Half Monk, Half Rascal

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Stephen Layton and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble put together a program representing both Francis Poulenc's secular and sacred choral music. He was a man of contradictions, often glaring ones at that; Poulenc was a declared homosexual and devout Catholic in the first half of the twentieth century. The traditionalists called him a modernist, the modernists called him old-fashioned. His music sounded so good that many people were loath to admit him to the serious musical world of Europe. Poulenc died in 1963, and the rascal half of him was there until the end: “Even though you may think the music is in bad taste, you must play your heart out all the same. I am quite aware of what I can do. And pianists must remember that you can never use too much pedal!”