The Gift to be Simple . The melody I borrowed and used almost literally is called Simple Gifts . Where we ought to be. The Bride takes her place among her neighbors. At the end, the couple are left quiet and strong in their new house.
Muted strings intone a hushed, prayer-like passage.
The close is reminiscent of the opening music. This is our first performance of the work. Poulenc began his career as something of a musical humorist, and a member of the group Les Six , composers who sought to create a truly French avant garde style of music, loosely allied with Cubist visual art and Surrealist literature. In 1936, however, Poulenc rediscovered his Catholic faith following the the tragic death of a friend. While this religious conversion had little effect on his musical style diatonic, colorful, and freely dissonant it did change the character of his output as a composer.