Motet notes

Francis Poulenc was one of a somewhat notorious group of young French composers who became known as ‘Les Six’. The aims of the French group were to break away from the twin influences of Germanic formality and French impressionism, and to employ a direct and simple style in their own music. Of the six, Poulenc was by far the most successful. The fourth in a set of Quatre Motets pour le Temps de Noël (Four Motets for the Christmas Season), "Hodie Christus natus est" was composed in 1952. Set in the style of a madrigal, it shows an exuberant, childlike innocence in celebration of the Nativity.

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