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"The only truth is music." - Jack Kerouac

Francis Poulenc

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. Poulenc's wealthy family intended him for a business career in the Rhone Poulenc family company and did not allow him to enrol at a music college. Largely self-educated musically, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc soon came under the influence of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as Les Six. This group of French composers from the 1920s aimed to clear music of the impressionism of Claude Debussy, and German influences such as the Romanticism of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Their motto was "L'art pour l'art": they composed music for the sake of music, without any 'meaning' or extramusical intents.  In his early works Poulenc became known for his high spirits and irreverence. During the 1930s a much more serious side to his nature emerged, particularly in the religious music he composed from 1936 onwards, which he alternated with his more light-hearted works.
 

Featured on

Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky, Claude Debussy
Works for Cello and Piano
Amalie Stalheim
Various composers
Après un Rêve Belle Époque – Nights at the Piano
Emmanuel Despax
Various composers
Seraph
Tine Thing Helseth
Various composers
... du silence au silence
Veronica Kuijken | Helena Macherel
Francis Poulenc, Paul Hindemith, Béla Bartók
Violin Sonatas
Elias David Moncado & Hansjacob Staemmler
Various composers
Les Six, Merci et Adieu Claude
Sérgio Pires / Kosuke Akimoto
Francis Poulenc
Sacred & Secular Music
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Naissance
Svenja Van Driessche & Liebrecht Vanbeckevoort
Various composers
Ton Sur Ton
Vlaams Radiokoor
Francis Poulenc, Alfred Desenclos
Stabat Mater | Requiem
Vlaams Radiokoor | Hervé Niquet | Brussels Philharmonic
Francis Poulenc
Poulenc Concertos
Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Various composers
Locus Iste
The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
Various composers
Some Like it Plucked
Patrick Ayrton
Various composers
The Romantic Horn
Richard Watkins | Julius Drake
Various composers
French Opera Arias
Iris Hendrickx
Various composers
Cantilène Live Recordings Spannungen Festival 2017
Various Artists
Various composers
Missa Unitatis
Cappella Pratensis
Leoš Janáček, Francis Poulenc, Zoltán Kodály
Kyrie
The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
Works for Piano Solo and Duo
Lucille Chung
Various composers
Works for Violin and Piano
Magma Duo
Francis Poulenc, César Franck
Violin Sonatas
Giovanni Guzzo
Francis Poulenc
The Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc - Vol. 5
Malcolm Martineau
Various composers
Oh! Quand je dors...
Ekaterina Gavrilova
Francis Poulenc
The Complete Songs of Poulenc, Vol. 4
John Mark Ainsley / William Dazeley / Sarab Fox / Magdalena Molendowska
Various composers
Choral Collection
Tenebrae / The King's Singers / Gabrieli Consort / BBC Singers / Ex Cathedra / Rodolfus Choir / Huddersfield Choral Society
Francis Poulenc
Complete Chamber Works
London Conchord Ensemble
Francis Poulenc
The Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc - Vol.3
Malcolm Martineau
Anatoly Liadov, Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky
Music from Diaghilev's Ballet Russes
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Various composers
LCO Live
London Chamber Orchestra
Francis Poulenc
Complete Songs of Poulenc - Vol.2
Malcolm Martineau
Francis Poulenc, Igor Stravinsky
Stravinsky: Rite of Spring, Poulenc: Biches
BBC National Orch.& Chorus of Wales / Fischer
Francis Poulenc
Complete Songs of Poulenc - Vol.1
Martineau, Anderson, Lemalu, Lott, Milne, Maltman, Murray
Various composers
Climate Changes
Jan Pas | Stefano Vismara
Francis Poulenc
Figure Humaine
Tenebrae
Secular Choral Music
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Sacred choral music
Netherlands Chamber Choir
Various composers
In Memoriam Theo Bruins (1929-1993)
Theo Bruins
Poulenc: 34 Mélodies Et Chansons
Suze van Grootel / Kees Schul
Various composers
Oboesession
Pauline Oostenrijk / Ivo Jansen
Sergei Prokofiev, Francis Poulenc
Peter en de Wolf & Het Olifantje Babar
Frank Groothof / Residentie Orkest The Hague