Obituary: Fr Raymond Bruckberger

Further to Professor Douglas Johnson's obituary of Fr Raymond Bruckberger [9 January], it may be worth drawing attention to the role the Dominican priest played in the creation of Poulenc's opera Dialogues des Carmelites, which was set in 1792 (and premiered in 1957), writes Antony Peattie.

On the score's title-page Poulenc acknowledged the contribution made by Bruckberger's film scenario on the same subject (co-written with Philippe Agostini). Bruckberger's unique wartime experience as chaplain (aumonier) to the Resistance surely contributed to the opera's evocation of religion under pressure. It may even have inspired Poulenc's portrait of the convent's fearless chaplain, L'Aumonier.