Poulenc was part of a group of composer-friends called "Les Six," which included Milhaud, Honegger, and Auric, and had writer and artist Jean Cocteau as their common denominator.
Performer Biography
Simon Phipps Vokalensemble, formed in 1997, has established itself at the forefront of the Swedish choral scene, winning international competitions and being named Rikskonserter's "Choir of the Year" in 2006.
Historical Context
Poulenc's Un soir de neige, composed in 1944, evokes the frozen limbo of France under German occupation through its four poems by Eluard.
Composer Biography
Francis Poulenc, born into an affluent Parisian family, had a precocious interest in both music and poetry, which significantly influenced his compositions.
Compositional Technique
Poulenc described his Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence as being "as realistic and as tragic as a Mantegna painting," reflecting their dramatic evocations of Christ's agony.
Composer Biography
By 1951-52, when he composed the Quatre motets pour le temps de noel, Poulenc was the most successful living French composer and was beginning work on his masterpiece opera, Dialogues des carmelites.
Composer Biography
A brutal car accident in 1935 involving a colleague led to a change in Poulenc's outlook, inspiring him to compose the reverent and mystic Litanies de la vierge noire.
You might also enjoy...
Francis Poulenc: Choral Works
Poulenc: Mass in G; Exultate Deo; Salve Regina / Peeters: Missa Festiva
