Canon
Where to start with Poulenc
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralConcert champêtre, for harpsichord and orchestra, FP49
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Keyboard3 Mouvements perpétuels, FP14
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StageDialogues des Carmélites, op. 159 — Opera
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VocalGloria, for soprano, chorus and orchestra, FP177
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OrchestralConcerto in D minor for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, FP61
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OrchestralLes biches, FP36 — Suite from the ballet
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OrchestralConcerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, FP93
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OrchestralSinfonietta, FP141
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Vocal...mais mourir, FP137, "Mains agitées aux grimaces nourées"
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Keyboard10 Promenades, FP24
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Keyboard15 Improvisations, FP63, 113, 170, 176
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Keyboard2 Intermezzi, FP71
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Keyboard2 Novelettes, FP47
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Vocal2 Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, FP94
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Vocal2 Poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP122
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Poulenc's catalogueMost Popular
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Gloria
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Organ Concerto in G minor
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Dialogues of the Carmelites (opera)
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Stabat Mater
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Flute Sonata
Most Acclaimed
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Dialogues of the Carmelites
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Figure Humaine (choral)written in secret during the Nazi occupation
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Sextet for Piano and Wind Quintet
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Piano Concerto
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La voix humaineopera for one soprano — a woman on the telephone with her lover who is leaving her
Most Weird
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Organ Concertothe organ part is shockingly dark — from a composer known for lightness; the slow section has some of the most terrifying sounds in French music
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La voix humainea 45-minute monologue — a woman on the phone trying not to lose her lover; the audience hears only her half of the conversation
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Les Mamelles de Tirésiassurrealist opera — a woman gives her breasts to balloons; her husband gives birth to 40,049 children; completely absurd
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Un soir de neigea cappella choir — Éluard poetry; written under German occupation in 1944; deceptively simple
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Sonata for Two Pianosstrange confrontational dialogue between equal voices
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 164
- Orchestral
- ● Concert champêtre, for harpsichord and orchestra, FP49
- ● Concerto in D minor for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, FP61
- ● Les biches, FP36 — Suite from the ballet
- Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani, FP93
- Sinfonietta, FP141
- 2 marches et un intermède, for chamber orchestra, FP88
- 2 préludes posthumes et une gnossienne, FP104
- 3 mouvements perpétuels, for chamber orchestra
- Bucolique, FP 160
- Esquisse d'un fanfare, for winds, percussion, and piano, FP25
- Fanfare for Orchestra
- Hommage à Albert Roussel, for small orchestra, FP50
- Le gendarme incompris, FP20 — Incidental music
- Les animaux modèles, FP111
- Matelote provençale, FP153
- Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, FP146
- Sarabande for Guitar, FP179
- Variations sur le nom de Marguerite Long
- Keyboard
- 3 Mouvements perpétuels, FP14
- 10 Promenades, FP24
- 15 Improvisations, FP63, 113, 170, 176
- 2 Intermezzi, FP71
- 2 Novelettes, FP47
- 3 Pastorales, for piano, FP5
- 3 Pièces, FP48
- 5 Impromptus, FP21
- 8 Nocturnes, FP 56
- Badinage, FP73
- Bourrée au pavillon d'Auvergne, FP87
- Elégie, for 2 pianos, FP175
- Feuillets d'album, FP68
- Française, FP103
- Humoresque, FP72
- Intermezzo no. 3 in A flat major, FP118
- L'Embarquement pour Cythère, for 2 pianos, FP150
- Les biches, FP36 — Suite from the ballet
- Les soirées de Nazelles, FP84
- Mélancolie, FP105
- Napoli, FP40
- Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla, FP173
- Pièce brève sur le nom d'Albert Roussel, FP50
- Presto in B flat major, FP70
- Sonata for 2 Pianos, FP156
- Sonata for Piano 4-Hands, FP8
- Suite in C major, FP19
- Thème varié, FP151
- Toccata in C major, for piano
- Valse
- Valse-improvisation sur le nom de Bach, FP62
- Villageoises, petites pièces infantines, FP65
- Stage
- Dialogues des Carmélites, op. 159 — Opera
- Aubade, for piano and 18 instruments, FP51, "concerto choréographique"
- L'invitation au château, FP138 — Incidental music
- La voix humaine, FP171 — Opera
- Les biches, FP36
- Les mariés de la Tour Eiffel
- Léocadia, FP106 — Incidental music
- Pastourelle, ballet movement, FP45
- Vocal
- Gloria, for soprano, chorus and orchestra, FP177
- ...mais mourir, FP137, "Mains agitées aux grimaces nourées"
- 2 Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, FP94
- 2 Poèmes de Louis Aragon, FP122
- 2 mélodies sur des poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, FP131
- 2 mélodies, FP 162
- 3 Chansons de Federico García Lorca, FP136
- 3 Poèmes de Louise Lalanne, FP57
- 3 Poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin, FP91
- 4 Chansons pour enfants, FP75
- 4 Laudes de Saint Antoine de Padoue, for male chorus, FP172
- 4 Motets pour le temps de Noël, op. 152
- 4 Motets pour un temps de Pénitence, FP97
- 4 Petites prières de Saint François d'Assise, for men's chorus, FP142
- 4 Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, FP58
- 4 poèmes de Max Jacob, for baritone and wind ensemble, FP22
- 5 Poèmes de Max Jacob, FP59
- 5 Poèmes de Paul Eluard, FP77
- 5 Poèmes de Pierre Ronsard, FP38
- 7 Chansons, for mixed chorus, op. 81
- 7 répons des ténèbres, for child soprano, men's and children's choruses, and orchestra, FP181
- 8 Chansons françaises, for chorus, FP130
- 8 Chansons polonaises, FP69 — Song cycle
- A sa guitare, FP79
- Airs chantés, FP46 — Song cycle
- Ave verum corpus, for female chorus, op. 154
- Banalités, FP107 — Song cycle
- Bleuet, FP102, "Jeune homme de vingt ans"
- Calligrammes FP140 — Song cycle
- Ce doux petit visage, FP99, "Rien que ce doux"
- Chanson a boire, FP31
- Chansons gaillardes, FP42 — Song cycle
- Chansons villageoises, FP117
- Cocardes, FP16 — Song cycle
- Colloque, for soprano, baritone, and piano, FP108
- Dernier poème, FP163, "J'ai rêvé tellement fort de toi"
- Epitaphe, FP55
- Exultate Deo, motet for solemn occasions, FP109
- Fiançailles pour rire, FP101
- Figure humaine, op. 120
- Hyde Park, FP128
- Hymne, FP144, "Sombre nuit, aveugles ténèbres"
- La courte paille, FP178 — Song cycle
- La dame de Monte Carlo, FP180
- La fraîcheur et le feu FP147 — Song cycle
- La grenouillère, FP96
- La puce
- Le Bestiare, ou Le Cortège d'Orphée FP15a
- Le bal masqué, for baritone and chamber ensemble, FP60 — Cantata
- Le bestiaire, FP15a
- Le disparu, FP134, "Je n'aime plus la rue St. Martin"
- Le portrait, FP92, "Belle, méchante, menteuse, injuste"
- Le travail du peintre, FP161 — Song cycle
- Le voyage en Amerique
- Les chemins de l'amour, FP 106
- Litanies à la Vierge Noire, for women's chorus and organ, FP82
- Main dominée par le coeur, FP135
- Mass in G major, FP89
- Mazurka, FP145
- Miroirs brûlants, FP98
- Montparnasse, FP127
- Mouvements du coeur, for bass and piano, FP 145
- Métamorphoses, FP121 — Song cycle
- Nos souvenirs qui chantent, for voice and guitar FP182
- Parisiana, FP157
- Paul et Virginie, FP132, "Ciel! les colonies"
- Petite complainte, song
- Petites voix, 5 songs for children's chorus, FP83
- Pierrot, FP66, "Le bon Pierrot, que la foule contemple"
- Priez pour paix, FP95
- Rapsodie nègre, for baritone and chamber ensemble, FP3
- Rosemonde, FP158, "Longtemps au pied du perron"
- Salve regina, FP110
- Songs for Le bestiaire, FP15b
- Stabat mater, for soprano, chorus, and orchestra, FP148
- Sécheresses, cantata for chorus and orchestra, FP90
- Tel jour, telle nuit, FP86 — Song cycle
- Toréador, FP11
- Un soir de neige, op. 126
- Une chanson de porcelaine, FP169
- Viens! ...une flute invisible
- Vive Nadia, FP167
- Vocalise, FP44
- À sa guitare FP79
- Épitaphe, FP55, "Belle âme qui fus mon flambeau"
- …mais mourir, FP137
- Chamber
- Bagatelle in D minor, for cello and piano
- Cello Sonata, FP143
- Clarinet Sonata, FP184
- Flute Sonata, FP164
- L'Invitation Au Chateau, for clarinet, violin, and piano
- L'histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant, melodrama for narrator and piano, FP129
- Oboe Sonata, FP185
- Sarabande for Guitar, FP179
- Serenade, for cello and piano
- Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano in C major, FP100
- Sinfonietta, for chamber orchestra, FP141
- Sonata for 2 Clarinets, FP7
- Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon, FP32
- Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone, FP33
- Suite française, for chamber ensemble, op. 80
- Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano, FP43
- Un Joueur de flute berce les ruines, for chamber ensemble
- Villanelle, for pipe and piano, FP74
- Violin Sonata, FP119
- Élégie, for horn, FP168