Listening to Poulenc

I’m generally more interested in the musical output of composers rather than their biographies, but when I found out that Poulenc made a special pilgrimage to the Black Madonna that forever changed the way he composed, I figured I should pay some more attention.

Francis Poulenc celebrated his birthday a few days ago. (You know, if I was really on top of things then I would get these birthday blogs out AHEAD of time.) Anyway, he was a French composer who lived between 1899 and 1963 and is one of my favorites. I first heard about him in college when I took a History of 20^th Century Music class at North Carolina State University. The NC Symphony performed his Concerto for Two Pianos and my professor suggested that I attend because, “I might find a kindred spirit with him.” You see, back then I could not yet comprehend the music of the 20^th Century besides one symphony by Shostakovich and some Stravinsky. I looked him up, went to the concert, and have loved his music ever since.

If you haven’t seen his opera “The Dialogue of the Carmelites”, I totally suggest you get a copy and listen to/watch it. This opera is based on an historical event which took place during the French Revolution: a convent of nuns is martyred. The final scene alone is worth watching if you can’t see the whole performance. The nuns sing an Ave Maria as they march up to the guillotine. Their heads are chopped off one by one. Slowly but consistently the number of voices drops out until one nun remains, singing to the Virgin Mary. Then silence. The opera ends. It is beautiful, tragic, and brilliant. I cried the first time I heard it.

He wrote so many concertos that I am only going to name a few. One piece I want to hear live before I die is his Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Timpani. What a combination! I’ve listened to it many times and still find new surprises. If you like pipe organs, check out this piece. The opening Andante is like a prelude to the concerto … you feel like it really starts in the second movement when the tempo picks up. Another great work is the Concerto for Two Pianos that I mentioned earlier. It sounds neo-classical when the pianos play all of their scales and the motif in the base line. One I have heard but is more difficult to get through is the Harpsichord Concerto entitled Concert champêtre. Do you know the last time someone wrote a harpsichord concerto? In like 1750! I don’t know actually, but no one writes for that instrument anymore … well, Poulenc I guess.  The harpsichordist for whom he wrote this work, Wanda Landowska, was instrumental in bringing the harpsichord back into vogue … let’s be honest, more people played it because of her but it never came close to the popularity of the piano. I give him credit for writing this piece because it is exactly what the 20^th century was about – thinking about music and instruments in new ways.

I hope you will give Poulenc a listen, especially the pieces I listed. Most of it is pretty accessible but it does take some work to actively listen. If his music comes up at a concert near you, then you should go and tell me how it was!