Fauré Requiem and motets by Duruflé, Messiaen and Poulenc
The Scottish Chamber Choir presents a programme of French music for Lent and Holy Week, including Fauré's hauntingly beautiful Requiem along with motets by Duruflé, Messiaen and Poulenc.
In the sombre season of Lent, a concert of radiant French choral music ranging from the serenely beautiful to the vigorous and dramatic.
Fauré’s Requiem, with its haunting melodies, is the glorious centrepiece of the performance. But equally entrancing are Duruflé’s subtle, impressionistic reworking of Gregorian themes in his Quatre Motets; Messiaen’s mystical, searching setting of O sacrum convivium!; and Poulenc’s masterly Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence. These last take the listener on a journey through Christ’s passion, concentrating all the drama, pity and beauty into four short, searing a cappella masterpieces.