Other notes - Poulenc

French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) wrote Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence in 1938-39. Vinea mea electa, with text from Isaiah 5 - the “song of the vineyard”- is in dialogue with today’s reading from Acts 3. It is an extension of the metaphor asking not why the "chosen vine" was ravaged or brought forth the "wild grapes" of transgression, but how God's chosen Israel could become so embittered that they would be capable of crucifying Christ and freeing the thief Barabbas.

Musically, Vinea mea electa shows his style in clear detail - short phrases, often no more than one bar in length, consistently thick with Poulenc's unique harmonic writing and speech-inflected choices. Vinea mea electa captures the charm of a folksong-like theme that becomes intensely dissonant with the bitterness of betrayal.

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