Poulenc's Gloria

Sacred music was never meant to be this much fun! ‘Part monk, part hooligan’ was how one contemporary described the French composer Francis Poulenc, and they might have been talking about his Gloria, too: a huge, irreverent shout of joy for a great chorus. The City of London Choir joins the RPO and conductor Daniel Hyde to raise the roof today; first, though, there’s another choral blockbuster from France (this time by Lili Boulanger), music reminiscent of a holiday in Provence from the composer of Carmen and Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade. We also hear not one but two musical letters from America. Everyone loves the deep emotion of Barber’s Adagio – but when you hear Knoxville, his tender memoir of a vanished youth, we think you’ll fall in love all over again.

*Unfortunately, Sally Matthews is indisposed and unable to perform in this concert as previously advertised. We are very grateful to Ailish Tynan for stepping in at short notice.

Large print versions and digital formats of the programme for this concert are available on request for customers with accessibility requirements. Please email your request to Doran Crowhurst crowhurstd@rpo.co.uk at least one full week before the performance.