FauréRequiem

What distinguishes Fauré's Requiem from countless other settings of the Requiem text is its rather intimate, restrained, almost chamber-music-like character, a "lullaby of death", as it is also called, an implicit criticism of the fact that the work avoids depicting the fear of death and the Last Judgment. Fauré's answer was: "But this is how I think about death: as a happy liberation, as the pursuit of happiness in the afterlife and not as a painful transition", which not only perfectly describes the essential characteristics of his Requiem, but also shows that it is a very personal expression of the artist's nature of the composer. Two generations later, Francis Poulenc showed a completely different approach to religion. Like Fauré, Poulenc came from the south of France and was influenced by his homeland in a sense that was characterized by a 'rural', intense but joyful Catholicism. He saw his Gloria as a more exuberant counterpart to some of his other sacred works, and in this spirit the first part begins in a festive mood with a striking, fanfare-like motif throughout the orchestra. If Poulenc cited Gozzoli's frescoes of monks sticking out their tongues and Benedictine monks playing football as inspiration for his Gloria, then this is nowhere clearer than in the second part with its rhythmically sharp text Laudamus te. Both in the opera house and in the concert hall, Prêtre's interpretations were characterized by their full-blooded and highly romantic character; stylistically, they often deviated from those of French conductors of the previous generation. He was not only an effective conductor of the French repertoire, but also of the music of Italy and Germany, which was reflected in the admiration he received in both countries. Prêtre was a very experienced and skilled recording artist and had many years of experience working in the studio. His discography is extensive. His recordings of Poulenc's music were particularly important.