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Francis Poulenc’s “Gloria”

For Valentine’s Day, my wife bought us tickets to attend a performance at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. I wanted to attend this specific concert because one of the pieces being performed was Francis Poulenc’s Gloria, which is one of my favorite choral works. Also for the night three songs from Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, Joseph Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, and Ralph Vaughan Williams‘ Toward the Unknown Region. Twyla Robinson was the featured soprano.

The Wozzeck songs were done well (surprisingly I thought given the ISO’s strengths tend to the Romantic and Classical), but Robinson’s voice was unable to rise above the orchestra, so much of her performance was lost. The Little Organ Mass was well performed by the ISO and the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. This orchestration for this piece is small, thus feeling like an intimate mass (I imagined the Esterhazies hearing this in their private chapel). Robinson’s performance here was not, I think, very strong. In particular, her annunciation of the the Latin was extremely poor, so her singing sounded more like a string of vowels or consonants, but not of words. Toward the Unknown Region, based on a poem by Whitman, was much stronger, primarily because this choral piece did not feature Robinson, and Conductor Mario Venzago led the symphony and choir with a gusto.

But I came to hear Gloria. This piece was not too badly marred by Robinson, but again her annunciation was poor. Her ending Amen sounded more like “Mmmmm-nnnnnnn.” However, the orchestra and choir did a good job at catching the spunkiness, the jazziness, and the sacredness that Poulenc embedded in it. Gloria is set to the text “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” One of the reasons I like this piece is that it finds in the text and expresses it through the music the joy and mystery of God, and Poulenc finds a unique expression of this with his humor and jazz. He has commented about how he saw in this music a bit of the spirit he saw in serious Benedictine monks playing soccer. So much of the music is unexpected in its playfulness. The “Laudamus te” section of the piece is fully of that jazzy punchiness. That section is followed by the “Domine Deus” section, which uses the solo soprano vocals in a melancholic, sacred tone. Robinson failed to achieve that startling, beautiful quality you can hear in Catherine Dubosc’s performance in my favorite version of Gloria. So I imagine the monks kicking the ball around and then heading back to their monastery for vespers.

The recording I own was conducted by Richard Hickox. The cover image is beautiful interior shot of the Pantheon in Rome, and this seems appropriate for Gloria. That beautiful interior space lit by natural light. Adding on layers of meaning, the pagan Pantheon becoming the Catholic Church of today. Again, a combination of the sacred and the everyday. The music on this album is wonderfully done.

Poulenc also composed what is probably my favorite opera: Dialogues des Carmélites. Early in Poulenc’s career, he was affiliated by Les Six, though the music Poulenc composed with that group is lighter fair – sonatas and bagatelles for flutes and oboes and other instruments. These short works are delightful and fun, but tragedy seems to have brought out the real genius of his music. A couple of his friends died tragically, but a fellow composer’s, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, fatal accident led Poulenc to visit the Black Virgin of Rocamadour, which in turn led to a profound spiritual transformation. After this, we begin to hear the genius of Poulence in Gloria, Stabat Mater, and Dialogues des Carmélites. In this latter work, we find fine vocal music with strong, beautiful melodies. In some sense, Poulenc is like a poet with strong opening lines. The opening of Gloria and Dialogues des Carmélites are immediately striking and, for me, unforgettable. And what else do we want from music but striking sounds the compel listening to again.

W.B. Yeats at the National Library of Ireland

I just stumbled across this link a couple of days ago (and I cannot recall where). I’ve barely begun to explore this exhibition at the National Library of Ireland, but what I’ve seen so far is very impressive.

Jared Carter at Celebrate Life – Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Jared Carter will be among those scheduled to speak at the anti-death penalty gathering at the Indiana Statehouse. He’ll be reading brief excerpts from the works of Orwell, Whitman, and Donne. Here’s a brief description of the event:

The tenth annual Celebrate Life – Alternatives to the Death Penalty is held in observance of Michigan’s abolition of the death penalty in 1849. A number of Indiana groups join to sponsor the annual meeting.

Amnesty International USA Indiana will recognize Glenda Breeden as the Indiana Abolitionist of the Year. Eunice Timoney Ravenna from Equal Justice USA will discuss the progress toward abolition the Midwest has made in the past ten years.

If you support alternatives to the death penalty, please consider attending. If you can arrive early, please stop in and say hello to your state senator or representative in order to let them know that you stand on this important issue

When: March 4, 2009 at 4:30 P.M.

Where: Capitol Rotunda
200 West Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN

Enter the Capitol through the lower west or east entrances and allow yourself enough time to proceed through security.

For more information, contact Karen Burkhart at (317) 839-1618 or go to this web site: http://www.amnestyusa.org/events/midwest/celebrate-alternatives-to-the-death-penalty/page.do?id=1121044