Francis Poulenc ‒ Les soirées de Nazelles, FP 84

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), Les soirées de Nazelles, FP 84 (1930 - 1936)

Performed by Pascal Rogé

00:00 - Préambule
02:15 - Cadence
03:22 - No. 1 Le comble de la distinction
04:31 - No. 2 Le cœur sur la main
07:01 - No. 3 La désinvolture et la discrétion
08:17 - No. 4 La suite dans les idées
10:13 - No. 5 Le charme enjôleur
12:30 - No. 6 Le contentement de soi
13:37 - No. 7 Le goût du malheur
16:15 - No. 8 L'alerte vieillesse
17:35 - Cadence
19:13 - Final

This splendid suite (Poulenc's largest work for solo piano) was begun in 1930 with what became known as the Préambule and several of the variations, but was not taken up again until the summer of 1936. The entire work was finished on October 1. In a letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, soon after he had begun the suite, Poulenc wrote that the music effectively paid homage to Couperin ("...a little folly... in the manner of Couperin's 'Folies francaises'..."). He further explained that each variation was inspired by his neighbours (at Noisay, where he lived), but instead of naming these individuals (as Elgar had done in his 'Enigma' set) Poulenc gave each movement "(for the most part) abstract titles."

What Poulenc's typically lighthearted description of his music does not mention is the mastery of his compositional technique - the work in encased within two brilliant movements, the opening Préambule and the Finale (the two longest movements, of broadly similar length), which 'reflect' rather than vary, subtly similar material/ The intervening variations are indeed to be enjoyed, but cumulatively they build to an impressive work of notable imaginative skill. Later, Poulenc revised the work, and omitted several of the variations.

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