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Francis Poulenc

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Francis Poulenc was a French composer and pianist, born in Paris in 1899 as the only son of a well-to-do manufacturer. His father expected him to join the family business, and he was not allowed to attend a conservatoire. He studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor, and got to know Erik Satie. Under Satie's influence he belonged to the young composers known as Les Six. His early work stood out for its playfulness and irreverence, such as the piano suite Mouvements perpétuels from 1919 and the ballet Les Biches from 1923.

Music and breakthrough

In the 1930s a more serious side emerged, above all in the religious music he wrote from 1936 and alternated with lighter works. Among his best-known compositions are the Concert champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra from 1928, the organ concerto from 1938, the opera Dialogues des Carmélites from 1957 and the Gloria from 1959. As a pianist he performed with the baritone Pierre Bernac and the soprano Denise Duval, with whom he travelled through Europe and America. He recognised the importance of the gramophone early on and recorded a great deal from 1928.

Influence

For a long time he was known mainly as a humorous, light composer, and his religious music was overlooked. In the twenty-first century his serious works are receiving more attention, with new productions of Dialogues des Carmélites and La Voix humaine. His songs and choral works are often performed. He died in 1963.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to the Gloria and notice how cheerful, almost dancing passages alternate with quiet, devout moments, and how soprano, choir and orchestra follow one another in them.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists