Set Work: AoS E

Into the 20 Century

th

Trio for Piano,

Oboe & Bassoon
FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963)
Background
 Poulenc was born into a well-to-do family and received piano lessons, and musical
grounding from his mother. Poulenc was mostly self-educated musically as they did not
wish him to attend a musical conservatory.
 He took lessons with Ricardo Vines from 1916 and Charles Koechlin from 1921-24 to hone
his contrapuntal skills.
 In the 1930s, Poulenc composed works in a more serious style to engage with the
reawakening of religious faith.
 In 1918 Jean Cocteau, the designer and playwright urged composers to abandon German
Romanticism and French Impressionism in favour of lighter, tuneful, popular French art
and the Music Hall. Satie was already composing in this style.
 Poulenc was a member of Les Six (Durey, Honegger, Milhaud, Auric, Tailleferre) a group
of six composers who aimed at avoiding pretentiousness in their music, returning to the
neat lines of classicism and the simple melodies of popular songs. Their works were
strongly tonal (except for Honegger) and inclusive of a range of musical styles.
Musical Influences

 Schubert – song cycle ‘Winterreise’ with its major/minor alternations

 Chabrier – the harmonic language of ‘Idylle’ in 1914.
 Satie – was the first to ignore all musical influences of the time. The charm and wit
influenced Poulenc’s music.
 Debussy – was Poulenc’s favourite composer after Mozart although Les Six did not
want to imitate him.
 Ravel – flowing melody lines and eclecticism of styles. Poulenc immersed himself
in cross-fertilisation of harmony by Wagner, Debussy, Schumann, Franck to shape
his own style.
 Stravinsky – the neo-classical style with its unexpected harmonic turns and
dissonances. Poulenc was more tied to 19th century conservative harmonic style of
Schumann, Faure and Chabrier.
Poulenc’s Musical Style
 Works tend to be short
 Structures are conservative and retain neo-classical 18 th century models. Modified ternary and rondo forms are
common in instrumental music.
 Cellular writing – a 1 or 2 bar motif is immediately repeated before the next idea. Themes are repeated in a
new key or other instrumental groupings, or he moves onto another idea. Poulenc’s melodies are dependent on
his harmonies which discourages development.
 Melody and Chordal accompaniment; counterpoint is found infrequently.
 Melody is the most important aspect of Poulenc’s style. They are diatonic with some chromatic
embellishments, often scalic or arpeggio based. Mostly lyrical, expressive, regular in phrase length, although
some phrases are 1, 3 or 5 bars in length which upsets regularity.
 Mostly diatonic and functional harmony, with 7/9ths. Tertian – built on thirds. Dominant 13ths are common at
cadences. Aug 5ths for ambiguity and tension.
 Dissonances in the final chord of a movement.
 Abundance of appoggiaturas (resolved or unresolved).
 Dominant/tonic progressions (circles of 5 ths).
 Wrong note harmonies, unprepared modulations, tonal instability interrupted by short phrases of non-
functional harmony. Frequent modulations, ending in different key.
 Conservative rhythms taken from dance music; occasional irregular metre, shortened/lengthened phrase
lengths.
Poulenc’s stylistic periods

 First period (1917-22); influenced by Satie & Le Six – bare, linear simplicity,
polytonality, wrong-note dissonance, diatonic, chordal repetition. Light-hearted
atmosphere.
 Second period (1923-35); neo-Classical in style, return to traits of earlier
composers such as Mozart/Chopin, thin textures, classical structures and modest
instrumental resources.
 Third period (1936-52); lyrical, emotional and more serious. Works tended to be
longer in length. Neo-Romantic in style.
 Fourth period (1953-63); serious, sacred works, songs and piano pieces, serene
chamber works and two operas. Harmony richer and sometimes more chromatic.
Introduction to the Trio for Piano, Oboe
and Bassoon.
 Poulenc was a pianist and so the majority of his compositions are for this
instrument.
 He was keen on writing for wind instruments (he found it difficult writing for solo
strings).
 The first movement of the Trio follows the plan of a Haydn ‘Allegro’. The third
movement Rondo follows the plan of a scherzo.
 The second movement Andante is very sweet and melancholic.
 Although it falls into an overall Ternary structure, to solely regard it as such misses
the subtlety of Poulenc’s use on tonality and its function in the work as a whole.
 The keys of the movements are: A major, B flat major and D flat major (unrelated
keys) but not unusual in a neo-classical work
Analysis bars 1-22
The harmony is the most important feature of his style and will help to understand the structure more fully.

 B flat major confirmed by key signature over tonic pedal.

 Four bar phrases; the tonic pedal is resolved in classical style ie. V7d in F major
to Ib, Ic-V7-I at bars 6-8.
 Use of metre change (neo-classical trait) in bar 8.
 E flat major bar 11, D flat major bar 12, A flat major bar 14, D flat major bar 15.
 E minor bar 18 (tritone from B flat major).
 Main keys are a minor 3rd apart
 Use of Neapolitan chords in bars 3, 13 and 17.
 The ‘A’ section does not end in the Tonic or Dominant key but rather a
preparation for the ensuing B minor key.
Questions on bars 1-22

 Which musical features do you consider to be classical in the opening 4 bars?

 Which features are more Neo-Classial in style?
 Discuss the use of chromaticism, both melodic and harmonic, in these opening bars.
 Comment on 1) the melody, 2) the use of instruments in bars 8-14.
 Compare bars 17-18 with 3-4. Other than tonality, what differences are there?
 Which chords are used in bars 19-20? Explain how Poulenc modulates from E minor
to B minor.
 How does Poulenc introduce a Neoclassical element into these two bars?
 Compare the presentation of the melody in bars 15-22 with that in bars 1-8.
 Comment on Poulenc’s thematic material in bars 1-22. If bars 1-4 were labelled ‘a’,
how would you label the different phrases in bars 5-22?
Analysis bars 23-35

 New thematic material, although not really providing contrast to A material;

sounds as if it is a continuation of A.
 Bars 23-35 remains in B minor and avoids tonic root position chords.
 Tonic chords are always in first inversion (or second inversion).
 Attempts to reach perfect cadences are denied.
 Harmonic rhythm increases from 1 to 2 chords per bar in bars 27-8.
 Chords descend in characteristic minor 3rds, typical of octatonic writing bar 30.
 Octatonically tinged dominant 7ths.
 Tierce de Picardie into B major at bar 35, the musical and emotional climax.
Questions on bars 23-35

 Describe the instrumental writing in bars 23-34. How does it compare to bars 1-
22.
 Which other musical elements point to bars 35- as being the emotional high point
of the music.
 Comment on the melodic line of the oboe and bassoon in bars 35-40.
Analysis bars 35-51

 After two bars B major/minor is relinquished.

 C minor is hinted at but V moves to a first inversion of A flat, in a quasi
interrupted cadence.
 Ascending first inversion chords bars 38-44.
 The restatement of the main melody from bars 1-2, in bar 41 is not a reprise of the
A section.
 Use of ‘wrong notes’ in bars 41-44 typify neo-classical writing.
 Bars 45-48 are entirely diatonic in C major.
 Chromatic harmonies leading up to a G half dim 7 leads onto F, when the key of
C was previously expected.
Questions on bars 35-51

 How is C major/minor related to B major/minor?

 Outline the various ways in which the oboe and bassoon parts in bars 45-51
correspond with those in bars 23-30?
 Comment on the piano part in both passages.
 Analyse the harmony in bars 45-50, using Roman Numerals.
Analysis bars 52-64

 This section is shorter than the B section and does not adhere to conventional key
relationships of a final A section (ie. F major whereas it should be B flat major.
 Most of the final section is composed over an F pedal note giving the impression
of a Coda, not a final A section.
 The answering phrase has altered harmony and a change to the bassoon melody;
the tonic pedal is one bar longer and the perfect cadence is not present.
 Extended ‘plagal’ effect cadence from bars 59 onwards, ending in F minor with a
major 7th dissonance.
 The last four bars are entirely octatonic, except for the last C which could be
regarded as the leading-note to the next movement in D flat major.
Questions on bars 52-64

 Other than tonality, what differences are there between bars 51-52 and bars 1-4?
 Explain how the key choices made in ABA do not adequately explain the function
of the sections.
Summary

 The first movement is in A major

 The second movement is in B flat major, B minor/major, C minor/major.
 The third movement is in D flat major

 This shows the tonal trajectory or function of the second movement as it rises in
semitones to reach the key of the last movement. Choices of keys during the second
movement often provide convincing musical and tonal links to the next key. The
second movement is a tonal transition section between the outer movements. Could
the connecting slurs at the end of the second movement act as a connection between
the movements.
 The B minor/major tonality at bar 23 marks the exact half way point in the music
 READ: Eduquas notes on the octatonic scale and its transpositions.
Further Questions

 Discuss Poulenc’s use of form in the 2nd movement. To what extent do you agree
with the ‘models’ given in the analysis.
 Do you interpret the form in a different way? If so, give valid musical reasons.
 If time permits, listen to/study the first movement of the Trio. Is Poulenc’s
reference to the form as following “the plan of a Haydn allegro” as
straightforward as it sounds?
Other works to listen to

 Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon (1922) - Poulenc

 Trois Pieces for Piano (1928) – Poulenc
 Flute Sonata (1957) - Poulenc
 Oboe Sonata (1962) – Poulenc; his last important composition, composed in
memory of Prokofiev.