Gloria

About

The concert links three works that engage with the sacred and the divine in different ways. Xavier Montsalvatge’s Calidoscopi simfònic, Op. 61 opens the morning as a virtuosic, playful kaleidoscope of Catalan orchestral colour—bright, shimmering, and full of surprises. Poulenc’s Gloria, FP 177 (1959/60) sets the liturgical Gloria text with characteristic wit, irony, and spiritual depth; its 1961 Boston premiere under Charles Munch provoked debate for its seemingly irreverent tone. The programme closes with Verdi’s Quattro pezzi sacri, composed between 1889 and 1897 (including the famous Ave Maria), breathing the devotion, maturity, and personal piety of Verdi’s late years. The arc moves from Mediterranean vitality through French spirituality to Italian 19th‑century sacred music.