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Compact Discoveries 18: In Praise of Poulenc

Series: Compact Discoveries
From: Fred Flaxman
Length: 00:58:00

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The tuneful, original music of French composer Francis Poulenc. Read the full description.

Cdslogo2inch_small Was Francis Poulenc a great composer? If, by great, you mean a composer who creates a significant body of music which is truly original, full of memorable melodies, with unique harmonies and colorful, captivating orchestration, the French composer would certainly qualify. Examples of his art presented in this hour include "Le Lion Amoureux" from "Les Animaux Mod?les;" his "Piano Concerto" and his "Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra." Your guide is Fred Flaxman. Complete script with playlist available here or at www.compactdiscoveries.com.

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Piece Description

Was Francis Poulenc a great composer? If, by great, you mean a composer who creates a significant body of music which is truly original, full of memorable melodies, with unique harmonies and colorful, captivating orchestration, the French composer would certainly qualify. Examples of his art presented in this hour include "Le Lion Amoureux" from "Les Animaux Mod?les;" his "Piano Concerto" and his "Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra." Your guide is Fred Flaxman. Complete script with playlist available here or at www.compactdiscoveries.com.

Broadcast History

Originally distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network out of Chicago, this is its first release through PRX.

Transcript

Program 18
?In Praise of Poulenc?

MUSIC: Poulenc: Piano Concerto: Allegretto [Erato ECD 88140, track 4] [Down and under...]

FLAXMAN: Welcome to Compact Discoveries. I?m Fred Flaxman. The next hour will be ?In Praise of Poulenc,? and we?ll sample some of this French composer?s signature bittersweet melodies and musical humor.

MUSIC: [fades out]

FLAXMAN: First let?s deal with a question which hasn?t exactly been up there in the public?s mind lately, but which may be a bit more important to lovers of classical music: ?Was Francis Poulenc a great composer??

The answer, of course, depends on your definition of ?great.? To me, a great composer is one who creates a significant body of music which I enjoy tremendously and whose style is original. So a composer I consider ?great,? you might find mediocre or worse. Nevertheless, to me, Francis Poulenc (who lived from 1899 until 1963) wa...
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Timing and Cues

see transcript below

Additional Files

Related Website

www.compactdiscoveries.com