Francis Poulenc Concerto for organ, strings, and timpani in G minor FP 93 Andante Allegro giocoso Andante moderato Tempo allegro. Molto agitato Très calme. Lent Tempo de l'Allegro initial Tempo Introduction. Largo
Philippe Lefebvre at the Great Organ of Notre-Dame de Paris Orchestre National de Lille/Région Nord-Pas de Calais Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor Recorded live in Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, on April 11, 1997
Composed in 1938 in the tiny village of Anost, in the heart of romanesque Burgundy, the powerful Concerto in G minor for organ, strings and percussions, reveals a very deep Poulenc. His religious conversion had taken place, which was to make him a great master of sacred music. But the work, a commission from princess Edmond de Polignac, was icily received at the premiere and only slowly asserted itself, starting in the United States. This masterly work is played with no interruption, but is divided into seven alternatively slow and fast episodes completing each other in the free manner of a Buxtehude Toccata. The unity is otherwise vouchsafed for by thematic links and metamorphoses as dexterous as they are subtle. Certain easily recognizable \"gestures\" (the imperious call of the toccata ‘à la Bach’ of the beginning or the very ‘Mozartian’ Allegro giocoso) effortlessly integrate into Poulenc's own personal language. Harsh dramatic tensions alternate with the noble splendour or with deepest sorrow. The last fast episode is dominated by an eery, almost surrealistic mood of sardonic tragedy, transforming the organ into a giant and nightmarish barrel organ. A dry and brutal chord from the orchestra brings this strange masterpiece to a full stop. Harry Halbreich