# Greatest work by Francis Poulenc



## Francis Poulenc (Nov 6, 2016)

I have recently discovered this marvellous composer. He is vastly underrated, and his pieces hit me on an emotional level far greater than Ravel or even Debussy do. What do you think is his greatest piece? Also, please recommend other works worth listening to.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

This will do and I like the painting anyway


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Organ Concerto!!


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

One of the last of them: his clarinet sonata, sublime.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​
Get this set and you be fine.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The work I´ve been listening mostly to is the quirky harpsichord concerto.

Other personal favourites are the concertante piano works - the Aubade, the Concerto for 2 Pianos, the Piano Concerto
And the solo piano works.

Nice chamber music as well. And _Les Biches _...


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

*Stabat Mater*. Full stop.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I mentioned the _Gloria_ on the last Poulenc thread so here I am mentioning it again!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Dialogues des Carmélites.


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Poulenc also wrote numerous songs and song cycles, many of which are memorable (and some quite luminous). There is a 4 disc 'Complete Poulenc songs' box set available which is worth acquiring if you have any interest in that genre.

My personal favourite is Fiançailles pour rire, FP101 but Tel Jour, Telle Nuit, FP86 and Le bal masqué, FP60 also made it into our TC Top 100Art Songs. 

I would also heartily endorse others' recommendations for his solo piano and chamber music. A very rewarding composer indeed.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I love his Wind Sextet and much of his quirky chamber music for assortments of instruments. But my vote goes to the wonderful Trois Pieces. Seek out recordings by Previn or Alicia de Larrocha, both of whom get the clipped precision that Poulenc requires.


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## Guest (Nov 6, 2016)

Dialogue des Carmelites is a wonderful opera.
My favorite works of his are the concerto for 2 pianos, and the organ concerto!


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## Harmonie (Mar 24, 2007)

I'm very partial to the original composition this one is based off of, so that's why.

His Gloria is probably my favorite, actually.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ah!!! Poulenc! The wittiest, most urbane composer who ever lived!!

Piece to die for:

Sextet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn and Piano.

Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano.

Like champagne bubbles tickling your nose!!!


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Pugg said:


> ​
> Get this set and you be fine.


This! And the chamber music disc on DG by Ensemble Wien-Berlin. Or there's a great budget set on Sony by Eric Le Sage. 6 CDs for very cheap.


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## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

_Figure humaine_ (1943), a cantata for double mixed a cappella choir, has fair claim to being Poulenc's greatest work (and perhaps the 20th Century's greatest a cappella choral work). It comprises eight settings of poems by Paul Éluard that relate to conditions in occupied France, and together they serve as a rather desperate hymn to Freedom/"Liberté." It's a brutally difficult work to perform, let alone master, but I really like the fervent and "intensely French" (I don't recall where I stole that description from, but it fits the bill) account by Equilbey/Chœr de Chambre Accentus [Naïve '00]; listeners wanting a bit less wartime fervor might prefer the more tempered and subtly balanced/detailed account by Dijkstra/Swedish Radio Choir [Channel '10].

On a much smaller scale, I also like Poulenc's _Quatre petites prières de St. François d'Assise_ (1948), four little motets that the composer wrote as an "exercise in humility." I've yet to find a true favorite recording of this work, but I like the earnest and devout if rather over-sized Nethsingha/Vicars Choral of Wells Cathedral [Griffin '91] quite a lot, especially in the final motet. None of the smaller, more intimate accounts I've heard have really done the trick for me … they're usually too gentle or effeminate for my taste.

Of Poulenc's many fun/entertaining works, I have a soft spot for _Aubade_ (1929), concerto chorégraphique pour piano et 18 instruments, which is a Roaring Twenties mash-up of piano concerto and ballet in a salon-sized package. For a modern recording in good sound, Le Sage/Denève/Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège [RCA '03] is tough to beat.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Francis Poulenc - Trois Mouvements Perpétuels


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