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Gabriel Fauré's
sublime Requiem
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D Minor, (Op. 48) between 1887
and 1890. The Requiem is the best known of his large works.
Camille Saint-Saëns said of it, "just as
Mozart's is the only
Ave verum Corpus, this is the only
Pie Jesu."
Fauré's reasons for composing his Requiem are uncertain. One possible impetus
may have been the death of Fauré's father in 1885, and his mother's death two
years later on New Year's Eve 1887. However, by the time of his mother's death
he had already begun the work, which he later declared was "composed for nothing
… for fun, if I may be permitted to say so!"
In 1887–88, Fauré composed the first version of the work, which he called "un
petit Requiem" with five movements (Introit
and Kyrie,
Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei and In
Paradisum), but did not include the "Libera
Me". This version was first performed January 16, 1888 under the
composer’s direction in La Madeleine in Paris. The treble soloist was Louis
Aubert, and the occasion was the funeral of one Joseph La Soufaché, an
architect.
In 1889, Fauré added the "Hostias" portion of the Offertory and in 1890 he
expanded the Offertory and added the 1877 "Libera Me". This second version,
known today as the chamber orchestra version, was premièred January 21, 1893,
again at the Madeleine with Fauré conducting.
In 1899–1900, the score was reworked for full orchestra. There is some
question as to whether this was the work of Fauré himself or one of his
students. This version was premiered April 6, 1900. It was the best known
version until British composer John Rutter rediscovered Fauré's original
manuscript of the chamber orchestra version in the Bibliothèque Nationale in
Paris in the early 1980s. It is this version that we will be performing in
April.
In 1924 the Requiem was performed at Fauré's own funeral, and it was first
performed in the United States in 1931. (Wikipedia)
Francis Poulenc's joyful Gloria
The Gloria by Francis Poulenc (FP 177), scored for soprano solo, large
orchestra, and chorus, is a setting of the Roman Catholic Gloria in excelsis
Deo text. One of Poulenc's most celebrated works, the Gloria was
commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation in honor of Sergei Koussevitzky and
his wife Natalia, the namesakes of the foundation. It was premiered on January
21, 1961 in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus Pro Musica
under conductor Charles Münch.
While the text of the Gloria is taken from the Latin mass, Poulenc
does not so much set the text but rather adds its sounds and rhythms to his
musical palette. Poulenc deliberately contrasts the word and musical accents,
clearly heard in the opening phrase "Gloria in excelsis Deo." The
most idiosyncratic music belongs to the bouncy, rhythmic Laudamus te,
which created quite a bit of controversy and was denounced by critics as
irreverent. Poulenc responded, "In writing it, I simply thought of those
frescoes of Gozzoli in which the angels are sticking out their tongues and also
of those serious Benedictine monks whom I spotted one day playing soccer." The
third and fifth sections feature the soprano solo in beautiful but quite angular
melodic lines with treacherously wide intervals, lines which are almost mirror
images of each other. The final section is punctuated by restatements of the
opening orchestral fanfare, leading into a wonderful a cappella "Amen"
for the soprano solo and ending with the most exquisitely lovely melody in the
entire work, appended as a sort of coda before the final "Amen."
Poulenc's writing was fundamentally tonal, but his concept of key signature
was a fluid one, and his music abounds with sudden changes in dynamic, rhythmic
and harmonic structure. He often works in short musical phrases, repeating them
with subtle variation. Above all, he continually combines and recombines groups
of voices and instruments, affording him not only a wide variety of musical
color but also a sound of wonderful clarity and precision. (Michael Moore) |
