Sam Gee – L69 Research – (HB) Music

Research:Poulenc, Neo Classical and Les Six

PoulencBackground:

- Full name is Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc- Born January 7th 1899 in Paris, died January 30, 1963 in Paris- He was a French composer and a member of the French group called “Les Six”- Composed chamber music, opera, ballet, orchestral music, and other genres

- His mother taught him to play the piano, and so the piano dominated many of his early compositions

- He also borrowed from Mozart and Saint-Saëns in his compositions- He was also particularly fond of woodwind instruments, and planned to write a set of

sonatas for all of them, although he only lived long enough to write 4 of them: sonatas for flute, oboe, clarinet, and an Elégie for horn

- He died of a heart failure, and is buried at the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise

- Some say he is one of the first openly gay composers, and his first serious relationship was with a painter Richard Chanlaire

- He dedicated his Concert champêtre to him- He also had a number of relationships with women, and had a daughter, Marie-Ange,

although he never admitted he was the father

Musical Characteristics:

- He learnt mainly by ear, and was largely self-taught- He has written 3 operas- He uses tonal melodies in his music, and his overall style was ‘classicism’, similar to

classical music, but contains variations on the style- Uses variable harmonies, vibrant melodies and unusual ensembles- His style tends to be almost mocking, and his operas have, in some cases, contained

sophisticated political jabs- His operas are an example of his sense of convention and form- His sense of dissonance is also very acute, shown in all 3 operas, which contain

dissonant qualities

Neo Classical Music

- Neoclassicism was a 20th century development, which was particularly popular in between the two World Wars

- Composers got inspirations from the 18th Century (around the Classical Period)- It is often seen as a reaction against the prevailing trend of the 19th Century

Romanticism- In the use of modern instrumental resources, like a full orchestra (expanded since the

18th Century) and advanced harmony, neoclassical music is distinctly 20th Century- Important composers include:

Igor Stravinsky Paul Hindemith

Sam Gee – L69 Research – (HB) Music

Sergei Prokofiev Darius Milhaud Francis Poulenc

- Stravinsky’s first venture into the style began in 1919-20, when he composed his ballet Pulcinella, using themes from the Classical Period (he believed by Giovanni Pergolesi

- Neoclassicism was also popular in America- Arnold Schoenberg’s works after 1920 have also been described as neoclassical,

because he returned to classical forms after his atonal period

‘Les Six’

- The six members are: Georges Auric (1899-1983) Louis Durey (1888-1979) Arthur Honegger (1892-1955) Darius Milhaud (1892-1974) Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Germaine Tailleferre (1892-1983)

- The group was officially launched in January 1920, where they were compared with the Five Russians

- They published an album of piano pieces together (the famous “Album des Six”)- They also wrote:

“Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel” – project by Milhaud, Auric, Tailleferre, Honegger and Poulenc, on a scenario by Cocteau

“Salade” – Milhaud, premiered 1924 in a production of Count Etienne de Beaumont

“La Nouvelle Cythére” – Tailleferre, written in 1929 for the Ballets Russes “Romance sans paroles” – Durey “Cinq Bagatelles” – Auric “Sonate pour violincello et piano” – Poulenc “Sonata pour flûte et piano”, op.164 – Poulenc “Scaramouche” – Milhaud “Sonata pour violon seul” – Honegger “Danse de la Chévre” – (Dance of the Goat), for flute – Honegger “Sonate Champêtre for Oboe Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano” – Tailleferre

- They represent a strong reaction against the heavy German Romanticism (e.g. of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss), as well as against the chromaticism and orchestration of Debussy

- They wanted to write music without using complicated rhythms (such as Stravinsky), or twelve-tone music like Schoenberg

- Many of the pieces were quite short, and they liked jazz as well- They did not stay together for very long, as they developed their own styles in their

composition