Francis Poulenc

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (January 7, 1899 - January 30, 1963) was a French composer.

Biography

He was a Parisian by birth and always preferred the city to the country. However, in order to have the quiet solitude he needed to write music, he spent as much time as possible in his home in the Loire Valley. This has led to the misconception that he preferred the country, but in fact he found rustic life boring and he hated walks.

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He was called to military service twice, the first time beginning January 1918, during which Poulenc served a ten-day sentence in military prison for overstaying a leave in Paris. (Ivry 1996)

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Poulenc was gay, openly so from his first serious relationship, that with painter Richard Chanelaire to whom he dedicated his Concert champêtre: "You have changed my life, you are the sunshine of my thirty years, a reason for living and working." (Ivry 1996) He also once said, "You know that I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality." (Aldrich 2004)

Related Topics:
Gay - Openly - Richard Chanelaire - Concert champêtre

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Poulenc was profundly affected later in life by the death of friends. In 1923 he was "unable to do anything" for two days after the death from typhoid fever of his twenty year old partner, novelist Raymond Radiguet. However, two weeks later he had moved on, joking to Diaghilev at the rehearsals he was unable to leave, about helping a dancer "warm up". (Ivry 1996)

Related Topics:
Raymond Radiguet - Diaghilev

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Critic Claude Rostand, in a July 1950 Paris-Presse article, described Poulenc simplistically as "half bad boy, half monk." . He was a bridge enthusiast, a dog lover, a hypochondriac, and suffered from low self esteem. At one point he was addicted to barbiturates. (Ivry 1996)

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Francis Poulenc died in Paris on January 30, 1963 and was interred in Cimetière Père Lachaise, Paris.

Related Topics:
January 30 - 1963 - Cimetière Père Lachaise

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