Litanies à la Vierge Noire
Litanies à la Vierge noire | |
---|---|
Notre-Dame de Rocamadour | |
Sacred music by FP 82 | |
Text | Litany |
Language | French |
Composed | 1936 |
Scoring |
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Litanies à la Vierge noire (French pronunciation:
History
Poulenc returned to the Catholic faith of his youth in 1936 and began to compose sacred music with this piece. A few days earlier I'd just heard of the tragic death of my colleague ... As I meditated on the fragility of our human frame, I was drawn once more to the life of the spirit. Rocamadour had the effect of restoring me to the faith of my childhood. This sanctuary, undoubtedly the oldest in France ... had everything to captivate me ... The same evening of this visit to Rocamadour, I began my Litanies à la Vierge noire for female voices and organ. In that work I tried to get across the atmosphere of "peasant devotion" that had struck me so forcibly in that lofty chapel.[4]
The piece was published by Durand & Cie in Paris in 1937.[5]
Text and music
Poulenc heard the French text of the
Poulenc scored the litany for a three-part choir of women's voices or children's voices with organ accompaniment. The work is modal in the style of chant, avoiding conventional cadences. The organ adds several "dramatic dissonances".[6]
In 1947 Poulenc expanded the instrumentation to string orchestra and timpani.[5]
References
- ^ a b c McVicker 1994.
- ^ Cookson 2014.
- ^ Schmidt 1995.
- ^ Poulenc 2014.
- ^ a b BNF 2017.
- ^ Wise 2017.
Bibliography
- Cookson, Michael (2014). "Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) / Stabat Mater (1950) / Sept Répons des Ténèbres (1961/62)". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- McVicker, William (1994). "Litanies à la Vierge Noire 'Notre Dame de Rocamadour'". Hyperion. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- Poulenc, Francis (2014). Southon, Nicolas (ed.). Articles and Interviews – Notes from the Heart. Translated by Nichols, Roger Nichols. Burlington, US: Ashgate. ISBN 978-1-4094-6622-2.
- Schmidt, Carl B. (1995). The Music of Francis Poulenc (1899–1963): A Catalogue. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-816336-7.
- Wise, Brian (2017). "Francis Poulenc / Litanies à la Vierge Noire, for women's chorus & organ (or strings & timpani), FP 82". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- Litanies à la Vierge noire . Choeur de femmes ou d'enfants, orgue. FP 82 /liturgie (in French). BNF. 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.