Glory! Glory!

Camden Choir

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (1899–1963) was born in Paris and  became one of ‘Les Six’, a group that aimed to break away from the twin influences of Germanic formality and French impressionism.
   Gloria was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Music Foundation: the first performance was in January 1961. It enjoyed immediate acclaim and has remained a firm favourite with performers and audiences ever since. The texts of Gloria are the same as used by Vivaldi, but divided differently into six movements, and with the words juxtaposed almost in free association at times. 
     Every motive or phrase is immediately repeated or echoed, while the last movement feels almost like a ‘mashup’ of the five before it, featuring both motivic and tonal content from all of them. Poulenc finally fades out the work with a sombre echoing Amen sure to leave the listeners hanging on to the very last moments of music. 

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was born in Venice, and little is known of his early years. He was ordained in 1703, but his health was allegedly too delicate to allow him to discharge his religious duties. At the age of 24 he began working at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. This was an orphanage/home for the illegitimate daughters of Venetian noblemen and their mistresses. 
     The Ospedale prided itself on the quality of its musical education and the excellence of its choir and orchestra. It was for these forces that he composed this Gloria (RV589), probably in 1715. Vivaldi’s most famous choral piece presents the traditional Gloria from the Latin Mass in twelve varied cantata-like sections. Its wonderfully sunny nature, with its distinctive melodies and rhythms, gives it an immediate and universal appeal.