Cover: The Closed Eyes (1890) by Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Hyperion CDA67623 · March 2008
Poulenc - Gloria & Motets
Polyphony, Stephen Layton (conductor)
- GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2008
- GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE
- GRAMOPHONE AWARDS SHORTLIST 2008
- GRAMOPHONE CRITICS' CHOICE
- CLASSICAL - MUSIC.COM (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE) - SIX OF THE BEST, CHRISTMAS 2012
Press
BBC Music Magazine2008If audience participation muddies the join-in carols in the King’s disc, here’s something cool, poised and honed to perfection. The breathtakingly precise Polyphony under Stephen Layton sing my favourite performance of these…Read the review 
Audiophile Audition2008Francis Poulenc’s compositions were known for their color, wit and charm in the 1920s and 1930s. But up to that time he wasn’t taken seriously as a great musician. After all, it was Schoenberg, Stravinsky etc. that were the…Read the review 
BBC Music Magazine2008Stephen Layton's tight control of his forces, both choral and orchestral, lends impeccable ensemble and heart-thumping excitement - has the opening tutti ever had such punch? Soprano Susan Gritton is superb, too, in her…Read the review 
Classic FM Magazine2008Read the review 
Gramophone Magazine2008Read the review 
International Record Review2008Poulenc’s Catholic faith is much written about. The familiar contradictions in his character, the saint versus the sinner, somehow served to ignite a flame in his music, it’s as if the musical realization of ecstasy tinged with…Read the review 
Music Web International2008I was 13 or 14 years old when I first heard Poulenc’s Gloria. Not knowing anything by or about this composer - the programme book for the concert only gave the text of the work and no notes on the composer - I couldn’t understand…Read the review 
Musical Criticism.com2008All things considered, Poulenc's Gloria has fared remarkably well on record, with recent versions by Jansons, Hickox and Tortelier ensuring that the piece has remained a favourite repertoire choice of numerous professional…Read the review 
The Daily Telegraph2008This is a real treat. Polyphony brings its characteristic incisiveness, precision and evenness of tone to Poulenc's unaccompanied Lenten and Christmas motets, Salve regina and Exultate Deo. But it is the account of the Gloria -…Read the review 
The Independent2008Read the review 
The Observer2008Read the review - BBC Music Magazine2008Read the review
- Classics Today.com2008It's hard to imagine a composer "retiring" (as good an idea as it might be for some we can think of), but that's just what the Estonian Veljo Tormis did in 2000 at age 70. And the more of his music we hear--and thankfully, that's…Read the review
Recorded: April 2007
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by Mike Hatch
Release date: March 2008
Total duration: 55 minutes 33 seconds
Track list
- Gloria: Gloria in excelsis DeoFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)2'43
- Gloria: Laudamus teFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)2'59
- Gloria: Domine DeusFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)4'31
- Gloria: Domini Fili unigeniteFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)1'18
- Gloria: Domine Deus, agnus DeiFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)6'25
- Gloria: Qui sedes ad dexteram PatrisFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)5'59
- Salve reginaFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)4'44
- Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence: Timor et tremorFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)3'01
- Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence: Vinea mea electaFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)3'50
- Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence: Tenebrae factae suntFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)4'05
- Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence: Tristis est anima meaFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)3'08
- Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël: O magnum mysteriumFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)3'15
- Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël: Quem vidistis pastores diciteFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)2'21
- Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël: Videntes stellamFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)2'31
- Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël: Hodie Christus natus estFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)1'59
- Exultate DeoFrancis Poulenc (1899-1963)2'44
Recording details from Hyperion Records.