This new edition opposes two works commissioned by the Koussevitzkys in Boston: Poulenc’s Gloria, recorded in New York in 1976, and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, recorded in London in 1972. The two composers frequented each other in Paris in the 1920s and Poulenc always conceded his admiration and debt to his Russian elder. Bernstein’s inspired and robust direction doesn’t prioritise one over the other, as both works are carried by a genuine fervour. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Poulenc’s Gloria, created by Charles Munch in Boston in 1961, quickly became very popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Inspired by Stravinsky as much as plainsong, this Gloria is classic Poulenc and bears the mark of a genuine and joyful faith. On the other hand, the Symphony of Psalms is largely older. Created by Ernest Ansermet in Brussels on December 13th, 1930, one week before the performance in Boston, it is rooted in Orthodox religion that Stravinsky practiced in his youth. “It is not a symphony, in which I have included Psalms to be sung", wrote Stravinsky in his autobiography. "On the contrary, it is the singing of the Psalms that I am symphonising." © François Hudry/Qobuz