Psalmody
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This weeks post concerns a piece by a composer once described as ‘half monk half naughty boy’ – Francis Poulenc. Presented as the first of his ‘four motets for a time of penitence’, though composed last, in early 1939 (I will leave it to readers to decide whether I’m thinking of it in March 2026… Read more
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For Ash Wednesday, let us consider the glorious setting of a penitential psalm that constitutes one of the most famous tales of music ‘piracy’ before the internet: the setting of Psalm 51 Miserere mei in decorated falsobordone by Gregorio Allegri associated with Holy Week services in the Sistine Chapel – within the Papal palace –… Read more
Theology in Music 