Francis Poulenc

Kelsey Legore
Simpson College
6/22/18
Weirdest Google searches for Poulenc research:
u “When was prohibition?”

u “Diaghalev ballet riot”

u “1937 exchange rate francs”

‘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. Wasn't that the case with Mozart–
Schubert?’ - Poulenc, 1942
 Compositional Output:
countless solo piano works
choral works, sacred and secular
a few large sacred works
100+ songs
5 ballets
5 film scores
~10 orchestral works
~14 instrumental solos
1 piano sonata
1 organ concerto
4 operas
(b Paris, Jan 7, 1899; d Paris, Jan 30, 1963)

u Lived 1899-1963
u Born in Paris, died in Paris
u Father’s family-Catholic; Mother’s family-artsy and free
u Piano-age 5 (mother)
u Received “conventional classical education,” per father’s wishes, with the
stipulation that he could enter conservatory once finished
u Mentors: Ricardo Viñes (pianist) and Erik Satie (composer)
Religion: It’s complicated…

u Left the Catholic church after the deaths of his parents

u A pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Rocamadour in 1936 after the death of the
composer and close friend Pierre-Octave Ferroud, revived his Catholic faith
u One of many dichotomies in his life story
u Manic-depressive tendencies
u Utilized both sacred and sacreligious texts
u Simultaneously antiquated and modern
u Figure humaine “as monastic as it is jazzy"
Early composition

u Began composing around age 15; destroyed what he didn’t like

u Stravinsky helped get him published
u Patronage system still very much a part of French composition
u Military 1918-1921; composed during his service
u Le bestiaire (voice and chamber ensemble)
u Trois mouvements perpétuels (piano)
u 1922- first notable secular choral piece – Chanson a boire
u 1924 Commission from Diaghilev for the Ballets russes: Les biches
1930s-late 1950s: Friendship with Pierre Bernac
1922 - “CHANSON A BOIRE”

u Harvard Glee Club

u Drinking Song
1936- “SEPT CHANSONS”

u Studied LeJeune and Montiverdi

u Surrealist poetry: Eluard and Apollinaire
u Debussy and Stravinsky influence
u “Chronological eclecticism”

u 1. “La blanche niege” (“Snow white”)

u 3. “Par un nuit nouvelle” (“For a new night”)
u 5. “Belle et ressemblante” (“Beautiful and reminiscent”)
1936- “PETITES VOIX”

u Children’s choir/SSA
u Simple, homophonic
u Varying mood to texts

u 4. “Le petit graçon malade” (“The Sick Little Boy”)

u 5. “Le herisson” (“The Hedgehog”)
1937- “SÉCHERESSES”

u Edward James- rich boy surrealist writer

u “In the musical style of giraffes on fire…think of Dali for guidance.”
u Poulenc less than enthusiastic
u 20,000 francs x .04 = $800 USD (1930) = $14,087.09 (2018)

u I didn’t like it so we are going to spend time listening to something else.

1943- “FIGURE HUMAINE”

u Poetry switches from micro to macro

u Unprepared modulations
u Incredibly demanding; challenge of the piece is parallel to Europe’s WWII struggle
u Initially intended as a celebration of liberation
u Poem of the last section, Liberté, was dropped from British airplanes during WWII
1944- “UN SOIR DE NEIGE”

u Bleak but beautiful

u Wolves = German SS
u 1. “De Grandes cuillers de neige” (“Great scoops of snow”)
u 4. “La nuit, le froid, la solitude” (“Night, cold, solitude”)
1946- “HUIT CHANSONS FRANÇAISES”

u Strophic
u Story texts

u 1. Margoton va ta liau (“Margaret goes to fetch water”)

u 5. C’est la petit’ fill’ du prince (“The prince’s little daughter”)
What was Poulenc’s philosophy on
composition? How is it evident in
his secular choral works?
Bibliography:

Chiménes, Myriam and Nichols, Roger. “Francis Poulenc” In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online

(accessed June 18, 2018).Insert- Joyful Company of Singers and Peter Broadbent, Francis Poulenc,

1999

Lincoln, Dorothy, “Francis Poulenc’s Sept Chansons 1936,” The Choral Journal, Vol. 15, No. 4 (December

1974).

Shrock, Dennis. Choral Repertoire. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Insert- Conspirare Youth Chorus, Looking Glass, 2012

Insert- Men of Clerestory, Our Favorite Things
Insert- Tenebrae, Figure humaine, 2010

Discography:

The Cambridge Singers, A Cappella/The Cambridge Singers/Rutter, 1993

Elora Festival Singers, Poulenc: Mass in G major, Sept Chansons, Motets, 2015

Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine, Choeur des enfants de l'Opéra National de Paris & Gaël Darchen, Jean Baptiste Pergolese :
Stabat Mater - Francis Poulenc : Les petites voix, 2003

RIAS Kammerchor & Daniel Reuss, Poulenc: Figure humaine, Motets, 2013

The Sixteen & Harry Christophers, Francis Poulenc, 2017

Tenebrae, Figure humaine, 2010