FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963)

An Outline

Presented to

Dr. Soo Hong Kim

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

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In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for VOICL 4921

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by

Kyungjin Pyo

February 24, 2011

Francis Poulenc(1899-1963)Biography

- Born in Paris in 1899- A member of a rich industrialist family. Rhone-Poulenc was and is one of the biggest

chemical corporations in the world.- Some writers consider Poulenc one of the first openly gay composers.- Poulenc’s life was also one of inner struggle. Having been born and raised a Roman

Catholic, he struggled throughout his life between coming to terms with his “unorthodox” sexual appetites and maintain his religious convictions.

- Poulenc was largely self-taught as a composer. He remained open to change, allowing himself to be molded by influences that came into his life by chance.

- A member of Les Six, a loose-knit group of young French and Swiss composers. (Mihaud, Auric, Durey, Honegger and Taillerferee) who had links with Erik Satie, Jean Hugo and Jean Concteau.

- Following the death of a friend in the 1930s, Poulenc rediscovered his Roman Catholic faith and wrote many sacred pieces.

- Poulenc died in Paris on 30 January 1963 of a heart attack

Musical Career1. The first period (lasted through the 1920's)- Associated with Les Six. - Influenced by Chabrier, Debussy, Satie, and Stravinsky; - He embraced the Dada movement’s techniques; rejection of traditional culture and

aesthetics- Followed the irreverent, flippant aesthetic stance of Les Six with works such as Les

Biches (1923), Concert Champêtre (1928), and Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1932).

2. Poulenc's religious reawakening (1930’s)- started to write sacred pieces, Litanies à la Vierge Noire de Rocamadour (1936) , the

Mass in G (1937) - "new dimensions and greater depth" in the composer's style; the song cycle Tel jour,

telle nuit (1937) and Concerto in G minor for organ, strings, and timpani (1938). 3. The remainder of Poulenc's career - a "gradual deepening and distillation" of his basic style, and featured an increased

concentration on sacred music and music for the stage; Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1947), Stabat Mater (1950), Dialogues des Carmelites (1957), Gloria (1959), and Sept répons des ténèbres (1962).

His Songs and Style

- Poulenc loved the human voice and had a true affinity for song.

- His friendships with the leading avant-garde poets of Montparnasse such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Max Jacob, and Paul Eluard led to his writing more than 150 solo French art songs.

- Many songs were premiered and performed with his longtime partner, Pierre Bernac.- Poulenc’s music is fundamentally tonal; but he used some harmonic innovations such

as pandiatonicism, chromatically altered chords and even 12-tone rows (in few of his last works).

- Poulenc mulled over poetic fragments; the different harmonic episodes reflect those fragments; the essence of the poetry, as interpreted by Poulenc, is retained and sustained via those modulations.

- Melodies are flowing and expansive and effects such as vocal slides, falsetto, and rapid patter passages are reserved for dramatic or comic moments.

- He preferred smaller genres. Poulenc’s songs tend to be quite short; the average length “is probably about thirty to thrty-five measures, though the scope ranges from four to seventy-seven bars.”

- Piano introduction and postludes are brief. However the piano accompaniment is much more than a series of background harmonies. It is integral to the song’s atmosphere, offering harmonic and melodic support as well as functioning as a counter-melody to the vocal line.

- Poulenc was famous for requesting that his music be played with lots of pedal.

April 1945. “Yesterday a recital by Mme X who sings with intelligence but a minimum of voice. The accompanist was impeccable but she was terribly mean when it came to using enough pedal……. I detest intelligent singers. I like to hear some singing with a good sauce of pedal (the butter!), without which my music is destroyed” (from Diary of My Songs by Poulenc)

- He also tended to write “colorful final chords” that undermined the final cadence of a song. Those foreign harmonies contribute a sensuality, which results in a unique sound world

Banalites (1940) - The collection of five songs on Apollinaire text, not in any sense a cycle.- Written for Bernac- Shows the varied aspects that Poulenc’s music can adopt to express with remarkable

fidelity the diversity of Apollinaire’s poems- A balanced group of melodies in which he can display almost every facet of his

songwriting art; 1. Chason d’Orkenise is a home-made folksong; 2. Hotel is the laziest song in the world; 3. Fagnes de Wallonie is one of those amiable fast movements; 4. In Voyage a Paris gaiety and hilarity combine with a poetic love of Paris; 5. the final song, Sanglots, has the broad canvas and serious tone.

HôtelMa chambre a la forme d'une cage,Le soleil passe son bras par la fenêtre.Mais moi qui veux fumer pour faire des miragesJ'allume au feu du jour ma cigarette.Je ne veux pas travailler - je veux fumer.

Hotel My room has the form of a cage. The sun reaches its arm in through the window. But I want to smoke and make shapes in the air, and so I light my cigarette on the sun's fire. I don't want to work, I want to smoke

Hotel- Bernac describes this song as “the laziest song ever written! But make no mistake,

there must be no hint of sadness. On the contrary it is a happy laziness”- The poem relates a suspended moment in time during which the protagonist

languidly smokes a cigarette.- Beautifully shaped, languid vocal line with strategically placed leaps and

portamento.- Rocking quarter-note accompaniment.- The luxurious atmosphere is maintained by the liberal pedaling of the no-functional

ninth, augmented and added sixth chords, all of which give the effect of smoke floating up to the ceiling., wholly enveloping the smoker.

- It is important to note that a great deal of pedal is required in the song, despite the absence of a pedal marking, as the pianist can only a luxurious aural atmosphere with plenty of pedal.

Sanglots Notre amour est réglé par les calmes étoiles Or nous savons qu'en nous beaucoup d'hommes respirent Qui vinrent de trés loin et sont un sous nos fronts C'est la chanson des rêveurs Qui s'étaient arraché le coeur Et le portaient dans la main droite ... (Souviens-t'en cher orgueil de tous ces souvenirs Des marins qui chantaient comme des conquérants. Des gouffres de Thulé, des tendres cieux d'Ophir Des malades maudits, de ceux qui fuient

Sobs Human love is ruled by the calm stars. We know that within us many people breathe who came from afar and are united behind our brows. This is the song of that dreamer who had torn out his heart and was carrying it in his right hand... ( Remember, oh dear pride, all those memories: the sailors who sang like conquerors, the chasms of Thule, the tender skies of Ophir, the accursed sick, the ones who flee their own shadows,

leur ombre Et du retour joyeux des heureux émigrants.) De ce coeur il coulait du sang Et le rêveur allait pensant À sa blessure délicate ... (Tu ne briseras pas la chaîne de ces causes...) ...Et douloureuse et nous disait: (...Qui sont les effets d'autres causes) Mon pauvre coeur, mon coeur brisé Pareil au coeur de tous les hommes... (Voici nos mains que la vie fit esclaves) ...Est mort d'amour ou c'est tout comme Est mort d'amour et le voici. Ainsi vont toutes choses Arrachez donc le vôtre aussi! ( Et rien ne sera libre jusq'à la fin des temps) Laissons tout aux morts Et cachons nos sanglots

and the joyful return of the happy emigrants.) Blood was flowing from that heart; and the dreamer went on thinking of his wound which was delicate ... (You will not break the chain of those causes...) ...and painful; and he kept saying to us: (...which are the effects of other causes.) "My poor heart, my heart which is broken like the hearts of all men... (Look, here are our hands which life enslaved.) "...has died of love or so it seems, has died of love and here it is. That is the way of all things. "So tear your hearts out too!" ( And nothing will be free until the end of time.) Let us leave everything to the dead, and let us hide our sobbing.

Sanglots- The most serious and powerful song in Banalites. - The poem is one of Apollinaire’s most difficult, for the imagery is often surrealistic;

the Juxtaposition of the main declamatory narrative and interior “asides”, which in effect form a poem within a poem

- In the text there is no punctuation, except for the parentheses, which set aside lines that are linked in meaning.

- Filled with subtle modulations, mood changes, and such romantic touches as rolled chords and grace note arpeggios, seems to reveal the inner meaning of the poem.

Bibliography

Bernac, Pierre. Francis Poulenc : The Man and His Songs. London: V. Gollancz, 1977.

________. The Interpretation of French Song. London: Kahn & Averill, 1997.

Daniel, Keith W. Francis Poulenc, His Artistic Development and Musical Style Studies in Musicology. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press, 1982.

Johnson, Graham, and Richard Stokes. A French Song Companion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Kimball, Carol. Song : A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature. Rev. ed. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 2006.

Poulenc, Francis. Diary of My Songs = Journal De Mes Mélodies. London: V. Gollancz, 1985.