{"id":18153,"date":"2022-08-02T17:25:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=169669"},"modified":"2022-08-02T17:41:15","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T15:41:15","slug":"the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets\/","title":{"rendered":"The best recordings of Poulenc\u2019s Four Christmas Motets"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Terry Blain\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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P<\/span>oulenc as a religious composer? To those who know the colourful orchestral works, the worldly songs and the ebullient chamber pieces, it can be a difficult idea to get used to. Speaking of his sacred music, though, Poulenc said \u2018I think I\u2019ve put the best and most genuine part of myself into it\u2019, and the Catholic ethos of the composer\u2019s childhood became increasingly important as he got older and suffered life\u2019s buffetings \u2013\u00a0his \u2018peasant devotion\u2019, he called it, \u2018distinctive and hereditary in me\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Into this co<\/span>ntext fit the Quatre Motets pour le Temps de No\u00ebl <\/i>(Four Christmas Motets), a setting of Latin texts completed in 1952, when Poulenc was 53. The nativity scene, the shepherds, and the Wise Men\u2019s arrival are depicted in three meditative movements. The fourth explodes with joy \u2013 \u2018Christ is born today!\u2019 \u2013 recalling Poulenc\u2019s early years as Parisian boulevardier and party <\/span>animal.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h2>The best recordings of Poulenc\u2019s Four Christmas Motets<\/h2>\nGeorge Guest (conductor)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nChoir of St John\u2019s College, Cambridge (1988)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nChandos CHAN 10448 X<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIN HIS 40 YEARS as director of music at St John\u2019s College, Cambridge, George Guest built a formidable choir of boy choristers and male undergraduates. He had a particular affinity for French repertoire, and it\u2019s no surprise his recording of Poulenc\u2019s Christmas Motets is so vividly successful.<\/span><\/p>\nEven in the hushed opening of \u2018O magnum mysterium\u2019, which can seem flat and sleepy, Guest is already conjuring atmosphere, the subtle dynamic inflections of the lower voices sharpening expectations. The treble entry, when it comes, is pure and silvery, and the tenors match it at \u2018Beata virgo\u2019, which rises up gleaming and supple from the choral textures.<\/span><\/p>\nGuest\u2019s expert balancing of the four voice-parts reveals more of the detail in Poulenc\u2019s often tart, surprising harmonisations than in any competing version. The awkward side-steps on \u2018aurum, thus et myrrham\u2019 (\u2018gold, frankincense and myrrh\u2019) in \u2018Videntes stellam\u2019, and again at the conclusion, are pitch-perfectly tuned, and heighten the sense of strangeness Poulenc finds in the story of the Magi\u2019s visit.<\/span><\/p>\nThe nuanced account of \u2018Hodie Christus natus est\u2019 \u2013 often an aggressive shout-fest \u2013 underlines the infectious alacrity Guest brings to the music-making, and his ability to give the Latin words meaning. It caps a wonderfully warm, involving performance, ideally captured by the Chandos team.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Charpentier-Messe-Minuit-Poulenc-Motets\/dp\/B000YKNI64\/ref=sr_1_10?tag=classicalm05c-21&ascsubtag=classicalmusic-0"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""sponsored" noopener noreferrer\">Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/\/www.whsmith.co.uk\/products\/french-choral-music-st-johns-college-choir\/0095115144824.html"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""noopener" noopener noreferrer\">Buy from WH Smith<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>\n<\/li><\/ul><h3 class=\""p1"\">M<\/span>artin Neary (conductor)<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\nWinchester Cathedral Choir (1987)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWarner Classics 972 1652<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIt says something for the technical control and concentration the Winchester singers bring to bear that conductor Martin Neary can add a full minute to the standard three-minute timing for the opening \u2018O magnum mysterium\u2019, and not reap negative consequences. On the contrary, this is a raptly sustained piece of singing, more meditatively inclined and inward-looking than most rival versions. And while Neary\u2019s vocal blending is silkier and more homogenised than Guest\u2019s, the Winchester choir is still capable of cutting attacks when necessary \u2013 at \u2018Dicite quidnam vidistis\u2019 in \u2018Quem vidistis pastores\u2019, for instance, and in an ebullient \u2018Hodie\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Poulenc-Integrale-50e-anniversaire-1963-2013\/dp\/B0091JQH76\/ref=asc_df_B0091JQH76\/?tag=classicalm05c-21&ascsubtag=classicalmusic-0"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""sponsored" noopener noreferrer\">Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Spotify\" embed:=\"\" poulenc:=\"\" motets=\"\" pour=\"\" le=\"\" temps=\"\" de=\"\" no=\"\" fp=\"\" no.=\"\" videntes=\"\" stellam=\"\" style=\""border-radius:\" width=\""100%"\" height=\""80"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\""autoplay;\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" fullscreen=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" src=\""https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/track\/5to1AKMvOT3l7mzIgnPfV3?utm_source=oembed"\"\/>\n<h3 class=\""p2"\">Harry Christophers (conductor)<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\nThe Sixteen (1990)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nErato 562 4312\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nOf all the versions sung by adult voices, this is the one which gets closest to achieving the clarity of texture and harmonic movement which distinguishes the St John\u2019s College interpretation. This is partly to do with the excellently engineered recording, which, while allowing resonance, keeps the individual parts clearly focused. But the technical excellence of The Sixteen is the really telling factor. Their detailed responsiveness to conductor Harry Christophers\u2019s sensitive presentation of the music is never self-advertising, or bought at the expense of obvious strain or effort. The pointillistic precision at the opening of \u2018Videntes stellam\u2019 and the combination of nimbleness and dynamism in \u2018Hodie\u2019 are just two highlights in a performance of outstanding all-round accomplishment.<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/music\/player\/albums\/B00ME8FKSI?tag=classicalm05c-21&ascsubtag=classicalmusic-0"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""sponsored" noopener noreferrer\">Stream on Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<section class=\""highlight\"><div class=\""highlight__content\" editor-content=\"\"> \n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/the-sixteens-best-christmas-recordings\/"\">The Sixteen\u2019s best Christmas recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul> <\/p><\/div> <\/section><h3 class=\""p2"\">John Rutter (conductor)<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Cambridge Singers (2002)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nCollegium CSCD506<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nPitched somewhere between the fresh, youthful Oxbridge college sound and a fully adult choir like The Sixteen are John Rutter\u2019s mixed-voice Cambridge Singers. In Rutter\u2019s hands, \u2018O magnum mysterium\u2019 has a lissome, sensual quality, the sopranos achieving a pure, crystalline tonal quality which is particularly alluring. Vibrato is kept to an absolute minimum, which means that this is one of the best-tuned versions available, and one of the few where the hummed sections in \u2018Quem vidistis pastores\u2019 are more than a bleary buzz in the background. Rutter\u2019s \u2018Hodie Christus natus est\u2019 is also one of the best there is \u2013 rhythmically precise, yet bursting with exuberance. A sparkling performance of the Gloria adds further enticement to this excellent Poulenc anthology.<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/music\/player\/albums\/B0059VNMGY?tag=classicalm05c-21&ascsubtag=classicalmusic-0"\" target=\""_blank"\" rel=\""sponsored" noopener noreferrer\">Buy from Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\nIllustration: <a href=\""https:\/\/www.debutart.com\/artist\/steve-rawlings"\">Steve Rawlings\/Debut Art<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Terry Blain Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am Poulenc as a religious composer? To those who know the colourful orchestral works, the worldly songs and the ebullient chamber pieces, it can be a difficult idea to get used to. Speaking of his sacred music, though, Poulenc said \u2018I think I\u2019ve put the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18154,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-scaled.jpg",2560,1828,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-300x214.jpg",300,214,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-768x548.jpg",768,548,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-1024x731.jpg",800,571,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-1536x1097.jpg",1536,1097,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/08\/the-best-recordings-of-poulencs-four-christmas-motets-2048x1463.jpg",2048,1463,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Terry Blain Published: Tuesday, 02 August 2022 at 12:00 am Poulenc as a religious composer? To those who know the colourful orchestral works, the worldly songs and the ebullient chamber pieces, it can be a difficult idea to get used to. Speaking of his sacred music, though, Poulenc said \u2018I think I\u2019ve put the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/18153"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}