| Litanies à la Vierge Noire | |
|---|---|
| Notre-Dame de Rocamadour | |
| Sacred music byFrancis Poulenc | |
 The Black Virgin, venerated by pilgrims inRocamadour | |
| English | Litany to the Black Virgin |
| Catalogue | FP 82 |
| Text | Litany |
| Language | French |
| Composed | 1936 (1936) |
| Scoring |
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Litanies à la Vierge Noire (French pronunciation:[litanialavjɛʁʒnwaʁ]; "Litany to the Black Virgin"),FP 82, is a piece ofsacred music composed byFrancis Poulenc in 1936 for a three-part choir of women (or children) and organ, setting a Frenchlitany recited at the pilgrimage siteRocamadour which the composer visited. The subtitle,Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, refers to the venerated black sculpture ofMary. The composition is Poulenc's first piece of sacred music. In 1947 he wrote a version for voices accompanied bystring orchestra andtimpani.
Poulenc returned to the Catholic faith of his youth in 1936 and began to compose sacred music with this piece.[1] He made a pilgrimage to the shrine of theBlack Virgin ofRocamadour shortly after learning of the death of his friend, the composerPierre-Octave Ferroud, in a car accident.[2][3] His account of the pilgrimage reads:
A few days earlier I'd just heard of the tragic death of my colleague ... As I meditated on the fragility of our human frame, I was drawn once more to the life of the spirit. Rocamadour had the effect of restoring me to the faith of my childhood. This sanctuary, undoubtedly the oldest in France ... had everything to captivate me ... The same evening of this visit to Rocamadour, I began myLitanies à la Vierge noire for female voices and organ. In that work I tried to get across the atmosphere of "peasant devotion" that had struck me so forcibly in that lofty chapel.[4]
The piece was published byDurand & Cie in Paris in 1937.[5]
Poulenc heard the French text of thelitany, beginning with the line "Seigneur, ayez pitié de nous" (Lord, have mercy on us), during his pilgrimage.[1] It is a prayer for mercy, addressing the persons of theTrinity, and forintercession from Mary of Rocamadour, who is named Virgin, Queen and Our Lady, for example "Vierge à qui Zachée ou Saint Amadour éleva ce sanctuaire, priez pour nous." (Virgin, to whomZacchaeus orSaint Amadour constructed this shrine, pray for us.), "Reine, dont la main délivrait les captifs, priez pour nous." (Queen, whose hand delivered the captives, pray for us.) and "Notre Dame, dont le pèlerinage est enrichi de faveurs spéciales ... priez pour nous." (Our Lady, whose pilgrimage is blessed with special favours ... pray for us.).[1]
Poulenc scored the litany for a three-part choir of women's voices or children's voices with organ accompaniment. The work is modal in the style ofchant, avoiding conventional cadences. The organ adds several "dramatic dissonances".[6]
In 1947 Poulenc expanded the instrumentation tostring orchestra andtimpani.[5]
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