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"Musicians teach me technique. It is writers and artists who provide me with ideas."
"From my earliest childhood I have had a passion for painting. I owe it as much profound joy as I love music."
"I believe it is with Apollinaire that I found my true melodic style."
“Since my first songs, Le Bestiaire, I have felt a definite and mysterious affinity with the poetry of Apollinaire.”
Portrait of Francis Poulenc by Jean Cocteau, pen and ink, 26.7 x 22.2 cm. (10.5 x 8.7 in.)
II. Henri Matisse
(1869-1954) Poulenc had infinite artistic admiration for and personal affinity with Henri Matisse, in particular the swans drawing, which distilled a complex concept into its essence.
Henri Matisse collaborated as costume designer with Diaghilev and Stravinsky in Les Ballets Russes's production of "Le Chant du Rossignol" ("The Song of the nightingale"), 1920.
Illustrated book (unbound, quarto), "Poésies" by Stéphane Mallarmé, with 29 etchings by Henri Matisse (published by Albert Skira et Cie, Lausanne, 1932)
Open Window, Collioure, Henri Matisse, oil on canvas, 55.3 x 46 cm, 1905.
"All my colors sing together, like chords in music.... Colors have an intrinsic beauty which should be preserved, just as timbre in music." Matisse continues: "Lines should work together in harmony and counterpoint, as in music.... You may embroider and embellish but ultimately you must return to your theme to establish the unity that is essential for a work of art."
—Henri Matisse
III. Raoul Dufy
1877-1953 - Painter, printmaker and Art Deco textile designer who collaborated with Paul Poiret and the luxury silk manufacturer Bianchini-Férier.
About Raoul Dufy, Poulenc wrote: "I have always thought that Dufy and I had more than a little in common."—Francis Poulenc
Poulenc associated the distinct smells, sights and sounds of his childhood with Dufy's watercolors of Nogent-sur-Marne: "When I see them, my heart begins to pound for they sum up magnificently the paradise of my childhood."—Francis Poulenc
Examples of textiles by Raoul Dufy.
"La Perse" robe designed by Raoul Dufy for Madame Poiret.
Portrait of Raoul Dufy (1877-1953), older brother of Jean Dufy.
La Fée Electricité (The Spirit of Electricity) by Raoul and Jean Dufy.
Virtual visit, Musée de l'art moderne de Paris. For more detail, see current expos "page" on this google site.
IV. Jean Dufy
1888-1964 - Painter, printmaker and Art Deco porcelaine and textile designer.
Portrait of Jean Dufy (1888-1964), younger brother of Raoul Dufy.
V. Paul Éluard
Poulenc once wrote: “If one placed on my tomb the inscription ‘Here lies Francis Poulenc, the musician of Apollinaire and Éluard,’ I think it would be the finest claim to fame.”
Paul Éluard wrote a series of love poems for his wife, Nusch, a model and surrealist artist. Most notable is his collection entitled Facile (1935), where Éluard's verses are printed around the body of Nusch photographed by Man Ray.
"Man Ray's photos flow in and out of the text so naturally, Paul Éluard's verses are arranged with perfect taste around the body of Nusch Éluard - just a few pages (12!) but every single one of them of timeless beauty!"
Poulenc composed Tel jour telle nuit on 9 of these poems, his greatest song cycle, in the spirit of Schumann's Dichterliebe ("A poet's love").
“Paul Éluard, poet of love, one of the most important encounters of my life.”—Poulenc
"It is difficult to convince the performers that in a love poem, only calm can result into intensity."—Poulenc
Paul Éluard and his wife Nusch.
VI. Le Travail du peintre (1956)
Poulenc's last song cycle entitled "Le Travail du peintre," is a setting of 7 poems by Paul Éluard dedicated to Picasso, Chagall, Braque, Juan Gris, Paul Klee, Joan Miró and Jacques Villon, with cover designed by Picasso.
For a detailed listing that gathers poet, images of each painting and corresponding song recording of "Le Travail du Peintre" song cycle:
https://interlude.hk/musicians-and-artists-poulenc-eluard-and-their-friends/
In 1948 Éluard had published a richly illustrated book of 25 poems dedicated to painters entitled "VOIR."
Poulenc wrote: "I thought it would stimulate my work to paint musically...I asked him for a poem on Matisse, whom I adore. Paul [Éluard] half-promised me because he did not share my passion for this painter. To my mind, Matisse would have closed the cycle in joy and sunshine." Instead, "Jacques Villon le termine lyriquement et sombrement." —Francis Poulenc
Paul Éluard was Picasso's best friend from 1935 onwards. After Apollinaire's death in 1918, Éluard was the only poet with whom Picasso could converse and exchange or share ideas. Éluard became captivated by Picasso, and expressed his awe: "From the moment Picasso came onto the scene, the walls caved in." Only Éluard's death in 1952 could end this brotherhood.
Portrait of Poulenc by Pablo Picasso. Graphite. 1957.
Portrait of Paul Éluard by Pablo Picasso. Graphite. 1936.
Portrait of Nusch Éluard by Pablo Picasso. Graphite. 1941.
VII. Listening to selected Mélodies
Poulenc is indisputably the greatest song writer of the 20th century: 137 Mélodies - 117 of them on contemporary poets.
La Reine de coeur 1960 by Maurice Carême, tender, simple, read by children. From La Courte paille, a set of seven songs for voice and piano, composed in 1960 for Denise Duval for her to sing to her 6-y-old son.
"Les chanter avec tendresse, c’est la plus sûre façon de toucher le coeur des enfants."
Montparnasse by Apollinaire (Veronique Gens, soprano)
Montparnasse (Felicity Lott, soprano)
“The more I read Apollinaire, the more I am struck by the poetic role that Paris plays in his work. Montparnasse is a marvelous poem written in 1912. Let us imagine this Montparnasse all at once discovered by Picasso, Braque, Modigliani and Apollinaire." —Francis Poulenc
Voyage à Paris by Apollinaire, in the style of Maurice Chevalier (Patricia Petitbon)
Voyage à Paris (Frederica Von Stade)
Hotel by Apollinaire (Regine Crespin, soprano)
Hotel (Sandrine Piau)Sanglots by Apollinaire (Pierre Bernac and Poulenc)
Sanglots (Sandrine Piau, soprano)From Deux poèmes by Louis Aragon
"C" (Regine Crespin)
"C" with Pierre Bernac and PoulencLes Chemins de l'amour sung by Yvonne Printemps, dedicatee of this Valse chantée (text by Jean Anouilh).
Les Chemins de l'amour (Patricia Petitbon)
Les Chemins de l'amour (Véronique Gens)
Les Chemins de l'amour (Sabine Devieilhe)
Compare four different voices in "Tu vois le feu du soir" by Paul Éluard to his wife, Nusch.
Tu vois le feu du soir (Felicity Lott, soprano)
Tu vois le feu du soir (Sarah Fox, soprano)
Tu vois le feu du soir (Holger Falk, baritone)
Tu vois le feu du soir (Pierre Bernac, baritone et Poulenc, piano).
Nous avons fait la nuit love poem by Paul Éluard to his wife Nusch. Last song in Poulenc's cycle Tel jour telle nuit (Isabelle Druet, soprano).
Nous avons fait la nuit (Holger Falk, baritone)
"I have written this Mélodie with the most sincere emotion. I hope this is perceived." —Poulenc
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