Francis Poulenc

Fanatical about culture, Poulenc followed Cocteau’s advice and sought to rid his music of the general influences of Wagner, Mussorgsky and Debussy in the aim to define a clear, articulate style blending lightness, irony and humour. Member of Les Six group, Poulenc gave new inspiration to French music during the period between the wars. He and his friends had a taste for jazz, music halls, circuses and high society parties.

Far from apparent superficiality, Poulenc’s music shows great sensitivity. Behind the laughs are concealed tears and melancholy. His melodic inventiveness gave rise to numerous, always refined works for voice and piano. His incomparably rich chamber music blends both modernity, (Poulenc met Schoenberg in 1922) and French clarity. The reinvented classicism, childhood nostalgia, caustic humour and sparkling virtuosity of the music Poulenc left behind is very captivating. This “monk-rascal” was to compose sublime scores of sacred music such as his Gloria and Stabat Mater.