Antonio Vivaldi set the Gloria -- the second section of the traditional Roman Catholic Mass -- to music in 1715. We aren't sure why he did it. Was it part of a larger Mass that never got finished, or was it a stand-alone piece?
244 years later, Francis Poulenc, on commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation, decided to try his hand at a stand-alone Gloria, and as you might expect, it was a vastly different work from that of his predecessor.
We look at the two Glorias this week. Did they both arrive at the same place? See what you think.