POULENC, FRANCIS

(7 January 1899, Paris – 30 January 1963, Paris)

A composer of diverse genera, he frequented intellectual circles of Paris beginning in the First World War, and was a member of {}Les Six, a group of composers that includedDarius MilhaudandArthur Honegger. He began to compose Roman Catholic sacred music regularly from 1936, includingLitaniesà la Vierge Noire, composed in the week following a visit to Notre Dame de Rocamadour in 1936, amass(1938) and 15motetsfor unaccompanied choir, aStabat mater(1951), and aGloria(1960).