Album Description

The Choral Pilgrimage 2017

Francis Poulenc is considered one of the greatest melodists of the 20th century but it is his individual and immediately recognisable harmonic language that makes his music so distinctive. Often overlooked in his lifetime and in the years after his death, his sacred music was an expression of his more serious side and, following the death of his close friend, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, a re-awakening of his religious faith. The Sixteen’s new recording centres round the themes of conflict and atonement, reflecting both Poulenc’s intense internal struggles and the turbulence of life in France during the mid-20th century.

Artists

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Reviews

'The Sixteen combine fearless accuracy with affecting warmth; one can’t imagine this music being better performed. You'd want to rescue this CD from a burning building, and the recording quality is glorious.'  theartsdesk.com

'This latest release does not disappoint. This is a sumptuous recording of flawless singing and intense music-making... the fullness of the choral sound is hard to beat and their rhythmically exhilarating Gloria is the stuff of dreams.'  Gramophone

'The Sixteen perfectly convey that combination [of sadness and hope] in a nuanced and faithful version of motets and other pieces that deal most directly with the the themes of atonement and struggle.' Choir & Organ 

Track Listing:

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

1. Salve regina (1941) FP 110

Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence (1938-9) FP 97 
2. Timor et tremor
3. Vinea mea electa
4. Tenebrae factae sunt
5. Tristis est anima mea

6. Litanies à la Vierge Noire (1936) FP 82 

Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël (1951-2) FP 152
7. O magnum mysterium
8. Quem vidistis pastores
9. Videntes stellam
10. Hodie Christus natus est

Un soir de neige (1944) FP 126
10. De grandes cuillers de neige
11. La bonne neige
12. Bois meurtri
13. La nuit le froid la solitude

Ave verum corpus (1952) FP 154

Mass in G (1937) FP 89
16. Kyrie
17. Gloria
18. Sanctus
19. Benedictus
20. Agnus Dei

Total Running Time                64.39