Sextet

A largely self-taught composer, Francis Poulenc was one of the leading members of Les Six, a group of French composers opposed to impressionism, formalism, and intellectualism in music. Poulenc’s compositions fit these aesthetic principles well. His music tends to be direct and tuneful, merging classical influences with the popular music of his time. As he said in 1935, “I need a certain musical vulgarity as a plant lives on compost.” Completed in 1932, Poulenc’s Sextet for piano and winds shows off the results of this musical eclecticism. In the outer sections of the first movement, for example, campy band music alternates with harsh chromaticism, while in the second movement, a lyrical oboe solo contrasts with a march. Traditionalists roundly criticized the Sextet, although André George of Les Nouvelles littéraires declared that “with Poulenc, all of France comes out the windows he opens.” After the death of one of his best friends, Poulenc became dissatisfied with his absurdity, scaling back his “musical vulgarity” and becoming more interested in religious music. He returned to the Sextet in 1939, adding heartfelt emotion to the earlier playful tone. As Nadia Boulanger summarized, “There were some good ideas in [the original], but the whole thing was badly put together. With the proportions altered and better balanced, it comes over very clearly.”