ABSTRACT
The phrygian half-cadence which closes the first section at bars 28-9 is a microcosm of Poulenc's choral style. At the half-cadence of the second phrase, the orchestra enters with a short progression of parallel minor and dominant seventh chords, in an orchestration that would return ubiquitously in Dialogues des Carmelites and help define Poulenc's mature sound. After a final half-cadence, Poulenc provides a characteristic ultimate chord: a tonic major chord with minor seventh stretched widely across the orchestra. In the canon of Poulenc's choral music, the Stabat Mater is significant, for in it the author discover that a cappella writing had remained important to him and that he had continued to evolve stylistically. It was tonal, it was melodic, it had rich chords that could be analysed, and whose function could be followed, and it adhered to simple forms, usually rondo or some type of ternary.
