Poulenc Figure Humaine

 Day 60

Poulenc Figure Humaine

Monteverdi Choir

John Elliot Gardiner

My earliest memories of Poulenc’s music was in a BBC documentary presented by John Amis, where I particularly remember the adagietto from Les Biches - still a favourite piece. I got to know several other Poulenc pieces but those were mainly in his lighter earlier style. I was aware that as he got older his musical language broadened to reflect his strong religious views but this was the first time I had heard any of his later, more serious choral music.

What a fabulous piece this is. It was written in wartime France and is a plea for liberty and freedom. It it scored for double choir of six parts each and there are frequent subdivisions within each voice line. The idiom is tonal but highly chromatic - it must be an absolute nightmare to sing and it is not performed very often - its first performance was by the BBC singers in 1945.  There is an intensity to this music which, even though I knew that the music would be in a very different style to the Poulenc that I know and love, still came as a surprise. I suspect that the effect in a live performance, especially as it moves to the final shout of Liberté,  complete with top E in the soprano line, must be overwhelming. There are some reminders of Poulenc’s lighter style, with some quite juicy 7th and 9th chords - if you heard the music cold you might possibly think it was by Britten but  this really has a character all of its own,

It is had to think now that at one time Honegger and Milhaud were regarded as the leading composers within Les Six. Time has now shown us that the real genius was Poulenc.