Francis Poulenc: Liberté – Grex Vocalis

Profound experiences

Despite being refused entry to the Paris Conservatoire on the grounds that his music was not good enough, Francis Poulenc became one of the most prominent French composers of his age. His music will be remembered first and foremost for its unmistakable and inimitable style, which both represents the French tradition, and reflects the trends and tendencies of its time. Associated with the group “Les Six”, the very epitome of urban frivolity in the optimistic 1920s, Poulenc was known by a composer of tuneful melodies who aspired to avant-garde circles.

The music on this recording, performed by Grex Vocalis under conductor Carl Høgset, stems from two periods in Poulenc´s life which were marked by profound experiences. On one hand, the death of his friend Pierre-Octave Ferroud, which made the composer seek solace in his long-dormant Catholic faith. This religious reawakening inspired a period of creativity which resulted in the two sacred masterpieces “Messe on Sol Majeur” and “Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence”. Both works includes elements of French Renaissance, of jazz and the popular harmonies of the 1920s and 30s, and of religious and spiritual ecstasy. On the other hand, would the German occupation of France during World War II mark another profound experience for Poulenc. The choral works “Figure Humaine” and “Un soir de neige” both circles around the theme of human suffering: the former an intense and moving testimony to the senseless cruelty of the war, the latter a metaphor on human suffering through the themes of snow and winter.