The Music Of Francis Poulenc 1899 1963

The name of Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was first brought to prominence in the 1920s as a member of Les Six, a group of young French composers encouraged by Satie and Cocteau. His subsequent fame spread well beyond France, and he is coming to be regarded as one of this century's most significant composers. His compositions are heard constantly in concert halls the world over, and numerous recordings, including complete sets of songs and piano music, have been released. Books, articles and more than a dozen doctoral dissertations have discussed his music. Carl Schmidt's catalogue of Poulenc's works represents the first comprehensive attempt to list an oeuvre which numbers approximately 185 compositions written from his teenage years until his death at the age of 63. The Catalogue indentifies a number of unpublished works, and adds a small group of compositions to his musical canon for the first time. Each work, whether complete or unfinished, published or unpublished, is described fully. Catalogue entries list and describe all known printed editions (including reprints) and manuscript copies of each work. In addition, they provide detailed compositional histories based on numerous letters, documents, and press accounts, many of which have not been published previously. Russian interest in Poulenc's music, manifested in press runs exceeding one million copies, is also revealed for the first time.

The work of Poulenc in the context of his colourful personal life.

In 1935 French baritone Pierre Bernac formed a duo with the composer Francis Poulenc that became a legend. Here, Bernac passes on his personal understanding of the songs of Poulenc as well as a little of their experience in performing them.

This collection of essays provides vivid new insights into Poulenc‘s world, his particular rapport with painters, writers and fellow musicians, and with the socialte who promoted his music through their salons. Contributions from international Poulenc scholars include the influence of various artists on his music, the nature of his affinity for Eluards poetry, his response to texts by Cocteau and Bernanos, and his constant search for suitable libretti. New light is thrown on two friendships, the first with his childhood friend Raymonde Linossier who introduced him to the world of books, the second to his teacher Charles Koechlin who greatly influenced his choral style. A detailed study is also provided of Poulenc‘s four choral works with orchestra. Finally, the reader is allowed a rare view of Poulenc at the microphone, not as interviewee but as radio presenter, in his 1947-1949 series of programmesA bâtons rompus.

An authoritative account of the life and work of Francis Poulenc, one of the most prolific and striking figures in twentieth-century classical music "An assured overview of Poulenc's life and work."--Alex Ross, New Yorker "Essential reading for anyone interested in the French musical culture of Poulenc's time. This is the biography the composer deserves."--Christopher Dingle, BBC Music Magazine, Named one of the Best Books on Classical Music in 2020 by BBC Music Magazine Francis Poulenc is a key figure in twentieth-century classical music, as well as an unorthodox and striking individual. Roger Nichols draws upon Poulenc's music and other primary sources to write an authoritative life of this great artist. Although associated with five other French composers in what came to be called "Les Six", Poulenc was very much sui generis in personality and in his music, where he excelled over a wide repertoire--opera, songs, ballet scores, chamber works, piano pieces, sacred and secular choral works, orchestral works and concertos. This book fully covers this wide range, while also describing the vicissitudes of Poulenc's life and the many important relationships he had with major figures such as Satie, Ravel, Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Cocteau and others.

Lavishly illustrated, the volume includes a complete discography, and an exhaustive summary of Poulenc's concert tours, as well as a list of portraits and drawings."--Jacket.

One of the greatest modernist composers comes alive in this illuminating biography, a must-have for musicians and music-lovers alike. Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) is widely acknowledged as one of the twentieth century’s most significant masters of vocal music —solo, choral, and operatic— quite apart from his achievements in instrumental spheres. But what it cost him, and the determined bravery it took for his unusual talent to thrive, has always been underestimated. In this seminal biography, which will serve as the definitive guide to the songs, acclaimed collaborative pianist Graham Johnson shows that it is in Poulenc’s extraordinary songs, and seeing how they fit into his life —which included crippling guilt on account of his sexuality— that we discover Poulenc heart and soul. With Jeremy Sams’s vibrant new song translations, the first in over forty years, and the insight that comes from a lifetime of performing this music, Johnson provides an essential volume for singers, pianists, listeners, and readers interested in the artistic milieu of modernism in the first half of the twentieth century.

Alors que Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)s’est amplement confié dans des nombreux ouvrages, entretiens, émissions de radio, une monographie fouillée restait à écrire. Après celle d’Henri Hell, parue en 1978, qui se ressent de l’amitié qui unissait le biographe et le musicien, Hervé Lacombe donne la version de référence. À partir de documents étudiés de première main, il offre une image renouvelée d’un compositeur qui, né au XIXe siècle, s’est toujours inscrit dans son temps, ouvert à tous les courants et curieux de toutes les musiques, même s’il a choisi résolument de ne pas s’écarter de certains cadres formels. Son œuvre, qui embrasse tous les genres et excelle particulièrement dans le domaine vocal (ses mélodies sont au répertoire de nombreux chanteurs, son opéra Les Dialogues des Carmélites est joué dans le monde entier, sa musique religieuse est interprétée par de nombreux chœurs), est ici commentée dans son rapport au langage de son époque, de manière à pénétrer la séduction qui, d’une légèreté charmeuse et assumée à une gravité profonde, attire à elle les amateurs et retient les connaisseurs. À l’occasion du cinquantième anniversaire de sa mort, cet ouvrage complète la connaissance d’un musicien dont on a découvert la plume élégante à travers sa Correspondance (Fayard, 1994) et le recueil de textes J’écris ce qui me chante (Fayard, 2011).