Poulenc: Orchestral Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Orchestral compositions by Poulenc. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
2 marches et un intermède, for chamber orchestra, FP88
2 préludes posthumes et une gnossienne, FP104
3 mouvements perpétuels, for chamber orchestra

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (French: [fʁɑ̃sis ʒɑ̃ maʁsɛl pulɛ̃k]; 7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-known are the piano suite Trois mouvements perpétuels (1919), the ballet Les biches (1923), the Concert champêtre (1928) for harpsichord and orchestra, the Organ Concerto (1938), the opera Dialogues des Carmélites (1957), and the Gloria (1959) for soprano, choir, and orchestra. As the only son of a prosperous manufacturer, Poulenc was expected to follow his father into the family firm, and he was not allowed to enrol at a conservatoire. He studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, who became his mentor after the composer's parents died. Poulenc also made the acquaintance of Erik Satie, under whose tutelage he became one of a group of young composers known collectively as "Les Six". 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. In addition to his work as a composer, Poulenc was an accomplished pianist. He was particularly celebrated for his performing partnerships with the baritone Pierre Bernac (who also advised him in vocal writing) and the soprano Denise Duval. He toured in Europe and America with both of them, and made a number of recordings as a pianist. He was among the first composers to see the importance of the gramophone, and he recorded extensively from 1928 onwards. In his later years, and for decades after his death, Poulenc had a reputation, particularly in his native country, as a humorous, lightweight composer, and his religious music was often overlooked. In the 21st century, more attention has been given to his serious works, with many new productions of Dialogues des Carmélites and La voix humaine worldwide, and numerous live and recorded performances of his songs and choral music.

Bucolique, FP 160

This is a list of works written by the French composer Francis Poulenc (1899–1963). As a pianist, Poulenc composed many pieces for his own instrument in his piano music and chamber music. He wrote works for orchestra including several concertos, also three operas, two ballets, incidental music for plays and film music. He composed songs (mélodies), often on texts by contemporary authors. His religious music includes the Mass in G major, the Stabat Mater and Gloria.

Concert champêtre, for harpsichord and orchestra, FP49

The Concerto pour orgue, cordes et timbales (Concerto for organ, timpani and strings) in G minor, FP 93, is an organ concerto composed by Francis Poulenc between 1934 and 1938. It has become one of the most frequently performed pieces of the genre not written in the Baroque period.

Concerto in D minor for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, FP61
Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, FP93

The Concerto pour orgue, cordes et timbales (Concerto for organ, timpani and strings) in G minor, FP 93, is an organ concerto composed by Francis Poulenc between 1934 and 1938. It has become one of the most frequently performed pieces of the genre not written in the Baroque period.

Esquisse d'un fanfare, for winds, percussion, and piano, FP25
Fanfare for Orchestra

The Gloria by Francis Poulenc, FP 177, scored for soprano solo, large orchestra, and chorus, is a setting of the Gloria text from the mass ordinary. One of Poulenc's most celebrated works, it was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation in honor of Sergei Koussevitzky and his wife Natalia, the namesakes of the foundation.

Hommage à Albert Roussel, for small orchestra, FP50
Le gendarme incompris, FP20
Les animaux modèles, FP111
Les biches, FP36
Matelote provençale, FP153
Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, FP146

The Piano Concerto in C♯ minor, FP 146, by French composer Francis Poulenc is the last of his five concertos. Written in 1949 on commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, it has three movements and a duration of about 19 minutes.

Sarabande for Guitar, FP179
Sinfonietta, FP141
Variations sur le nom de Marguerite Long

Variations sur le nom de Marguerite Long (Variations on the name Marguerite Long) is a collaborative orchestral suite written by eight French composers in 1956, in honour of the pianist Marguerite Long. It was first performed on 4 June 1956 by the Orchestre National de France under Charles Munch in a National Jubilee Concert organized by the French government in Long's honour, staged at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Sorbonne. "All of Paris" gathered at the venue where Long herself played Fauré's Ballade. Three of the composers were members of Les Six: Georges Auric, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. The other five were Henri Dutilleux, Jean Françaix, Daniel Lesur, Jean Rivier and Henri Sauguet. In truth, only one of the movements was in the form of variations. Sauguet's Variations en forme de Berceuse pour Marguerite Long was based on the letters EAGG, which come from her name, although not in the order in which they occur there. Poulenc's Bucolique has become well known and has been recorded several times. The remainder of the suite is little known.