I have chosen Francis Poulenc as a composer to explore further, as I enjoyed his music that I briefly explored in Part 1 of this course.
Poulenc, Francis
Concert Champêtre
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F10648
[Accessed 02/10/17]
Many changes of mood & rhythms throughout the piece. It starts off slowly (despite the allegro molto indication) in a kind of mock dramatic way with the use of dotted rhythms, but eventually picks up tempo with a lighthearted bouncy harpsichord entrance. Pastiche like features of eras gone by, as well as occasional tongue in cheek modern elements throughout the piece. A lot of fun! I love the way he uses the different instruments in the orchestra to enhance & contrast the music. Interesting use / revival of the harpsichord at this time as well.
3 Mouvements Perpétuels
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F10589
[Accessed 03/10/17]
These three short piano pieces were written in December 1918 and dedicated to Valentine Hugo (nee Gross) and were immediately popular. Light & playful, melody & accompaniment type thing with variations of dynamics & colour and some not-quite jazzy chord-like endings.
Les Biches, FP 36
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F2595774
[Accessed 03/10/17]
Written for the Ballets Russes and premiered in January 1924. Broadly lively and jovial but with plenty of contrast to the music, from American Western to a mock military march. I suppose it could considered a Musical really, as there are some singing moments and an offstage chorus. The music made up of short pieces that are clearly designed to follow the action on the stage.
Organ Concerto in G Minor
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F10649
[Accessed 03/10/17]
The work opens with a full throated almost melodramatic organ sound, which is then contrasted by a quieter organ sound and soft timpani, and eventually orchestra. Pick up in urgency in the second movement with echoed phrases between organ and orchestra, punctuated by timpani. Third movement introduces more subdued organ tone colours, as well as some lyrical string passages. Molto agitato fourth movement provided by urgent strings and loud organ once more, followed by further contrasting movements until the piece concludes with a fortissimo organ chord.
Stabat mater, FP 148
http://imslp.naxosmusiclibrary.com/streamw.asp?ver=2.0&s=167137%2Fimslpcomp01%2F2595755
[Accessed 03/10/17]
This choral work was written to commemorate the painter and designer Christian Bérard, a friend of Poulenc. Written in 1950 and performed in 1951 it was well received and won the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best Choral Work of the year. It is made up of 12 short pieces.
It starts off with long orchestral lines, and the somewhat sombre tone of the music is enhanced by the bass voices introducing the choir. Dramatic forte second movement with brassy horns. Following movements full of contrast and many upbeat moments.
Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc was born in Paris in January 1899 to a wealthy family. His mother played the piano and gave him his first lessons when he was five. She influenced his musical taste which included works outside the classical repertoire, something he would call “adorable bad music”. By 15 he was studying piano with Ricardo Viñes who encouraged him to compose and would become a mentor following the death of both his parents by the time he was 18.
Poulenc was one of the composers that formed “Les Six” – a term penned by Henri Collet, a music critic, who selected the composers of “Les Nouveaux Jeunes” from a concert that they were all present at. They were influenced and encouraged by Satie as well as the neo-classical movement and comprised Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Germaine Tailleferre and Francis Poulenc. It seems that the group were friends rather than sharing a common vision as such.
He frequented literary and social circles and was appreciated by his peers as well: Stravinsky helped him find a publisher in London.
It seems that Poulenc’s music was warmly received from the outset. His “Rapsodie nègre”, dedicated to Satie and performed in 1917 at one of the avant-garde concerts was an immediate success. His three short piano pieces composed in 1918 “Trois mouvements perpétuels ” was similarly successful.
Les biches, first performed in 1924, is still one of his best-known works and has been produced several times since, even as recently as 1982 by the Oakland Ballet.
The Concert champêtre (1927–8), the first of his major works, and described by the Oxford Music Online as “an enchanting work”.
Poulenc re-awakened his faith in religion following the loss of a composer friend in 1936 and some of his later works including the Organ Concerto in G Minor and the Stabat Mater are somewhat more serious in tone, though still just as successful as the aforementioned works.
His definitive statement came perhaps in a letter of 1942: ‘I know perfectly well that I’m not one of those composers who have made harmonic innovations like Igor [Stravinsky], Ravel or Debussy, but I think there’s room for new music which doesn’t mind using other people’s chords”.
He composed during the war years once he was demobilised, after the French surrender to the Germans. In the work “Les Animaux Modèles” which was premiered at the Paris Opera in 1942 under Nazi rule, he manages to sneak in the melody of the anti-German song “Vous n’aurez pas l’Alsace et Lorraine”. Some of his other wartime compositions could not be performed in France at that time, such as a cantata for unaccompanied double choir called “Figure Humaine” ending with the word “Liberté”.
He struggled with his sexuality (he was predominantly homosexual though he did have a liaison that resulted in a daughter), and also suffered from periods of depression in his life. He died in Paris in 1963.
I enjoyed his music because it is full of contrasts, frequently light and jovial, tongue in cheek, occasionally more serious, and it ‘works’. I think his use of the orchestra is highly effective, despite the fact that he never had any formal training in orchestration. As Poulenc himself summarises, he doesn’t really break any revolutionary ground, and indeed he came into conflict with other composers such as Boulez in the 1940s who wanted to explore Serialism further but which for Poulenc the concept had reached the end of the road.
References:
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com
Burkholder, J. P., Grout, D. J., & Palisca, C. V. (2014). A history of western music (Ninth edition.). New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc
Sleeve Notes:
Label: Naxos Catalogue No.: 8.554241 Release Date: 28 January 1999
Label: Naxos Catalogue No.: 8.553930 Release Date: 12 February 1999
Episode 3, Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein, Series 1. [Television programme online] Wingspan Productions, BBC, UK 21:00 16/10/2017 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b099229f/tunes-for-tyrants-music-and-power-with-suzy-klein-series-1-3-world-war
[Accessed 22/10/17]
Jim Mennell Music 