poulenc
jennifer Francis Poulenc
(France, 1899-1963)

The most famous of Les Six (Auric, Milhaud, Durey,
Tailleferre, and Honegger were the others), and the one who
found it easiest to stick to Jean Cocteau's ideals of simplicity.
His later instrumental works are almost all highly melodic and
clear, a refreshing antidote to the inscrutability of so much
modern music. He came from the same family that started the
French agrochemical giant Rhône-Poulenc. In his earlier
musical life Poulenc was something of a dandy and an
aesthete and his music rather reflects this. In 1935 he
rediscovered religion and critics believe that this religious
period was an much an exercise in style as an any of his
earlier, more chic works. His operatic output includes the
splendid Dialogue des Carmelites with its finale depicting 14
nuns going to the guillotine, and La Voix humaine, a setting
for solo voice of Cocteau's monodrama about a woman
holding a telephone conversation with a lover who is
obviously tired of her.
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