What can I say about Francis Poulenc?
Not much really because I know nothing about the man or his music. Oh, I’ve heard of Poulenc, but I couldn’t name a single piece by him. That’s why I decided this week to listen to something by Poulenc. As a matter of fact, I had to run a Google-search on “list of works by Francis Poulenc” (HERE) to choose something. I landed on the Concerto for Two Pianos because I always love to explore works for multiple pianists and/or pianos, So what can I say about Francis Poulenc and his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra? Well, think of an eccentric mix of Mozart and Igor Stravinsky -- and then blend in some George Gershwin and Pee Wee Herman (think Danny Elfman’s score for “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”). Poulenc's concerto is written in three movements, and the first starts with two primal beats a la “The Rite of Spring,” and then the pianos take off at breakneck speed – almost like music for a silent movie where the projector is playing the film in hyper-drive. About two-and-a-quarter minutes in there is a slower section, marked “Le double plus lent,” that allows everyone to catch their collective breath. Oddly enough, in this section I can’t help but hear the unmistakable rhythm of Chopin’s familiar funeral match. Was that intentional? Two minutes later, the tone returns to its jaunty and playful origins before a return to a très calme dreamlike section that leads into the second movement, a Larghetto. In the second movement, Poulenc pays homage to the well-known Andante from Mozart's D Minor Concerto, K. 466. Poulenc said of the movement, "In the Larghetto of this Concerto I permitted myself, for the first theme, to return to Mozart, because I have a fondness for the melodic line and I prefer Mozart to all other musicians. If the movement beginsa la Mozart, it quickly diverges at the entrance of the second piano, toward a style that was familiar to me at the time.” Parts of the final movement, marked “Allegro molto,” reminded me of George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, written seven years before this concerto. However, the best characterization I can offer of Poulenc’s concerto’s final movement is this quote I found from freelance music writer Roger Dettmer: “Returning to the mood of the first movement, the finale begins with percussive flourishes before it takes off like an Alfa-Romeo in a Grand prix through the avenues and allées of day-and-night Paris, past marching bands and music halls. There is, however, an interlude lyrique et romantique when the Alfa stops for a bedroom tryst, where perfume and perspiration mix with the smoke from Gauloises, after which the race resumes, even more racily.” So there you have it. What can I say about Francis Poulenc and his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra? I liked it. I liked it a lot.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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