Symphonischer Chor Hamburg / Neue Philharmonie Hamburg / Matthias Janz

Between worlds

Francis Poulenc had a mischievous streak in his neck. Contemporaries accused him of lacking seriousness in his Gloria – and indeed, movements two and four are quite jokey. He was called a »monk and rascal« because he was also capable of serious inner reflection. He considered his music to be as cheerful and pious as monks playing soccer, which he had once observed. The other movements of the Gloria show other typical characteristics of Francis Poulenc’s music: heroic sound with timpani and trumpets at the beginning, intimate sounds with woodwinds, solo singing and choir in the third movement and a large, softer sound in the finale. Poulenc himself said: »I believe I have brought the best and most credible aspect of myself into my choral music.«