Poulenc’s Pianistic Perfection
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Poulenc wrote his first two novelettes for piano in the 1920s and the third, near the end of his life, in 1959. This piece uses a theme that derives from a melody in Manuel de Falla’s ballet ‘El Amor Brujo’, although the two works are actually not particularly similar. Poulenc’s E minor Novelette has a pensive, autumnal quality, saturated with the uniquely fragrant melancholia of his late style. In its short frame, the Novelette manages to distil a lifetime of compositional experience: it finds a perfect blend of song-like melody in the right hand, with intricate arpeggiated accompaniment patterns in the left. But behind this beautifully rendered pianistic texture is an almost contrapuntal balance of melodic lines in left and right hands, with yearning appoggiaturas, beautiful irregularities of phrase and the spiciest of harmonies. The whole piece seems to be structured with all the perfection of a Bach prelude, the poise of a Mozart slow movement, the expressive grandeur of a Chopin nocturne, the mystery of a Debussy prelude and the late-night smokiness of a Bill Evans improvisation, and yet every bar is uniquely Poulenc’s own. The piece is the definition of refined pianistic invention.
Poulenc: Novelette III in E minor
#Poulenc #Novelette #themusicprofessor
Pianist: Matthew King.
Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King
Poulenc shows us how tonal music can survived despite of advent of modernism!!!
Exactly! I clearly remember seeing a brief comment "tonal music is infinite" under a CZcams video of one of his compositions. I found that comment to be both profound and inspirational.
@@rupertaustin its dead... theres nothing profound to write
I think there's a lost new musica syntax that's between tonality and atonality. A new way of organizing sounds which is still based in intrinsic human sound structure and the acoustic phenomena. Schonberg departed to soon, and started to organize sound from a completely arbitrary and mathematical standpoint. I think Ravel was starting to explore that middle space where tonality amplifies, but he got sick and died too soon.
@@gvidalqwhile schonberg is credited to have invented it, he only used serialism sometimes in his music, when the context felt appropriate
@@gvidalq I recall a coursera course that opposed Schoenberg to Stravinsky as one trying to go atonal while the other tried finding new tonalities, like bi-tonalities, exploring the octatonic scale, or finding novel ways to establish a key.
poulenc is a painter and I _do_ think he is super underappreciated - thank you for making this analysis of why everything he makes is so ethereal and beautiful :) :)
You are right. Enormously underrated. He is a great 20th century composer.
I second all of this
Poulenc is just the only composer to achieve such humanity in his music
I think Beethoven was the best at capturing the complete human experience, but Poulenc portrays individuality in a special way
I love how Poulenc makes a wonderful mix of consonance and dissonance!❤
I am French and have liked Poulenc for many years. A very basic pianist, I can't play any of his stuff, even the ones that sound 'simple'!!! Thanks for your analysis and explanations. It makes me appreciate him even more! Absolute cool shit!!!!🎉
Thanks so much for reminding me how much I enjoy the work of Poulenc !
Thank you so much!
Thank you for introducing me to great composers I didn't know before and otherwise revealing hidden facets of known composers. I'm glad I have found your channel.
Thank you for the kind words!
Super choice of a Poulenc composition. I love how he uses some spicy altered dominant chords like the F#7b9b13#11 which you marked as "A beautiful harmonic change of direction". His clarinet sonata is one of the wonders of 20th century chamber music in my opinion.
Yes absolutely. The clarinet sonata is a marvel, but all those late sonatas are wonderful - all the more so for concealing their greatness behind a cloak of playfulness.
I remember buying some dusty old Soviet vinyl in the 'Russian market' that used to take place every Wednesday morning around Thessaloniki's Rotunda in the 90s. When I got home, I put the first one on the turntable, just the standard Melodiya sleeve and to-me-then-undecipherable cyrillic on the label, sat back and was transported to heaven! My first-ever exposure to Poulenc's clarinet sonata. One of those rare moments of bliss among the shit, the routine, and the boringly everyday.
00:14
Like the V13 to IM7 here. The starting on the seventh itself in the melody over the I chord and yearnfully resolving up to the root, is very expressive. Thank you for introducing me to this composer; the music has moments of lushness without being excessive, and has some nice (to my ears at least) impressionistic sort of vibes.
Poulenc used these formulas throughout his composing career. You can spot very similar passages in his operas, concerti and chamber music. Poulenc offered a nice alternative to mainstream modernism and will always be relevant.
He did. Like Mozart, Poulenc knew how to turn the tropes of style into musical gold
I marvel that French composers can create music that sounds like the French spoken language
Perfection!
Ohhh, this is magic. This, right here, is MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you. I love following a score as it plays through, and I love solo piano the most. And being guided by one with far more knowledge than me is the ultimate learning experience which is my favorite of all.
Thank you so much!
Thanks for introducing me to this beauty
Thank you so much for the super like!
Really well explained throughout - a great analysis of this beautiful work which I've not played or even heard since my music undergrad. days 35 years ago. Gradually working through this amazing channel. Many thanks 🙏
Thank you! Good luck ploughing through the channel!
Thanks for sharing this! It's beautiful.
Lovely. Very reminiscent of his brilliant Melancolie
Beautiful 🥲
Finally, a video about him.
ok, you just convinced me I need to listen to more Poulenc
Having been studying today Scriabin's Prelude in A major Op 11 no 7 , this piece by Poulenc struck me as almost an extension of Scriabin's idea in compositional mood with that work with similar layered texture.
I know what you mean. Sciabin's music, especially the way he thinks about harmony and pianistic sonority, does have parallels with French music of the same period, and he certainly influenced Mompou (about whom there will be a video on this channel shortly!)
My soul has been healed.
love this music. question, how do you get this beautyful font ? its so elegant and full of character.
It's a font called 'Baroneys' which you can find on the website dafont.com
@@themusicprofessor Thanks alot.
What font did you use for the titles?
Novelette is haunting. But Melancholie is the go-to for me with Poulenc. My favourite piece of his.
It's a masterpiece. It's a bit more complicated to play though.
There are so many pieces I want to play on piano but my technique is not where I need it to be to play those pieces.
So, which do you prefer: the musical term 'measure' or 'bar'? You use both.
I don't prefer either. In the UK, we tend to use bar but the two options are interchangeable.
Onde eu encontro essa interpretação?
The pianist is me
@@themusicprofessor foi a melhor interpretação dessa música que já ouvi até hoje
Muchas gracias!
I love this piece so much! You play a D at the beginning of bar 13 but it’s actually a B. I see in your music it’s a D though. B is correct.
Actually I play a D because Poulenc wrote a D (check other recordings recordings e.g. czcams.com/video/lcdu_WUDbnM/video.htmlsi=OXjP3rPu28PfRIGn)
@@themusicprofessor
czcams.com/video/z1TVZALGLrw/video.htmlsi=ObBzMo4xp00hgPEQ
@@themusicprofessor I did and I’d say it’s 50/50. I wonder what Poulenc originally wrote? I learnt a B from my edition so D now sounds wrong. If it was originally a D, my decision to move students from ABRSM to Trinity exams is cemented. ABRSM isn’t what it used to be! Apologies for seeming abrupt. It’s a beautiful piece.
You weren't abrupt! I think either note is theoretically possible. B seems more harmonically 'correct' but I think D is probably what Poulenc meant because the melodic line is more interesting with the 7th and it means the melodic shape avoids too many repetitions of B.
Finally, a video where you haven't resorted to "comedy" and have allowed the beauty of the music to speak instead: a welcome change. However, I have some reservations regarding labelling Poulenc's piece as "perfection" in the title. The term "perfection" implies an unbeatable quality, but it is impossible for us to definitively claim that. Perfection suggests a static and unchanging state, while our world is in a constant state of flux. As perspectives, knowledge, and values evolve, previous notions of perfection become outdated. What was once considered perfect may now be seen as flawed or obsolete. The dynamic nature of our world makes it challenging to establish a fixed and timeless concept of perfection. But, as I said, good video.
Was this written by Chat GPT?
Was thinking the same thing hahahahha
@@SimonYrtep Good observation
In my experience the nature of perfection is only ever captured within a moment and often only for an attentive few. I agree, Poulenc writes a lovely moment of perfection. So French.
on contrary, there are many perfect things especially, in music and in art. Perfection does not implie "an unbeatable quality", this would be a very dubious definition, something can be perfect on its own, not relatively to anything else, and many things can be, and are perfect.