Gloria, FP 177

• Poulenc composed his setting of the “Gloria” from the Roman Catholic Mass in 1959-60. The work is scored for soprano solo, chorus and orchestra.¹
• Poulenc wrote this piece for the Boston Symphony, a couple years before his death (Poulenc died in 1963). The Boston SO premiered the work on January 20, 1961, conducted by Charles Munch.²
  • Poulenc attended the rehearsals and performances for the premiere in Boston. He wasn’t terribly impressed with Charles Munch’s interpretation, but he was pleased that Marlene Dietrich showed up at the premiere and posed for photos with him. 

“Very good, very beautiful, successful, but Munch was less inspired than at the final rehearsal. Yesterday, on the other hand (all the critics were there), sublime performance. Charlie in a trance but controlled, the choir unbelievable, Addison beyond belief, so ovation after ovation. They tell me the press is excellent this morning. Marlene Dietrich was there, embraces, photos, etc.”

Francis Poulenc on the premiere of the Gloria, from a letter to Pierre Barnac, 1961³

• Some critics and listeners were confused by the lack of solemnity in this piece of music. Poulenc explained that he intended it to be a fun take on religious feeling.

“While writing it I had in mind those Crozzoli frescoes with angels sticking out their tongues, and also some solemn-looking Benedictine monks that I saw playing football one day.”

Francis Poulenc⁴

• As it turns out, the goofy angels are a charming product of Poulenc’s imagination. The artist’s name is Benozzo Gozzoli, and he did indeed produce memorable frescoes in the Chapel of the Magi at the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, but the angels (though cheerful) are not sticking their tongues out at each other. The monks’ football game was real.⁵

“I think I put the best and most authentic side of myself into my choral music.”

Francis Poulenc⁶

1. Francis Poulenc on the premiere of the Gloria, from a letter to Pierre Barnac, 1961³⁹⁸ 
2. Phillip Huscher, “Program Notes: Poulenc Gloria,” The Chicago Symphony, accessed March 25, 2021, https://cso.org/uploadedFiles/1_Tickets_and_Events/Program_Notes/ProgramNotes_Poulenc_Gloria.pdf. 
3. Richard Buell, “‘What a dismal town’ – Francis Poulenc, the Gloria, and Boston,” The Boston Musical Intelligencer (March 22, 2010), accessed March 25, https://www.classical-scene.com/2010/03/22/etcetera/. 
4. Quoted in John Bawden, “Glora – Francis Poulenc (1899-1963),” Choirs.org.uk, accessed March 25, 2021, http://www.choirs.org.uk/prognotes/Poulenc%20Gloria.htm. 
5. Roger Nichols, Poulenc: A Biography (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020), 264.
6. Quoted in Phillip Huscher, “Program Notes: Poulenc Gloria,” The Chicago Symphony, accessed March 25, 2021, https://cso.org/uploadedFiles/1_Tickets_and_Events/Program_Notes/ProgramNotes_Poulenc_Gloria.pdf.