We all know that the first successful manned landing on the moon occurred on 20 July 1969, when Apollo 11 delivered Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface of Earth’s lone satellite. The first robotic moon landing happened a

“You have changed my life, you are the sunshine of my thirty years, a reason for living and for working.” This is how Francis Poulenc openly inscribed the score to his Concert champêtre, a work that is dedicated to the

Poulenc’s musical style, thematic materials and even tonal structures build from established musical practices, which are transformed into something unique. The American composer and essayist Ned Rorem concocted an amusing little recipe to explain the Poulenc sound. “Take Chopin’s dominant

Most of us associate the pipe organ with liturgical, that is, religious use. But did you know that the instrument was originally associated with gladiatorial combat during the time of the Romans? Gladiatorial games usually began with an elaborate procession

Watch Mater Dolorosa: Les Talens Lyriques at the Festival D’Ambronay The text of the Roman Catholic hymn Stabat Mater dolorosa (The grieving Mother stood), which originated in the 13th century and is variously attributed to Pope Innocent III, St. Bonaventure,

The composer Ned Rorem suggested that, Francis Poulenc never penned an original note. “Every measure can be traced to Chopin, or Mussorgsky, or Ravel, or Stravinsky, or even Faure whom he reviled. Yet every measure can be instantly identified as

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasia in F minor for Mechanical Organ, K. 608, arr. Fortepiano duet We should never forget that the supposedly rarefied air and sterile environment of classical music is numerously inhabited by an incredible number of colourful personalities.

Invariably, Francis Poulenc is described as a man of constant contradictions. A sense of ambivalence and ambiguity is readily found in his compositions, but it also extends to his sexual behavior and preferences. Poulenc was a devout Catholic and homosexual