Despite Poulenc's claim of burning the manuscript, his Quatre poèmes de Max Jacob were encored at their 1922 premiere, with one critic praising their 'music, colour and life'.
Recording & Production
This recording was made with generous support from Simon Yates and Kevin Roon, and is dedicated by all the artists to the late John West, who was also the producer.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Poulenc considered Le bal masqué to be one of his most representative works, saying it would give a 'very precise idea of Poulenc-Janus' to anyone asking what he was made of.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Composer Francis Poulenc took to heart Jean Cocteau's pronouncement that 'a composer always has too many notes on his keyboard,' observing it throughout his career.
Historical Context
After the First World War, French art, including music, moved towards clarity and simplicity, rejecting the 'fogs' and 'music one listens to head in hands' of earlier Romanticism.
Composition History
Poulenc's Quatre poèmes de Max Jacob, composed in 1921, were so avant-garde that he later claimed to have burnt the manuscript, but a single copy survived in Darius Milhaud's archives.
Composition History
Poulenc's Rapsodie nègre, written in 1917, is his earliest surviving work and features nonsense words for 'Honoloulou' provided by an unknown friend using the pseudonym Makoko Kangourou.
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