Poulenc vocal cycles. Francis Poulenc

operas

“Breasts of Tiresias”, opera-buff after the farce by G. Apollinaire (1944)
"Dialogues of the Carmelites", based on the drama by J. Bernanos (1956)
"The Human Voice", a musical tragedy based on the monodrama by J. Cocteau (1958)
"Lady from Monte Carlo", monologue for soprano and orchestra, lyrics by J. Cocteau (1961)

ballets

"The Newlyweds on the Eiffel Tower" (together with D. Millau and others), script by J. Cocteau (1921)
Lani, singing ballet (1923)
"Morning Serenade" choreographic concert for piano and eighteen instruments (1929)
"Exemplary Animals", after J. La Fontaine (1941)

Symphonic works

Rural Concerto for harpsichord (or piano) and orchestra (1927)
Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1932)
Concerto for organ, string orchestra and timpani (1938)
Sinfonietta (1947)
Piano Concerto (1949)

Cantata-oratorio works

Un ballo in maschera, secular cantata for baritone and chamber orchestra to the words of M. Jacob (1932)
Litanies to Our Lady of the Black Rocamadour for a feminine or children's choir and organ or string orchestra (1936)
"The Drought", cantata for choir and orchestra to words by E. James (1937)
"Stabat Mater" for soprano, choir and orchestra (1950)
"Gloria" for soprano, choir and orchestra (1959)
"Seven Words on the Cross" for soprano ( children's voice), children's and male choirs and orchestra (1961)

Instrumental Ensembles

Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon (1926)
String Quartet (1946)
Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn (1940)
French suite for nine wind instruments, drum, harpsichord and harp (or piano) on themes by C. Gervaise (1935; there is a version for piano)
Sonatas for two clarinets (1918), clarinet and bassoon (1922), horn, trumpet and trombone (1923), violin and piano (1943), flute and piano (1957), cello and piano (1958), oboe and piano (1962) ), clarinet and piano (1962)
Pieces for various instruments with piano

Piano works

"Perpetual Motions" (1918)
Five Impromptu (1921)
"Walks" (1921)
"In memory of Albert Roussel" (1929)
Eight nocturnes (1929-1938)
Sixteen improvisations (1932-1960)
2 sonatas for two pianos (1918, 1953)

Works for choir or vocal ensemble a cappella

Drinking songs for four male voices on anonymous texts of the 17th century (1922)
Seven songs for mixed choir to words by G. Apollinaire and P. Eluard (1936)
Mecca G-dur for mixed choir (1937)
"The Human Face", cantata for double mixed choir to words by P. Eluard (1943)
On a Snowy Evening, small chamber cantata for six voices or chorus to words by P. Eluard (1944)
Eight French songs for mixed and for male choir for vintage folk texts (1945)
Four Christmas motets for mixed choir (1952)
Laudas of Saint Anthony of Padua for male choir (1959)

Works for voice and chamber ensemble

Negro Rhapsody on words from the Makoko-Kangaroo Poems (1917)
"Bestiary, or Orpheus' Cortege", six songs to words by G. Apollinaire (1919; there is a version for voice and piano)
Cockades, three songs to words by J. Cocteau (1919; there is a version for voice and piano)
Rural songs to the words of M. Fombsra (1942; there is a version for voice and piano)

Works for voice and piano

Mischievous Songs on Anonymous Texts of the 18th Century (1926)
"That day, that night", a cycle of songs to the words of P. Eluard (1937)
"Banality", a cycle of songs to the words of G. Apollinaire (1940)
"Calligrams", a cycle of songs to the words of G. Apollinaire (1948)
"Ice and Fire", a cycle of songs to the words of P. Eluard (1950)
Cycles and individual works to the words of L. Aragon, R. Desnos, M. Jacob, F. Garcia Lorca, J. Moreas, J. Racine, P. Ronsard, Charles d'Orléans, P. Eluard and other poets

Music for drama performances and films

literary works

"Conversations with Claude Rostand" (1954)
"Emanuel Chabrier" (1961)
"Me and My Friends" (1964)
"" (1964)

Dumesnil R. Contemporary French Composers of the Six Group. L., 1964.
Medvedeva I.. M., 1969.
Poulenc F. Letters. L.; M „ 1970.
Poulenc F.. L., 1977.
Filenko G. French music first half of the XX century: Essays. L., 1983.

Francis Poulenc - French composer and pianist, one of the the brightest representatives group "Six" - widely known in the music world as the author of the operas "The Human Voice" and "Dialogues of the Carmelites", the ballets "Deer" and "Exemplary Animals" (based on the fables of Lafontaine), the cantata "The Face of a Human" to the text of P. Eluard and Stabat Mater, a variety of compositions for piano - from small pieces to concertos with an orchestra. And also - many romances on the verses of G. Apollinaire, M. Jacob, L. Aragon and Garcia Lorca, P. Elu ...

Francis Poulenc - French composer and pianist, one of the brightest representatives of the "Six" group - is widely known in the music world as the author of the operas "The Human Voice" and "Dialogues of the Carmelites", the ballets "Deer" and "Exemplary Animals" (based on the fables of La Fontaine), cantatas "The Face of a Man" on the text of P. Eluard and Stabat Mater, various compositions for piano - from small pieces to concerts with an orchestra. And also - many romances to the verses of G. Apollinaire, M. Jacob, L. Aragon and Garcia Lorca, P. Eluard, Ronsard and R. Desnos - it was not by chance that the composer's contemporaries called him "the French Schubert".

The son of a successful industrialist, F. Poulenc discovered early musical ability. In the art of playing the piano, he improved with R. Viñes. Composition lessons were taught to him by Ch. Kequelin, one of the patriarchs of French music, who brought up many talented composers within the walls of the Paris Conservatory.

From his youth, Poulenc was a frequenter of both high-society salons and noisy meetings of artistic bohemia. He was a member of the refined society of the literary elite, whose evenings were held in a bookshop in the square near the Odeon theater. Among Poulenc's close friends are composers D. Milhaud, J. Auric and E. Satie, poets G. Apollinaire and M. Jacob, P. Eluard, L. Aragon and R. Desnos, singers D. Duval, J. Bathory and P. Bernac, the famous harpsichordist V. Landowska, the famous violinist E. Jourdan-Morrange, musical critic K. Rostand, writer and playwright P. Claudel. His work was highly praised by M. Ravel and I. Stravinsky.

In his artistic passions, Poulenc was absolutely free, he did not limit himself to any one style, but enthusiastically shuffled different directions. In his youth, he was fascinated by eccentricity, the aesthetics of the music hall, and the ideas of urbanism. He was a man by apt expression A. Honegger, "creating their own music." In her book My Musician Friends, E. Jourdan-Morrange, with her characteristic grace and poetry, dedicated the following lines to Poulenc: near the forget-me-not, no less beautiful from this. To each his own time... Poulenc, like Mozart in his childhood, is ready to ask: "Tell me, do you love me?" His music is a gift. There is no vulgarity in her lightness. He creates as he breathes.

Here is what contemporaries said and wrote about Poulenc:

“How talented he is! If only he worked” (Maurice Ravel).

“Francis Poulenc is music itself; I don't know any other music that would act so directly, would be so simply expressed and would reach the goal with such infallibility" (Darius Milhaud).

“I did not know how to listen to myself, Francis - thank you, Francis, from now on I hear my voice ...” (Paul Eluard).

“I admire a musician and a person who creates natural music that sets you apart from others. In the whirlpool of fashionable systems, dogmas that are trying to impose mighty of the world of this, you remain yourself - a rare courage worthy of respect ”(Arthur Honegger).

“Future generations will discover in his works Poulenc as he was: in love with life, mocking, kind, gentle and daring, melancholy and sincere mystic, at the same time a monk and a bad boy” (Stefan Odel).

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc(fr. Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc; January 7, Paris - January 30, ibid) - French composer, pianist, critic, the most prominent member of the French Six.

Biography

My music is my portrait. F. Poulenc

F. Poulenc is one of the most charming composers that France gave to the world in the 20th century. He entered the history of music as a member of the creative community "Six". In the Six - the youngest, barely over the threshold of twenty years - he immediately won authority and universal love his talent - original, lively, spontaneous, as well as purely human qualities - immeasurable humor, kindness and sincerity, and most importantly - the ability to bestow people with his extraordinary friendship.

Francis Poulenc is music itself, I know of no other music that acts so directly, is so simply expressed and achieves its goal with the same infallibility. Millau

The period when Francis Poulenc was in the group "Six" is the brightest in his life and work, at the same time laying the foundations for his popularity and professional career. Here is what Poulenc himself said about this time a quarter of a century later:

- (Francis Poulenc, My Friends and I.)

The future composer was born into the family of a large manufacturer. Mother - a wonderful musician - was the first teacher of Francis, she passed on to her son her boundless love for music, admiration for W.A. Mozart, R. Schumann, F. Schubert, F. Chopin. From the age of 15 he musical education continued under the direction of pianist R. Viñes and composer C. Kouklen, who introduced young musician to contemporary art, to the work of C. Debussy, M. Ravel, as well as to the new idols of the young - I. F. Stravinsky and E. Satie.
Poulenc's youth coincided with the years of the First World War. He was drafted into the army, which prevented him from entering the conservatory. However, Poulenc appeared early on the musical scene in Paris. In 1917, the eighteen-year-old composer made his debut at one of the concerts new music Negro Rhapsody for baritone and instrumental ensemble. This work was such a resounding success that Poulenc immediately became a celebrity. They talked about him.
Inspired by success, Poulenc, following the Negro Rhapsody, creates the vocal cycle Bestiary (to the verses of G. Apollinaire), Cockade (to the verses of J. Cocteau); piano pieces Perpetual motions, Walks; choreographic concerto for piano and orchestra Morning Serenade; ballet with Lani singing, staged in 1924. in the entreprise of S. Diaghilev. Milhaud responded to this production with an enthusiastic article:

The music of Laney is exactly what one would expect from its author... This ballet is written in the form of a dance suite... with such richness of shades, with such elegance, tenderness, charm, with which only the works of Poulenc are so generously bestowed upon us... The meaning of this music timeless, time will not touch her, and she will forever retain her youthful freshness and originality.

In the early works of Poulenc, the most essential aspects of his temperament, taste, creative style, a special purely Parisian coloring of his music, her inseparable bond with Parisian chanson. B. Asafiev, giving a description of these works, noted the clarity ... and liveliness of thinking, perky rhythm, accurate observation, purity of drawing, conciseness and concreteness of presentation.
In the 30s. the composer's lyrical talent flourished. He enthusiastically works in the genres of vocal music: he writes songs, cantatas, choral cycles. In the person of Pierre Bernac, the composer found a talented interpreter of his songs. With him as a pianist, he toured extensively and successfully throughout the cities of Europe and America for more than 20 years. Of great artistic interest are Poulenc's choral compositions on spiritual texts: Mass, Litanies to the black Rocamadour Mother of God, Four motets for the time of repentance. Later - in the 50s. Stabat mater, Gloria, Four Christmas Moments will also be created. All compositions are very diverse in style, they reflect the traditions of French choral music of various eras - from Guillaume de Machaux to G. Berlioz. Poulenc spends the years of the Second World War in besieged Paris and in his country mansion in Noise, sharing with his compatriots all the hardships of military life, deeply suffering for the fate of his homeland and friends.
The sad thoughts and feelings of that time, but also the belief in victory, in freedom, were reflected in the cantata The Face of Man for double choir a cappella to the verses of P. Eluard. The poet of the French Resistance, Eluard, wrote his poems in the deep underground, from where he secretly forwarded them to Poulenc under an assumed name. The composer also kept secret the work on the cantata and its publication. In the midst of the war, this was an act of great courage. It is no coincidence that on the day of the liberation of Paris and its suburbs, Poulenc proudly displayed the score of the Human Face in the window of his house next to the national flag.
The composer in the opera genre proved to be an outstanding master - playwright. The first opera Breast Theresa (1944, to the text of the farce by G. Apollinaire) - a cheerful, light and frivolous opera - buffa - reflected Poulenc's penchant for humor, jokes, and eccentricity. The next two operas are in a different genre. These are dramas with deep psychological development. Dialogues of the Carmelites (libretto by J. Bernanos, 1953) reveals the gloomy story of the death of the inhabitants of the Carmelite monastery during the Great french revolution, their heroic sacrificial death in the name of faith. The human voice (based on the drama by J. Cocteau, 1958) is a lyrical monodrama in which a lively and quivering human voice sounds - the voice of longing and loneliness, the voice of an abandoned woman. Of all the works of Poulenc, this opera brought him the greatest popularity in the world. It showed the brightest aspects of the composer's talent. This is an inspired composition imbued with deep humanity, subtle lyricism. All 3 operas were created based on a remarkable talent French singer and actress D. Duval, who became the first performer in these operas.
are completing creative way Poulenc 2 sonatas - Sonata for oboe and piano, dedicated to S. Prokofiev, and Sonata for clarinet and piano, dedicated to A. Honegger. Sudden death cut short the life of the composer during a period of great creative upsurge, in the midst of concert tours.
The composer's heritage consists of about 150 works. His vocal music has the greatest artistic value - operas, cantatas, choral cycles, songs, the best of which are written to the verses of P. Eluard. It was in these genres that the generous gift of Poulenc, the melodist, was truly revealed. His melodies, like the melodies of Mozatra, Schubert, Chopin, combine disarming simplicity, subtlety and psychological depth, serve as an expression of the human soul. It was the melodic charm that ensured the lasting and enduring success of Poulenc's music in France and beyond.
He was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery.

Compositions

• The operas The Breasts of Theresa (1947), The Dialogues of the Carmelites (1957), The Human Voice (1959).
• Ballets "Lani" (fr. Les Biches; 1924, it would be more accurate to translate "Goats" or "Cuties", since we are talking about frivolous girls), "Exemplary Beasts" (1942).
• Cantatas Drought, Human Face (1943), Un ballo in maschera
• Negro Rhapsody for piano, flute, clarinet, string quartet and voices (1917).
• Two marches and an interlude for chamber orchestra (1938).
• Two intermezzos for piano (1934) No. 1 (C-dur) No. 2 (Des-dur)
• Concertos: "Morning Serenade", Ballet Concerto for Piano and 18 Instruments (1929), Rural Concerto for Cembalo (harpsichord) and Orchestra (1938), Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra (1932), Concerto for Organ, String Orchestra and Timpani (1938).
• Vocal cycles "Bestiary" on the verses of Apollinaire and "Cockades" on the verses of Cocteau (1919), Five romances on the verses of Ronsard, Mischievous songs, etc.

Literature

• Medvedeva I. Francis Poulenc. M.: Sov. composer, 1969.-240 p., ill.- (Foreign music. Masters of the XX century).
• Schneerson G. French music of the XX century. M., 1970. S.264-284.
• Dumesnil R. Modern French composers of the "Six" group, L., 1964. P. 96-106.
• Creative portrait of composers. Directory. M., "Music", 1989.

Sources

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Poulenc" is in other dictionaries:

- (more correctly Rulank) (Poulenc) Francis (7 I 1899, Paris 30 I 1963, ibid.) French. composer. Pupil of R. Viñes (fp.) and III. Kouklin (composition). P. successfully gave concerts as a pianist at home and in other countries. He was a member of the Six (since 1920) ... Music Encyclopedia

- (more correctly Poulanc) (Poulenc) Francis (January 7, 1899, Paris, January 30, 1963, ibid.), French composer. Pupil of R. Viñes (piano) and C. Kouklen (composition). He was a member of the "Six" (See Six) (since 1920). Brought up on samples ... ...

Poulenc F.- POULENK, Francis Poulenc (18991963), French. composer, pianist. A student of S. Keklen. He was a member of the community of composers Six. Buffon op. Breasts of Tiresias (according to G. Apollinaire, 1944), tragic Dialogues of the Carmelites (according to J. ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Poulenc F.- Poulenc (Poulenc) Francis (7.1.1899, Paris, 30.1.1963, ibid.), French. composer and pianist. Studied with S. Keklen. In the beginning. 1920s joined the group of composers Six. In con. 30s joined Nar. music federation. Author of operas, pl. ... ... Ballet. Encyclopedia

Poulenc (more correctly Poulanc) (Poulenc) Francis (January 7, 1899, Paris, January 30, 1963, ibid.), French composer. Pupil of R. Viñes (piano) and C. Kouklen (composition). He was a member of the "Six" (since 1920). He was brought up on the samples of classical and ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Francis Poulenc(January 7, 1899 – January 30, 1963), French composer, pianist, critic.

Francis Poulenc is one of the most significant figures among French musicians of the past century. The composer lived and worked in difficult times.

Poulenc is a contemporary of both world wars. He served as a soldier in the First World War. He had to watch the Second World War through the eyes of a resident of occupied Paris, through the eyes of an eyewitness to Nazi atrocities. One of the composer's favorite poets, his friend Max Jacob, to whose words Poulenc wrote over fifteen songs, died in a concentration camp. Many friends of Poulenc and his co-authors embarked on an uncompromising path of struggle. A month after the German surrender was accepted in Paris, Francis Poulenc's exciting cantata "The Human Face" sounded on the radio - a solemn hymn to Freedom, which the composer secretly prepared for the day of Liberation.

In the work of Poulenc, as in a drop of water, the events of the last half century were reflected French history: the sorrows of defeats and the joys of victories left their mark on him.

The creative legacy of the composer is largely heterogeneous and contradictory. Chamber vocal creativity won the fame of the "French Schubert". Amazing skill with which Poulenc musical means achieves the ultimate expressiveness of the text, sets off the slightest nuances of human speech. The choice of libretto for Poulenc's major operatic works seems paradoxical at first glance. He chooses complex texts so seemingly unacceptable for this purpose that it sometimes seems incomprehensible how they can be put to music at all. This also applies to the "Dialogues of the Carmelites", and to "Breasts of Tiresias", and to the "Voice of a Man". In fact, it is in these operas that the peculiar talent of the composer is most clearly manifested.

AT creative biography Poulenc can be divided into several distinct periods. In the twenties, during the existence of the "Six" - a group of young French musicians, which included Honegger, Auric, Duray, Millau, Taifer and Poulenc - the composer paid tribute to the fashion trends of the post-war period. He was fond of eccentria, the aesthetics of the music hall, the ideas of urbanism. A city dweller to the marrow of his bones, Poulenc draws his music entirely from the life of the city: the works of the early Poulenc are rooted in the noisy crowd of streets and the serene silence of the labyrinth lanes of Paris.

In the thirties, a pronounced turning point is outlined in the work of Poulenc. He has a tendency to vocal genre. The composer's works become much more serious and deep. In the second half of the thirties, Poulenc wrote his first works of a religious nature. During the years of occupation, patriotic motifs are prominent in his work. Finally, after the Second World War, Poulenc is a thoughtful, serious master, with a broad outlook, capable of conveying deep human grief and enthusiastic love. Francis Poulenc carried his music through all the trials. He absorbed the youth best traditions French national music, a mature master - developed and multiplied them.

“I admire a musician and a person who creates natural music that sets you apart from others. In the whirlpool of fashionable systems, dogmas that the powers that be are trying to impose, you remain yourself - a rare courage worthy of respect, ”these words of Arthur Honneger can serve as the key to understanding the work of Francis Poulenc.

Francis Poulenc was born in Paris. The house of wealthy entrepreneurs Poulenkov stood in the center of the city on Sausse Square, not far from the Champs-Elysées.

Francis's mother, Jenny Royer, is a true Parisian, her ancestry comes from a family of skilled artisans: cabinetmakers, carpet makers, bronzers. At the same time, there was an extensive circle of art in the mother's house. The interests of the Royer family concerned theatre, music, and painting.

The family of Émile Poulenc was concerned mainly with the observance religious traditions, recognizing from all kinds of arts only serious music.

If aesthetic and musical taste Francis is obliged primarily to his mother, as he writes about in the dedication to the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites, then the other side of his spiritual life is connected with the name of his father. We are talking about the religious motives of Poulenc's work, about a sharp contrast that catches the eye immediately after the first acquaintance with his works. “In this musician, a monk is combined with a dandy in love, a peasant with a kind and gentle varmint,” the French musicologist Claude Rostand rightly notes.

Music and theater entered the life of Francis early. From the stories of his mother, he learns the names famous actors- Sarah Bernard, Gabriel Réjan, Lucien Guetry. Vivid theatrical impressions, interesting guests, music - both in concerts and at home - all this to a large extent shaped the future composer.

In 1910, due to floods in Paris, the family moved to Fontainebleau. There, Francis accidentally bought Schubert's "Winter Journey" - a work, according to him, played an important role in the decision to become a musician.

Poulenc considers Stravinsky's music to be one of the most powerful childhood impressions. At the age of eleven, Francis had a chance to hear individual numbers from The Firebird, a little later, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring. By the way, "Spring", according to Poulenc himself, had a much lesser influence on his work than many other works by Stravinsky - "Pulcinella", "Kiss of the Fairy", "Mavra", "Playing Cards". Stravinsky opened new horizons for Francis, and the young man had a new idol, a "spiritual teacher." “I don’t know if I would have become a composer if Stravinsky didn’t exist,” he recalled.

Poulenc's musical studies were not central to his education. The composer's father could not come to terms with the fact that his son would not receive a bachelor's degree, and insisted on the boy's admission to the Condorcet Lyceum. Francis did not show much interest in lyceum studies and with difficulty moved from class to class.

In 1915, Francis made the decision to specialize in piano. The excellent pianist and teacher Ricardo Vines agreed to study with Poulenc. Performing skills, literary taste, the first composer's experiments, as well as acquaintance with people such as Eric Satie and Georges Auric, who later became Francis' closest friends - all this is connected for Poulenc with Ricardo Viñes.

Poulenc's friendship with Auric was destined to last for a long time. For many years, Francis consulted with him as with a senior, with a teacher. Both of them, sharing each other's tastes, each admired the other's poetry; even their works sounded side by side: Diaghilev staged the ballets Lani (Poulenc) and The Unbearables (Oric) one after the other.

In 1917, Francis Poulenc attended two significant premieres: on June 24, Guillaume Apollinaire's Breasts of Tiresias was presented to the Parisian public for the first time, and on May 18, Eric Satie's Parade, staged by Diaghilev in collaboration with Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso, was shown. Almost thirty years later, Apollinaire's buffoonery will become the libretto of his opera. Soon he managed to get acquainted with Eric Satie himself.

Getting to know the best literary works contemporaries was of great importance for Francis, it contributed to the manifestation in the future of one of the most amazing features of his talent - a subtle sense of the melodic vocal line, which manifested itself already in such early work, as "The Bestiary, or Cortege of Orpheus" to the verses of Guillaume Apollinaire, written by him at the age of nineteen.

In french art there has long been a strong tendency towards an exotic theme. In painting, such an interest was embodied in the Tahitian canvases of Gauguin, the paintings of Picasso, inspired by Negro sculpture. Oriental motifs sound in music, starting with Rameau's "Gallant India" and ending with exotic pieces by Olivier Messiaen and André Jolivet.

French composers immediately after the war were attracted by a form of new exotic music - Negro jazz cultivated by the Americans. Stravinsky, and after him young French musicians, carried away by the rhythmic and timbre novelty of jazz, began to use new jazz techniques in their compositions, trying to create the music of a modern city.

It is not surprising that Poulenc could not escape the temptation to apply different kind musical and textual "barbarisms". He decided to use three verses from the pseudo-poem "Honolulu" for the central part of "Negro Rhapsody".

"Negro Rhapsody" was written for baritone, accompanied by piano, flute, clarinet and string quartet. It was first performed on December 11, 1917 at one of the evenings organized by the singer Jeanne Bathory at the Old Dovecote Theater, where the music of young composers often sounded. Rhapsody was a resounding success. Fame came to Poulenc immediately after the premiere. They got interested.

Pre-war Paris, in which the character of the future composer took shape, was a noisy and unusually diverse city, striking in the diversity of its population. It was in Paris - the city of art, that aspiring poets, artists, musicians aspired to. Paris attracted such famous Russian writers as K. Balmont, A. Tolstoy, A. Akhmatova, I. Ehrenburg. Stravinsky and Picasso owed their success to Paris - the capital of France became their second home.

The theatrical life of pre-war Paris proceeded rather sluggishly, the audience was not pampered with new productions. From the time of "Pelléas et Mélisande" by Debussy, the scene opera houses almost did not know the prime minister. The performances of a group of Russian artists, organized by Sergei Diaghilev, brought a special revival. Since the beginning of the war, concerts and performances have become much less frequent: many musicians, artists and artists were drafted into the army.

The uncertainty that gripped a significant part of the older generation of the French creative intelligentsia, affects the mood younger generation. It no longer recognizes the authorities of the past, but still does not see new ideals in the present. It is not surprising that skeptical moods, irritability, disbelief in one's own strength become characteristic in these years.

From July 1919, Francis Poulenc was in Paris, where he served until October 1921 in the Ministry of Aviation. Acting as a secretary (he worked on a typewriter), most Free time Francis gave his musical hobbies.

During these years, Poulenc is becoming more and more close to Cocteau, Satie, Millau; participates in the very first concerts and editions of the future "Six". His piano piece "Waltz" was included in the collection of pieces "Album of Six", published by the Parisian publishing house "Eschig" in 1919.

The aesthetics of the "Six" to some extent reflects the aesthetics of Jean Cocteau's manifesto "Rooster and Harlequin". Cocteau calls to smash to pieces what seemed unshakable a century ago - aesthetics, directed mainly against the Wagnerians and Debussists. The author of the manifesto challenged the exorbitant lengths, boredom, vagueness and complexity of writing, the vagueness of impressionism. Interestingly, many years later Poulenc rejected the idea of ​​Cocteau as the ideological inspirer of the Six: “Jean Cocteau, who is attracted by everything new, was not our theorist, as many believe, he was our friend and a brilliant mouthpiece (...) and it is impossible to take his brief musical essay for the manifesto of the Six.

Musical Paris took the "Six" for a newfangled school, she did not keep herself waiting and soon performed a series of concerts. The first of them was dedicated to the works of the composers of the "Six", the second - to their foreign contemporaries. Works by Alfredo Casella, Arnold Schoenberg, Bela Bartok were played. Similar concerts were given not only in France, but also abroad. The "Six" publishes its own newspaper, the first issue of which is called "Le Coq" ("The Rooster"), and the next - "Le Coq Parisien" ("The Parisian Rooster").

This leaflet, in the form of a poster, was rather badass, although it did not associate itself with any program. Jean Cocteau writes: “This newspaper, in which six musicians of different views express their opinions, united only by friendly relations ... Writers and artists join the musicians. If one of us types a phrase that the other disapproves of, we know full well that we will never start a feud over it."

It is curious that while standing up for the new art, honoring such authors as Schoenberg, Bartok and Berg, the members of the "Six" see, in addition to Wagnerianism and Debussism, another danger - modernism. As a result, Le Coq proclaimed the founding of an "anti-modernist league".

By the mid-twenties, the formation of the creative individuality of the composer was completed. The turning point in Poulenc's work came in 1923, when he composed the first ballet Lani, commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes troupe.

The interest and love of the young composer for vocal music was reflected even in such a seemingly far from singing field as ballet. The score of "Laney" includes vocal and choral numbers - songs and dances. Vocal-choral music penetrates the art of choreography infrequently, and Poulenc's merit is that he managed to combine song and dance, turning them into a playful dance song.

The twenties were for Poulenc the time of the final formation of his individual style. Among the numerous compositions of these years, the most successful were "Lani", "Merry Songs", "Country Concert" and "Morning Serenade".

"Country Concert" Poulenc largely follows national traditions old masters and Scarlatti. Feeling the influence of the old harpsichordists, Francis Poulenc, however, does not take the path of simply imitating them. "Country Concert" is a continuation and development of this kind of music.

In 1929, Poulenc wrote another ballet - Morning Serenade. The composer created a peculiar form of ballet - a choreographic concerto for piano and eighteen instruments. This work, which is almost the first in the new genre of piano concerto-ballet, Poulenc conceived as a synthesis of two genres - a one-movement piano concerto and one-act ballet. The score of the concerto, which includes winds, strings and percussion, but lacks violins, is a kind of double concerto, in which the main roles are equally distributed between two soloists - a piano and a dancer.

The works of Francis Poulenc in the second half of the 1930s reveal new, hitherto hidden aspects of the composer's talent. In these writings, we are presented with a thoughtful, serious master who created in a few prewar years a number of large-scale works.

By the end of the thirties, the threat of an inevitable impending war was becoming more and more clear. Nazi Germany was preparing for a victorious triumphal march to pass through all the countries of Europe and lay the foundation for the world domination of the Third Reich. France is rallying the ranks of its anti-fascist fighters. wide circles the French public, the socialist, communist and other political parties organize a united Popular Front.

In 1932, an association of writers and artists was created, which included the largest masters France Romain Rolland, Jean Richard Blok, Louis Aragon, Paul Eluard. Leading representatives of the French artistic intelligentsia - composers, writers, poets, performers and teachers - are united in the People's Musical Federation.

The composers of the "Six" participate in collective compositions - such is the music for the performances. Francis Poulenc did not join communist party, did not become an active member of the National Music Federation, but his music shows the composer's uncompromising attitude towards the events of the second half of the 1930s.

At this time, the versatility of the composer is most clearly manifested. He composes dramatic works Drought and Concerto for Organ. A wonderful lyrical vocal cycle by Poulenc to the words of Eluard "Both Day and Night", French Suite (after Claude Gervaise) is being published in Paris. In addition to such purely secular works, Poulenc writes a number of works on spiritual subjects: “The Litany to the Black Rocamadour Mother of God”, Mass in G-dur, motets.

The cantata The Drought (1937) for mixed choir and orchestra was written to words by Edward James. Four parts of the cantata - "Locust", "Abandoned Village", "Deceptive Future", "Skeleton of the Sea" - draw disaster that has befallen people.

The once fertile valley is devastated, it has become a haven and kingdom of locusts. The imperious hand of drought has erased the traces of human habitation, its spirit hovers over the silent earth, dried up like an empty shell.

The images of the poem are symbolic, they cannot be understood straightforwardly. The image of the all-devouring locust, the evil whirlwind of the Drought persistently echoes the dark forces of Hitlerism that have set in motion.

At the beginning of the war, Francis Poulenc was drafted into the army, in an anti-aircraft formation, and by the time of the armistice - June 1940 - was in Bordeaux. After demobilization, he spent the summer with his cousins, writing again. That summer, sketches for the cello sonata were made and the decision was made to write a ballet based on La Fontaine's fables. Work on the ballet continued until 1942.

The theatrical calendar of Paris was very meager and limited during the occupation, and the composition of the audience was not at all the same as before the war - the gray-green uniforms of Nazi officers flashed by, the heels of forged boots clattered.

AT full force the musician's voice of protest sounded in the cantata for double mixed choir a cappella "The face of a man" to the words of Paul Eluard. On the title page the composer wrote the following lines: "I dedicate to Pablo Picasso, whose work and life I admire." This inscription symbolically represents the union of three contemporary French humanist artists - Paul Eluard, Francis Poulenc and Pablo Picasso.

Having become acquainted with the poetry of Eluard, Poulenc decided to turn to her twenty years later. He liked to say that long years I was looking for the key to Eluard's poems, which are quite difficult for an inexperienced reader.

The cantata "The Face of Man" tells about the difficult and difficult years of the fascist occupation, reflects the deep feelings and experiences of the French people. The eight parts of the cantata reflect either the poet's tender appeal to his Motherland, or contempt for the enemy hordes. For the performance of the cantata, a large double choir a cappella is required. AT climax the number of votes reaches sixteen due to the additional division of parties. The complexity of the performance also lies in the polyphonic saturation of the fabric, in the difficulties of the intonational-harmonic language and singing technique.

The war and the poems of Paul Eluard, who speaks of the suffering of the people of France, inspired Poulenc to create one of the outstanding choral works of our time - the cantata "The Face of Man".

The opera-buff "Breasts of Tiresias" in two acts with a prologue was written based on the "surrealist drama" by Guillaume Apollinaire between May and October 1944. Poulenc admitted that "Apollinaire found a response in the eccentric side of my nature"; indeed, the performance shown to the Parisians in June 1947 was not just a comedy, but a farce, brought to the grotesque.

Few of the composers of the twentieth century had such happy biography like Francis Poulenc. With a few exceptions, each new work by Poulenc was successfully performed, he did not have to beg the publishers as well. Poulenc was truly a darling of fate, ignorant of the woeful ordeals of artists who were forced to incessantly knock on the thresholds of publishing houses and concert associations.

A few years after the successful premiere of Tiresia's Breasts, Poulenc wrote an opera, which was a worthy crown and one of the composer's best creations, his swan song. Per last years life, the musician has not created anything that could be put next to lyrical tragedy"Human voice".

Poulenc again turned to the work of Jean Cocteau. Previously, other composers tried to write music for Cocteau's drama The Human Voice, but Poulenc's work was the first to reach the stage.

The play is based on an age-old theme: the grief and suffering of an abandoned woman. The play captures the long minutes of her telephone conversation With former lover who is to be married to another tomorrow. The only thread that connects this woman with life is the phone. When she forces herself to end the conversation, the phone becomes an unnecessary trinket; nothing can stop her from ending her life.

The only performer of this work, Poulenc represented Denise Duval, a singer who collaborated with the composer in previous productions. "If I hadn't met her, and if she hadn't come into my life, The Human Voice would never have been written." (F. Poulenc).

Poulenc called the opera a lyrical tragedy. We add that this is a small tragedy of great human feelings.

Despite the apparent banality of the plot, The Human Voice is a truly modern and original work with a brightly defined and prominent character of its heroine.

Over the last four years of his life, Poulenc created several more works for voice and choir. A major work in 1959 was "Gloria" for soprano solo, choir and orchestra.

In 1962, Poulenc wrote two works: one of them - Sonata for oboe and piano, dedicated to the memory of Sergei Prokofiev, the second - a sonata for clarinet and piano - in memory of Arthur Onneger. Poulenc decided to write new opera- on the plot of Cocteau's Infernal Machine.

February 2, 1962, when the composer was in his apartment in Paris, heart attack abruptly ended his life.

The creative activity of Francis Poulenc continued for almost half a century. The composer's musical heritage for this period includes about one hundred and fifty works: three operas, three ballets, cantatas, vocal cycles, big number piano and chamber vocal compositions. Francis Poulenc has won wide recognition both at home and abroad.

Poulenc is one of the most significant French composers XX century. His music is notable for its optimistic mood, Gallic humour, richness and beauty of melodies, for which he earned the fame of the "French Schubert". The composer also paid great attention to religious themes. His legacy includes works of various genres, including ballets and operas.

Francis Poulenc was born in Paris on January 7, 1899 in the family of a wealthy businessman. His mother was an excellent pianist, there was always music in the house, and piano lessons with the boy began at the age of four, and when he was eight, a wonderful teacher appeared in the house, Cesar Franck's niece, Mademoiselle Boutet de Monvel. The most powerful musical impressions of childhood were the works of Debussy, Stravinsky and Schubert's "Winter Journey". At the age of sixteen, the young man decided to choose the pianoforte as his profession. Classes began with the excellent pianist Ricardo Viñes, who introduced Poulenc to Eric Satie and Georges Auric, who later became his closest friends. Passion for literature led him to meet Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Valery, André Gide, Paul Eluard.

Poulenc was fifteen when the First World War. At the beginning of 1916 he was mobilized. He served in the anti-aircraft formation, then, until 1921, in the Ministry of Aviation. Free time he gave to music. His first works appear - piano pieces, songs to poems by J. Cocteau, G. Apollinaire, P. Eluard. During these years, Poulenc became close friends with Darius Milhaud, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger and Germaine Taiffer. Together with Orik, they made up the "Six", inspired by the poet and artist Jean Cocteau. After demobilization in 1921, Poulenc, who was already too late to enter the conservatory, began to study counterpoint with Professor Charles Kouklin. In 1923, his first major work was created - the ballet Lani for the Diaghilev troupe. Other compositions include the choreographic concerto for piano and 18 instruments "Morning Serenade", the Rural Concerto for harpsichord and small orchestra, "Merry Songs" based on anonymous texts of the 17th century.

The composer's multifaceted talent manifested itself most vividly in the 1930s: he wrote the cantatas Un ballo in maschera and The Drought, the Litany to the Black Mother of God, choirs, and the piano suite French on themes by the 16th-century composer C. Gervaise. Poulenc wrote the ballet "Exemplary Animals" after La Fontaine after the outbreak of World War II, "in the darkest days of the summer of 1940, when he wanted to find hope for the fate of his homeland at all costs." The images of the fables symbolically represented France. At this time, the composer was again drafted into the army and served in an anti-aircraft formation. By the day of the liberation of the country, he writes the cantata "The Face of Man" to the verses of P. Eluard. In subsequent years, the buffa opera The Breasts of Tiresias (1944), the tragic, complex opera Dialogues of the Carmelites (1953) and, finally, the one-act mono-opera The Human Voice (1958) appeared. More and more attracted to his spiritual themes. Poulenc writes Four small prayers to St. Francis of Assisi, Four Christmas motets, Stabat Mater, Gloria, Awe verum corpus motet, Lauda of St. Anthony of Padua. Among his latest works- piano improvisation in memory of Edith Piaf, monologue for soprano and orchestra "The Lady from Monte Carlo", music for Cocteau's play "Renaud and Armida".