Francis Poulenc was born today in 1899 in France. He was part of a group of French composers known as "Les Six", the name having been inspired by "The Five" Russian composers (see Jan 2 blog entry). The composers were Poulenc, Milhaud, Auric, Durey, Honegger, Tailleferre, and they were loosely associated with composers Satie and Cocteau as well. The music they wrote is seen as a reaction against Wagnerism and impressionism (mostly Debussy and Ravel), although I personally think Poulenc's music sounds impressionistic (at least the little of it I know).
I was introduced to Poulenc's music on hearing his wonderful little three-movement piano piece "Mouvements Perpetuals" and his lovely "Intermezzo in Ab Major", both pieces which I play now and love. Both have a light-hearted nature and are full of a wash of colors, yet also have deep feeling and introspection in places. Enjoy!
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I am also a fan of Poulenc - I've played some of his flute music (but not any time recently). Maybe I'll have to get my flute out again and try it out... it's been at least a year since I picked it up! :(
Cool! I don't think I've heard any of his music for flute - I'll have to check it out...
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