Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.
17 July, 2026
Oh, Glorious Martyrs Of Compiègne, Pray For Us ! On 17 July 1794, Eleven Carmelite Nuns, Together With Three Lay Sisters And Two Tertiaries, Were Guillotined. Oh, What A Wonderful Thing The French Revolution Was.
Wonderful, Zephyrinus, one of the most wonderful operas ever written: The masterpiece of Francis Poulenc (d. 1963), a reflection in part of Poulenc’s own late-life spiritual encounter, who returned to an embrace of his Catholic Faith in his final days after many years in the very secular art and music world of Paris.
The work almost didn’t get completed, as Zephyrinus likely knows, because of a late developing copyright issue (Poulenc had started work on it in 1953 when he was forced to halt due to the legal and royalty issues. He then suffered a physical breakdown due to exhaustion so severe he had to be sedated and recover in a clinic outside Paris for many weeks. Those physical and legal issues being finally resolved, Poulenc worked on the opera for 3 more exacting and excruciating years. It was not finally premiered until January, 1957, first at La Scala in Milan; then later in Paris in June, where it received encore approval of the audience and the Parisian critics, (not a “low bar” at all to achieve).
The most important outcome is that this almost obscured story of the martyrdom of the 16 Carmelite nuns and tertiaries was brought alive after two centuries to the opera and music world, giving pause to that very secular and worldly audience to consider examining their lives and where they stand before God. -Comment by Dante P
The YouTube excerpt appears to be from the excellent, for the most part historically accurate, 1960 French film production of the same title (of course, the frightened novice, Blanche, who joins the Carmelites at the end, is a fictional figure, a creation of novelist Gertrude LeFort), directed by Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini. -Comment by Dante P
A magnificent and illustrative contribution from Our Mediæval Liturgical, Horological, Archeological, Church Organ, and Operatic, Correspondent, Dante P, for which we are truly grateful.
Zephyrinus was unaware of Poulenc's falling away from The Faith and, subsequently regaining it (Deo Gratias). A lesson for us all, if one stops and thinks.
“Oh, Glorious Martyrs Of Compiègne. Pray For Us (Ora Pro Nobis) !!!”
This is a comment (translated from the French) by an opera observer who very well states Poulenc’s own struggle with his Faith and his composing “Dialogues:”
“After a period of spiritual and existential crisis, Poulenc turned to a sincere and tormented Catholic faith that profoundly permeates his religious works. Dialogues of the Carmelites is one of his most moving, as it directly addresses the mystery of faith in the face of fear and death.”
Of course, Poulenc only died a few short years later, possibly anticipating his final march to the moment of judgment.
Zephyrinus is aware of this fact, but it is worth noting: The 16 Carmelites who gave their lives July 17, 1794 specifically prayed that their sacrifice would end the long Reign of Terror, a period of the Revolution which had begun the prior September of 1793.(September 5, 1793, the Revolutionary Convention literally declared that "terror is the order of the day.”)
After the Carmelite Martyrs’ sacrifice July 17, 1794, ten days later, on July 27, 1794, impossibly it seemed, the Reign was pronounced officially ended with the sudden and unexpected arrest of Robespierre and his associates by the Committee for Public Safety, They were all executed the next day.
Indeed, the Carmelites’ prayers were answered. -Comment by Dante P
Wonderful, Zephyrinus, one of the most wonderful operas ever written: The masterpiece of Francis Poulenc (d. 1963), a reflection in part of Poulenc’s own late-life spiritual encounter, who returned to an embrace of his Catholic Faith in his final days after many years in the very secular art and music world of Paris.
ReplyDeleteThe work almost didn’t get completed, as Zephyrinus likely knows, because of a late developing copyright issue (Poulenc had started work on it in 1953 when he was forced to halt due to the legal and royalty issues. He then suffered a physical breakdown due to exhaustion so severe he had to be sedated and recover in a clinic outside Paris for many weeks. Those physical and legal issues being finally resolved, Poulenc worked on the opera for 3 more exacting and excruciating years. It was not finally premiered until January, 1957, first at La Scala in Milan; then later in Paris in June, where it received encore approval of the audience and the Parisian critics, (not a “low bar” at all to achieve).
The most important outcome is that this almost obscured story of the martyrdom of the 16 Carmelite nuns and tertiaries was brought alive after two centuries to the opera and music world, giving pause to that very secular and worldly audience to consider examining their lives and where they stand before God. -Comment by Dante P
The YouTube excerpt appears to be from the excellent, for the most part historically accurate, 1960 French film production of the same title (of course, the frightened novice, Blanche, who joins the Carmelites at the end, is a fictional figure, a creation of novelist Gertrude LeFort), directed by Raymond Léopold Bruckberger and Philippe Agostini. -Comment by Dante P
ReplyDeleteA magnificent and illustrative contribution from Our Mediæval Liturgical, Horological, Archeological, Church Organ, and Operatic, Correspondent, Dante P, for which we are truly grateful.
ReplyDeleteZephyrinus was unaware of Poulenc's falling away from The Faith and, subsequently regaining it (Deo Gratias). A lesson for us all, if one stops and thinks.
“Oh, Glorious Martyrs Of Compiègne. Pray For Us (Ora Pro Nobis) !!!”
This is a comment (translated from the French) by an opera observer who very well states Poulenc’s own struggle with his Faith and his composing “Dialogues:”
ReplyDelete“After a period of spiritual and existential crisis, Poulenc turned to a sincere and tormented Catholic faith that profoundly permeates his religious works. Dialogues of the Carmelites is one of his most moving, as it directly addresses the mystery of faith in the face of fear and death.”
Of course, Poulenc only died a few short years later, possibly anticipating his final march to the moment of judgment.
Zephyrinus is aware of this fact, but it is worth noting: The 16 Carmelites who gave their lives July 17, 1794 specifically prayed that their sacrifice would end the long Reign of Terror, a period of the Revolution which had begun the prior September of 1793.(September 5, 1793, the Revolutionary Convention literally declared that "terror is the order of the day.”)
ReplyDeleteAfter the Carmelite Martyrs’ sacrifice July 17, 1794, ten days later, on July 27, 1794, impossibly it seemed, the Reign was pronounced officially ended with the sudden and unexpected arrest of Robespierre and his associates by the Committee for Public Safety, They were all executed the next day.
Indeed, the Carmelites’ prayers were answered. -Comment by Dante P