- Born
- 7 January 1899Paris, France
- Died
- 30 January 1963Paris, France · aged 64
Francis Poulenc
A French composer whose music held wit, religious faith and desire in close tension.
Francis Poulenc was born in Paris in 1899. His father opposed a purely musical education, so he studied privately with the pianist Ricardo Viñes rather than attending the conservatoire. He became associated with Les Six, the young composers whose music offered an alternative to grand Romantic gestures.
The ballet “Les Biches” (1924) shows his gift for wit and elegance. A visit to Rocamadour in 1936, after the death of the composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud, renewed his Catholic faith and helped lead him towards sacred music. Works including the “Stabat Mater” and “Gloria” stand alongside the opera “Dialogues des Carmélites” (1957).
Poulenc’s faith coexisted with his relationships with men. His partners included the painter Richard Chanlaire and Lucien Roubert, whose death in 1955 affected him deeply. He also fathered a daughter. His letters resist the idea that religious devotion and sexual desire must cancel one another out.
As a pianist he worked for many years with the baritone Pierre Bernac, writing songs that made their collaboration central to his musical life. Poulenc died in Paris in 1963, aged 64.