one collection, all in the original keys only. Includes several complete song groupings. Contents: Airs Chantes - Ce Doux Petit Visage - Cinq Poèmes de Max Jacob - Colloque - Deux Poèmes de G. Apollinaire - Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon - Epitaphe - Fiancailles poure rire - Huit Chansons Polonaises - Hymne - La Grenouillere - Le Disparu - Main dominee par le coeur - Metamorphoses - Miroirs Brulants - Parisiana - Portrait - Priez Pour Paix - Quatre Poèmes de G.Apollinaire - Toreador Song - Trois Poèmes de Louise Lalanne.

Songlist: Portrait, Hymne, Toreador Song, Airs Chantes, Epitaphe, Cinq Poemes De Max Jacob, Quatre Poemes De G.Apollinaire, Trois Poemes De Louise Lalanne, Huit Chansons Polonaises, Deux Poemes De G. Apollinaire, La Grenouillere (Poulenc), Priez Pour Paix (Poulenc), Miroirs Brulants, Ce Doux Petit Visage (Poulenc), Fiancailles Poure Rire, Colloque, Metamorphoses, Deux Poemes De Louis Aragon, Le Disparu (Poulenc), Main Dominee Par L Coeur(Poulenc, Parisiana

Voicing: Any

10046b | Songbook $34.95 | Solo

Review: Completed in 1952, Poulenc often returned to traditional forms of French church music popular in the Renaissance, such as the motet, that had fallen out of favor in the late eighteenth century. Following the narrative of the nativity, Poulenc intended that the movements be performed together.

Songlist: O magnum mysterium, Quem vidistis pastores dicite, Videntes stellam, Hodie Christus natus est

2652b | Songbook $9.95 | SATB French Choral Arrangements

Review: Poulenc was a member of Les Six, a group of young French composers, Milhaud, Auric, Durey, Honegger and Tailleferre, who also had links with Erik Satie and Jean Cocteau. He embraced the Dada movement's techniques, creating melodies that would have challenged what was considered appropriate for Parisian music halls. Here is a fine set of his unaccompanied choral works. With English translation by Robert Hess.

Songlist: La Blanche Neige, A peine defiguree (Barely Disfigured), Par une nuit nouvelle (Through a New Light), Tous les droits (All the Rights), Belle et ressemblante (Beautiful and Resembling), Marie, Luire (To Dawn)

9261b | Songbook $15.95 | SSAATTBB Arrangements for 8 Parts

Review: Includes a detailed preface and notes on the sources. Different songlist for each volume. HIGH VOICE (35 Songs) Contents: Toréador; Cocardes; Air champêtre; Air grave; Air vif; Trois Poèmes de Louise Lalanne; Cinq Poèmes de Max Jacob; Ce doux petit visage; Fiançailles pour rire; Les Chemins de l'amour; Colloque; Fêtes galantes; Parisiana; Le Courte Paille; la Dame de Monte-Carlo.

Voicing: High

10566b | Songbook $27.95 | Solo

Review: Poulenc wrote his Stabat Mater, a hauntingly passionate work, after visiting the sacred shrine of the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. Poulenc's journey profoundly changed his life and work as a composer. Like the Stabat Mater, the Litanies a la Vierge Noir is also inspired by the Black Virgin of Rocamadour. Recorded here in an unrivalled performance by the combined choirs of St. John's, Clare and Gonville and Caius Colleges, Cambridge, with the BBC Philharmonic with soprano Judith Howarth.

Songlist: Stabat mater dolorosa, Cujus animam gementem, O quam tristis, Quae moerebat, Quis est homo, Vidit suum, Eja mater, Fac ut ardeat, Sancta mater, Fac ut portem, Inflammatus et accensus, Quando corpus, Litanies a La Vierge Noire, Timor Et Tremor, Vinea Mea Electa, Tenebrae Factae Sunt, Tristis Est Anima Mea

6432dvd | DVD $29.95 Choral Performance DVDs

Review: A great two CD collection from the acclaimed French ensemble as directed by John Alldis.

Songlist: Exultate Deo, Litanies a la Vierge Noire, Quatre Motets Pour Un Temps de Penitence:, Salve Regina, Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, Ave Verum Corpus, Quatre Motets Pour le Temps de Noel:, Sept Chansons, Figure humaine, Chansons francaises, Un Soir De Neige, Chanson a boire

7527c | 2 CDs $14.95

Review: Francis Poulenc's interest in choral music began in the early 1920's. During his study with the composer Koechlin, he harmonized Bach chorale melodies. This work had a distinct influence on him. It was not until the 1930's that he began to write for the choral medium more seriously. Poulenc wrote many pieces for accompanied and unaccompanied choir. His astonishing music has very twentieth century sounds but is heavily influenced by earlier styles. The "Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence" have a very dark and dramatic intensity much like the pieces of Victoria, who Poulenc often thought about while writing them. The Cambridge Singers have recorded many of his great choral works. This album includes the "Gloria" for soprano solo, mixed choir and orchestra, "Litanies a la Vierge Noire" for female voices, strings and timpani and many of his unaccompanied motets.

Songlist: Gloria:, Gloria, Laudamus Te, Domine Deus, -Domine Fili unigenite, Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, Salve Regina, Ave Verum Corpus, Exultate Deo, Litanies a la Vierge Noire, Quatre Motets Pour Un Temps de Penitence:, Timor et tremor, Vinea mea electa, Tenebrae factae sunt, Tristis est anima mea, Quatre Motets Pour le Temps de Noel:, O Magnum Mysterium, Quem vidistis pastores dicite, Videntes stellam, Hodie Christus natus est

6998c | 1 CD $11.98

Review: A gloriously beautiful choral offering for the Poulenc Centenary year; the perfect introduction to his music and one that truly celebrates the human voice. While no other CD duplicates the programme exactly, all the music is justly familiar. The earliest works are the Sept Chansons of 1936, hailed as comparable to the finest madrigals of Monteverdi. His masterpiece is perhaps the wartime Figure Humaine, written in preparation of when liberation could be celebrated with the majestic climax of the final Liberte. Contemporary with this is the chamber cantata Un Soir de Neige, contrasting the bleak coldness with the peace of Christmas. Among the many delights of this beautiful programme are Poulenc's most popular choral pieces, the four Christmas Motets, tranquil and joyful by turn, and the Four Little Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi, written for monks to sing. His last motet, for female voices, was the exquisite Ave verum corpus of 1952.

Songlist: La Blanche Neige, A Peine Defiguree, Par Une Nuit Nouvelle, Tous Les Droits, Belle Et Ressemblante, Marie, Lurie, Ave Verum Corpus, Salve Regina, Exultate Deo, De Tous Les Printemps Du Monde, En Chantant Les Servants S'elancent, Aussie Bas Que Le Silence, Toi Ma Patiente, Riante Du Ciel Et Des Planetes, Le Jour M'etonne Et La Nuit Me Fait Peur, La Menace Sous Le Ciel Rouge, Liberte, Salut, Dame Sainte, Tout Puissant Dieu, Seigneur, Je Vous En Prie, O Mes Tres Chers Freres, La Blanche Neige (De Grandes Cuillers De Neige), La Bonne Neige, Bois Meurtri, La Nuit, Le Froid, La Solitude, O Magnum Mysterium, Quem Vidistis Pastores, Videntes Stellam, Hodie Christus Natus Est

6538c | 1 CD $15.98

Review: Throughout the disc Higginbottom draws exemplary clarity of texture from his New College choristers; the tantalizing, almost acidic harmonies of all these pieces are laid out like jewels ready for the closest of inspections. Moments of beauty (and they come thick and fast) are deliciously understated . . . for performances which are full of musical and artistic integrity and a real sense of involvement with the music, these from New College, Oxford are in a class of their own.

Songlist: Salve Regina, Quatre petites prieres de Saint Francois d'Assise:, -Salut, Dame Sainte, -Tout puissant, tres saint, -Seigneur, je vous en prie, -O mes tres chers freres, Exultate Deo, O sacrum convivium, Quem vidistis pastores dicite, Videntes stellam, Attende Domine, Op. 45, O magnum mysterium, Hodie Christus natus est, Messe en sol majeur:, -Kyrie, -Gloria, -Sanctus, -Benedictus, -Agnus Dei, Panis Angelicus, Op. 80, Hymne a la Vierge, Op. 24, Litanies a la Vierge noire

8760c | 1 CD $16.95

Review: Stephen Layton and Polyphony continue to blaze a trail as dazzling interpreters of a wide range of choral music. Here they turn to some of the most bewitching and distinctive choral works of the twentieth century. Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) imbued this well-loved music with a deep expression of his faith and unique personality. Each motet, with its own delightfully etched character, echoes the composer's study of Bach, Monteverdi, Palestrina, or Gabrieli, but remains stylistically progressive, containing Poulenc's ingenious chord progressions. The Gloria is one of his most enduringly appealing works. In some ways straightforwardly pious, it is also tinged with mischievous irreverence and a sense of rollicking enjoyment - facets which are deftly captured here by the soprano soloist Susan Gritton, Polyphony, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Britten Sinfonia, all led by Stephen Layton.

Songlist: Gloria in excelsis Deo, Laudamus te, Domine Deus, Domini Fili unigenite, Domini Deus, angus Dei, Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, Salve Regina, Timor et tremor, Vinea mea electa, Tenebrae factae sunt, Tristis est anima mea, O magnum mysterium, Quem vidistis pastores dicite, Videntes stellam, Hodie Christus natus est, Exultate Deo

8881c | 1 CD $18.95

Review: Poulenc's choral works constitute a high point in the choral art of the twentieth century. Figure humaine is probably Poulenc's most original choral score. Written in the middle of World War II, this cantata set to eluard's texts includes the famous Liberte, a poem that the RAF dropped in the form of leaflets over France. Quatre petites prieres de saint Francois d'Assise was composed in 1948 at the request of the composer's nephew, Brother Jerome Poulenc. These four short prayers to texts by Saint Francis of Assisi are dedicated to the Friars Minor of Champfleury. Poulenc's Sept chansons for mixed chorus bring together poems by Apollinaire and eluard. Influenced by Monteverdi, they belong to the tradition of Debussy's Trois chansons de Charles d'Orleans. Since its foundation after the Second World War, the RIAS-Kammerchor has played an important role in the musical life of Berlin. Contemporary music has always been at the heart of its repertoire and these performances, led by Daniel Reuss are presented with innate understanding and deep reverence.

Songlist: Sept Chansons, Un Soir De Neige, Figure humaine, cantata for 12 voices, Quatre Petites De St. Francois d'Assise, Chanson a boire, for male chorus

7899c | 1 CD $16.98 German Choral Music

Review: Simon Phipps Vocal Ensemble was formed in 1997. Most of the 26 singers have a professional background in music, and several of them are working as musicians in and around Goteborg. The ensemble was named Choir of the Year 2006 by Rikskonserter. During the last few years Simon Phipps Vocal Ensemble has established itself as one of Sweden's most prominent choirs. By winning a number of competitions, both nationally and around Europe, it has consolidated its position as an ensemble with a high quality of sound and a particular depth of repertoire. Sacre et Profane consists of choir music by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), with lyrics by great French poets such as Paul Eluard and Guillaume Apollinaire. Poulenc is perhaps primarily regarded as a composer of vocal works: solo songs, choir music, oratories and operas, music that he set to lyrics of a high literary quality. Simon Phipps Vocal Ensemble has previously made a recording of music by Benjamin Britten (FRCD 006). A third CD is in the making, and will include works by Johannes Brahms. These three records reflect the composers' interpretations of both sacred and secular lyrics. Thus their common designation "sacred and secular".

Songlist: O Magnum Mysterium, Quem Vidistis Pastores Dicite, Videntes Stellam, Hodie Christus Natus Est, Salve Regina, Timor Et Tremor, Vinea Mea Electa, Tenebrae Factae Sunt, Tristis Est Anima Mea, Exultate Deo, La Blanche Neige, A Peine Defiguree, Par Une Nuit Nouvelle, Tous Les Droits, Belle Et Ressemblante, Marie, Luire, De Grandes Cuillers De Neige, La Bonne Neige, ois Meutri, La Nuit, Le Froid, La Solitude, MArgooton, Va Ta L'iau, La Belle Se Sied Au Pied De La Tour, Pilons I'orge, C'est La Petit Fill Du Prince, Ah Mon Beau Laboureur, Les Tisserands

8536c | 1 CD $15.95 Swedish Choral Music

Review: Poulenc compiled a catalogue of 150 songs, a body of work of consistently high quality, containing great diversity, that marks him out as the last major exponent of this genre of music. This volume is part of Musique vocale française, a series devoted to French vocal repertoire - both in original and transposed key - designed for students and teachers as well as professionals. This lovely volume features new engravings, original poems, and English translations. Contents include: Toréador (Chanson hispano-italienne) - Le Bestiaire (ou Cortège d'Orphée): Le Dromadaire, La Chèvre du Thibet, La Sauterelle, Le Dauphin, L'Ecrevisse, La Carpe - Airs chantés: Air romantique, Air champêtre, Air grave, Air vif - Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire: L'Anguille, Carte postale, Avant le cinema, 1904 - Tel jour telle nuit: Bonne journée, Une ruine coquille vide, Le Front comme un drapeau perdu, Une roulotte couverte en tuiles, À toutes brides, Une herbe pauvre, Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer, Figure de force brûlante et farouche, Nous avons fait la nuit - Ce doux petit visage - Fiançailles pour rire: La Dame d'André, Dans l'herbe, Il vole, Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant, Violon, Fleurs - Bleuet - Les Chemins de l'amour (Valse chantée extraite de Léocadia) - Banalités: Chanson d'Orkenise, Hôtel, Fagnes de Wallonie, Voyage à Paris, Sanglots - Métamorphoses: Reine de mouettes,C'est ainsi que tu es, Paganini - Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon: C., Fêtes galantes - La Courte Paille: Le Sommeil, Quelle aventure!, La Reine de coeur, Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu, Les Anges musiciens, Le Carafon, Lune d'avril.

Voicing: High

10579b | Songbook $22.95 | Solo

Review: Poulenc compiled a catalogue of 150 songs, a body of work of consistently high quality, containing great diversity, that marks him oout as the last major exponent of this genre of music. This volume is part of Musique vocale francaise, a series devoted to French vocal repertoire - both in original and transposed key - designed for students and teachers as well as professionals. This lovely edition also features new engravings, original poems, and English translations. Contents include: Toréador (Chanson hispano-italienne) - Le Bestiaire (ou Cortège d'Orphée): Le Dromadaire, La Chèvre du Thibet, La Sauterelle, Le Dauphin, L'Ecrevisse, La Carpe - Airs chantés: Air romantique, Air champêtre, Air grave, Air vif - Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire: L'Anguille, Carte postale, Avant le cinema, 1904 - Tel jour telle nuit: Bonne journée, Une ruine coquille vide, Le Front comme un drapeau perdu, Une roulotte couverte en tuiles, À toutes brides, Une herbe pauvre, Je n'ai envie que de t'aimer, Figure de force brûlante et farouche, Nous avons fait la nuit - Ce doux petit visage - Fiançailles pour rire: La Dame d'André, Dans l'herbe, Il vole, Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant, Violon, Fleurs - Bleuet - Les Chemins de l'amour (Valse chantée extraite de Léocadia) - Banalités: Chanson d'Orkenise, Hôtel, Fagnes de Wallonie, Voyage à Paris, Sanglots - Métamorphoses: Reine de mouettes,C'est ainsi que tu es, Paganini - Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon: C., Fêtes galantes - La Courte Paille: Le Sommeil, Quelle aventure!, La Reine de coeur, Ba, Be, Bi, Bo, Bu, Les Anges musiciens, Le Carafon, Lune d'avril.

Voicing: Medium Low

10580b | Songbook $22.95 | Solo