francis poulenc (7 January 1899 - 30 January 1963)

Francis Poulenc is one of the most popular composers of his century. In Britain and the USA he is seen as a very Parisian composer, revealed in humorous, insouciant works like the ballet Les Biches and the opera Les Mamelles de Tirésias; in France he is admired for his fine chansons and religious music, culminating in the magnificent opera, Dialogues des Carmélites. Yet neither insouciant humorist nor ardent religious spirit categorize the man. He was flamboyant and often manically comic, but suffered also from lengthy depressive cycles.

In 1937, Poulenc told a friend that he hoped he might be 'an almost great composer'. This qualification of the adjective may be justified, but the composer, largely self-taught, managed nevertheless to create some entirely admirable works. His music is melodic, lyrical, and emotionally expressive, in a clearly tonal framework. His works flow gracefully, the epitome of French lightness. Already these qualities distanced him from much of the current of modern classical music. Instead of producing arcana for a minority public, Poulenc wrote showpieces: communication to an audience was a key to his art.

To posterity, Poulenc is certainly one of the major composers of his generation. Although he was much influenced by Igor Stravinsky's neo-classical style, he was not an innovator like his friends and contemporaries Darius Milhaud and Arthur Honnegger, who both experimented with new harmonies and rhythms. Poulenc displayed an almost exasperating versatility, with a range of musical expression Ð from the rollicking hilarity of the Barbar suite to the moving song 'C' - that outshone his contemporaries. He was not concerned with music of the future; he just wanted to please an audience and himself. Poulenc looked for influence to Erik Satie, yet he pillaged older masters Ð from Mozart to Saint-Saëns - for musical ideas; and it is this anthological aspect of Poulenc's music that makes it particularly hard to pin him to a specific musical identity. Most general histories have offered little other information than identifying him as a member of the group Les Six (the quintessentially Parisian group of young composers in the early 1920s, linked more by friendship than by common musical style). He has been accused, not without reason, of having a problem with attention span; yet he took great pains over the formal structure of his works. The label of 'charming, minor master' has been often applied to him.

One reason behind the underestimation of Poulenc during much of his lifetime was his open homosexuality at a time when only the most prestigious cultural figures, such as Jean Cocteau, could get away with such frankness. Poulenc's letters, not only good reading but a revealing biographical analysis of his own works, make it clear that his sexuality was central to his composition, in so far as several of his major works - including the sacred Ð were inspired by his lovers. His life and art set an example of a deeply troubled artist who managed to master his inner anguish and create a significant ¦vre.

But if for no other reason than the fact that he is the most French of composers in the generation after Ravel, Poulenc merits respect and serious study.

Excerpted and adapted from the Introduction to Francis Poulenc by Benjamin Ivry

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