{"id":31084,"date":"2023-07-31T13:50:39","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=186986"},"modified":"2023-07-31T14:40:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T12:40:01","slug":"poulencs-figure-humaine-a-guide-to-his-spectacular-choral-hymn-and-its-best-recordings","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/poulencs-figure-humaine-a-guide-to-his-spectacular-choral-hymn-and-its-best-recordings\/","title":{"rendered":"Poulenc\u2019s Figure humaine: a guide to his spectacular choral hymn and its best recordings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amanda Holloway finds the best recordings of Poulenc’s Figure humaine, a spectacular choral hymn to freedom, written while France was under Nazi occupation <\/p>

By Amanda Holloway\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 31 July 2023 at 11:50 AM<\/p>

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The first mention of a \u2018cantata<\/a><\/strong> for unaccompanied double choir\u2026 on admirable poems by \u00c9luard (currently censored)\u2019 comes in a letter from Poulenc<\/a><\/strong> to his friend and patron Marie-Blanche de Polignac in July 1943. <\/span><\/p>\n

Safely settled in Beaulieu-sur Dordogne with his companion Raymond Destouches, Poulenc was thinking about two projects: a violin concerto for Ginette Neveu and a string quartet<\/a><\/strong>. Lacking inspiration for either, he turned instead to Paul \u00c9luard\u2019s newest anti-war poems, Po\u00e9sie et v\u00e9rit\u00e9 42<\/i>, and in just six weeks wrote the 20-minute masterpiece Figure humaine<\/i> without hesitation or revisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

What inspired Poulenc <\/span>to compose his Figure humaine<\/i><\/span>?<\/h2>\n

According to Poulenc biographer Roger Nichols<\/a><\/strong>, he gave several accounts of how and why he chose to set \u00c9luard\u2019s poems. The most dramatic retelling is that during his stay in Beaulieu he was sent the poems under plain cover \u2013 such revolutionary texts could hardly be published under the Occupation \u2013 and was immediately inspired to set them to music so they could be premiered in Paris on the day of liberation.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Poulenc recalled that a Belgian music society had asked him to set a single poem, \u2018Libert\u00e9\u2019, and after agonising over the task, he conceived the idea of writing a cantata for which \u2018Libert\u00e9\u2019 would provide the finale. Later, he said the plan to write, clandestinely publish and unveil Figure humaine<\/i> on the longed-for day of liberation had come to him during a pilgrimage to Rocamadour, a shrine not far from Beaulieu.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, Poulenc saw Figure humaine<\/i> as his contribution to the war effort, creating from \u00c9luard\u2019s impassioned poems to liberty a tribute to those who fought for France. <\/span><\/p>\n

The liberation of Paris came earlier than he had anticipated, in 1944, before arrangements could be made for a <\/span>performance there. The BBC had expressed <\/span>interest in the unpublished score so Poulenc, who admired British choirs, agreed that the first performance could be given in London by the BBC Chorus, in an English translation, on 25 March 1945. A Belgian performance followed in December 1946 and the Parisian premiere had to wait until 22 May 1947.<\/span><\/p>\n

A guide to the music of Figure humaine<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n