Francis Poulenc - Chansons françaises [With score]

Composer: Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (7 January 1899 - 30 January 1963) Performers: The Cambridge Singers Conductor: John Rutter Huit Chansons françaises for chorus, FP 130, written in 1945-1946 00:00 - I. Margoton va t'a l'iau [Margoton goes to fetch water] 02:18 - II. La belle se sied au pied de la tour The fair maid sits at the foot of the tower] 03:49 - III. Pilons l'orge [Thrash the barley] 04:37 - IV. Clic, clac, dansez sabots [Click, clack, dance clogs] 06:43 - V. C'est la petit' fill' du prince [It was the prince’s little daughter] 10:58 - VI. La belle si nous étions [Pretty maid, if we were(...)] 12:13 - VII. Ah! mon beau laboureur [Ah! kind sir(...)] 15:11 - VIII. Les tisserands [The weavers] For Poulenc, as for all his compatriots, the experience of living in occupied France during World War II was traumatic. His patriotism found choral expression in his substantial and complex work of 1943, Figure humaine for a cappella double choir, the text of which ends with the word ‘liberté’. Then, two years later, he asserted national identity in an altogether different way with the tuneful and charming Chansons françaises. These are settings of traditional folk-rhymes; according to Poulenc’s biographer Henri Hell, the melodies are the composer’s own, although one or two (such as Margoton) have become so absorbed into French folklore that they have virtually turned into folk songs.