Music For Unaccompanied Chorus: 4 Motets Pour Un Temps De Penitence - 4 Laudes De Saint-Antoine De Padoue / Cantate "Les Deux Cités" - Cantate De La Paix

This recording features choral masterworks by two central figures of Les Six, Francis Poulenc and Darius Milhaud, performed by the Ensemble Vocal Stéphane Caillat. Released by Music Guild Records in the mid-1960s, the album highlights the post-war French choral tradition, juxtaposing Poulenc's introspective, sacred motets with Milhaud's secular, often pacifist cantatas. The selection reflects the sophisticated classical programming typical of the boutique labels of that era, which sought to bring niche twentieth-century repertoire to a wider audience of audiophiles and music scholars.

The album's design and curation are deeply rooted in the mid-century appreciation for French modernism. Stéphane Caillat, a renowned choral conductor and scholar, was celebrated for his precision and his ability to interpret the complex harmonies of the French school with clarity. By coupling Poulenc’s somber 'Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence'—written during the turmoil of the Second World War—with Milhaud's grander, humanistic cantatas, the recording serves as a curated survey of the emotional breadth of the Parisian compositional scene, maintaining a clean, austere presentation style consistent with Music Guild’s high-fidelity aesthetic.