Francis Poulenc's words and music bring to life the fictionalized version of the story of the Martyrs of Compiegne. This intense story, set to Poulenc's haunting, poetic score, depicts a convent of Carmelite nuns during the Reign of Terror at the end of the French Revolution. In the eyes of the Revolutionaries, the nuns represent the church, and therefore, the aristocracy. They have a choice: renounce their vocation and live or choose their faith and face the guillotine.
