Poulenc hoped his religious music might atone for personal sins, but the compassion of his works served as a lesson for the church, says Tom Service
In 1962, Francis Poulenc had composed his last sacred work, his , a piece he wouldn’t live to hear when it premiered in New York the next year. ‘I,’ he said. ‘I think it is beautiful. With the Gloria and the Stabat Mater, I think I have three good religious works. May they spare me a few days in purgatory, if I narrowly avoid going to hell.’
