Poulenc is reported as saying that if he were still remembered in 50 years' time he hoped it would be for his Stabat mater rather than the inescapable Mouvements perpetuels. I suspect that this would not have been the version he had in mind: I was unable to muster much enthusiasm for it when it was issued as an LP, and a re-hearing has done nothing to alter my view. As compared with Baudo's performance on Harmonia Mundi, the recording (in the troublesome Salle Wagram, Paris) lacks definition in orchestral detail and blurs soft choral passages, the chorus are unimpressive (with sopranos who almost visibly blench when faced with a G sharp) and at times none too secure, and Barbara Hendricks, clear-voiced though she is, does not match the tenderness which Michele Lagrange brought to ''Paradisi gloria''.
Pretre recorded Poulenc's Gloria in the presence of the composer in 1962—the first time it appeared in the catalogue. To be honest, this new version is unlikely to be considered an improvement. The two readings are much the same, except that he now takes the ''Gloria'' faster and the ''Domine Deus'' much slower (but this is largely due to Hendricks who drags her every phrase throughout the work). The somewhat shrill, peaky orchestral sonority and the aggressive chorus tone of the 1962 EMI recording have been replaced by a more diffuse, less focused and less clean-cut sound generally. Connoisseurs of French and British choirs will not be surprised to find that the CBSO Chorus have a rounder tone, far superior to either of their rivals; and the Birmingham recording (also EMI) is a lot fresher in sound (while still having plenty of space round it). As to the soprano soloist, compare Carteri's vibrant singing (never taking much notice of pp markings, especially in ''Domine Deus'') and Hendricks's habit, sentimental in effect, of constantly attacking notes from below (the slithers up to the F sharps starting phrases of the ''Domine Deus'' become particularly obtrusive) with Burrowes's innocently pure tone, ineffably sweet at ''Rex coelestis'', and to my mind that clinches the matter and settles the choice.'