New York Choral Society Presents "Vive la France!" February 28, 2010

The New York Choral Society presents “Vive la France” on February 28 at St. Bartholomew’s Church at 2:00PM. This program of lush choral music – conducted under the baton of Music Director John Daly Goodwin – will warm and comfort the senses, as it comprises works by two of France's most important composers of the twentieth century, Francis Poulenc's Quatre Petites Prières de Saint François d'Assise and Litanies à la Vierge Noire and Maurice Duruflé's Requiem.

Francis Poulenc was the leading member of Les Six, a group of French composers devoted to turning music away from Impressionism, formality, and intellectualism. The Litanies à la Vierge Noire for women's chorus and organ signaled a new phase in Poulenc's career, one marked by religious choral works of a mysterious, ethereal, and often moving nature. The work features a modal, chant-like style that avoids conventional cadences.

Maurice Duruflé is known for a small number of extraordinary works, among which the Requiem is perhaps the finest and most often performed. An organist as well as a composer, Duruflé originally wrote the Requiem for organ accompaniment, which is the version that New York Choral Society will perform.

Also on the afternoon program is an arrangement of Olivier Latry’s Salve Regina, performed by organist Renée Anne Louprette. One of the most accomplished organists of his generation, Olivier Latry is one of three titular organists at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and Professor of Organ at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris.

Official Website: http://www.nychoral.org