Poulenc :: essays research papers

Francis Poulenc was born in Paris, France on January 7, 1899 into a healthfultodo family. His father, Emile Poulenc, was whiz of the directors of the pharmaceutical firm Rhone-Poulenc. Never one to be without money, Poulencs constitute was often viewed as more of a hobby than a necessity. Poulenc neer studied at the famed Paris Conservatory or either other musical institution, which later made it difficult for him to be judge by his peers. Poulenc studied piano with Ricardo Vines and composition with Charles Koechlin, although this study was limited and Poulenc was considered to be primarily a self-taught composer. During the 1920s, Poulenc became associated with a group known as Les hexad that included Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Germaine Tailleferre, and Georges Auric (the Les Six received their name after beingness compared to Russias Big Five). Although these composers did not represent a particular inculcate of music, they favored jazz and music hall styles and opposed the romantic and perfunctory style of previous French composers including Claude Debussy. Poulenc, himself, was inspired by Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud and Erik Satie as well as Maurice Chevalier and French vaudeville. While in his early 20s, Poulenc began to have great success as a composer in several(prenominal) genres orchestral, chamber music, ballets, concertos, film scores, and opera, as well as powerful choral and sacred music. During the 1930s, he rediscovered his Catholic faith and began writing religious music, establishing himself as one of the great religious and choral music writers of the century. He endured the German occupation of Paris during WWII, which gave rise to his most impassioned and difficult take in Figure Humaine, or The Face of Man, which was a covert work of protest. close to of his other major religious works include his Mass in G (1937), Stabat Mater (1950), and Gloria (1959). He also wrote the religious opera The Dialogues o f the Carmelites (1957) and a one-act tragedy for soprano, The Human Voice (1959).The concert I attended, entitled Poulenc gentle and Wind, contained three pieces of music composed by Francis Poulenc Sonata for the Clarinet and Bassoon (1922), Trio for the Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon (1926), and Sextet for the Piano, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and tusk (1932-39). All three pieces, although different in their content and composition, contained a like element common to most of Poulencs secular music. The main centralise of each composition was its melody.