In 1936, a friend and colleague of Poulenc's died in a car accident. Poulenc subsequently sought solace at the Black Madonna at Rocamadour in the Pyrenees. The loss and the pilgrimage became a turning point in Poulenc's life and work, resulting in a series of religious compositions. First came Litanies à la Vierge Noire, after a text Poulenc obtained at Rocamadour. 'The three of us went into the
… abandoned chapel with the statue of the Black Madonna. Ostensibly nothing seemed to happen, but from that moment everything changed in Poulenc's spiritual life,' said choral director Yvonne Gouverné, who was there. The Litanies, Poulenc's first religious choral work, is quite bare and distant, like a ritual. Which does not stop Les Siècles from putting the dramatic accents sharply. Less severe, but no less expressive, is Poulenc's Stabat Mater (premiered 1951). It was Poulenc's first choral composition accompanied by an orchestra. Poulenc is among Ensemble Aedes' favorite composers. This has been the case since they took Poulenc's cantata Un Soir De Neige on the repertoire in 2005. (HJ)more
