Composer Of The Week

Donal Macleod explores how, from childhood, Poulenc was exposed to two versions of Paris: one that was working class and religious, another that was high society, secular... and avant-garde.Francis Poulenc was the epitome of Parisian high society: suave, convivial and connected. Or was that how he wanted us to see him? The critic Claude Rostand famously commented that Poulenc was a combination of “moine et voyou” - monk and rogue. This week, we follow the composer from Paris’s artisanal upper class heartland, to the city’s dark underbelly, discovering the moments when the monk and the rogue met face-to-face.Music Featured:Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, FP 146 (1st mvt) Sonata for Piano 4 Hands Gnossiennes Rapsodie Nègre L’Album des Six (5th mvt, ‘Valse’) Les Biches Concert Champêtre Les Soirées de Nazelles Les Litanies à la Vierge Noire Bleuet Les Animaux Modèles L’Histoire de Babar Les Mamelles de Tirésias La Fraîcheur et le Feu Les Dialogues des Carmelites La Voix HumainePresented by Donald Macleod Produ