Francis Poulenc - Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G minor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 มิ.ย. 2024
- - Composer: Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (7 January 1899 -- 30 January 1963)
- Orchestra: Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire
- Conductor: Georges Prêtre
- Soloist: Maurice Duruflé (organ)
- Year of recording: 1961
Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G minor, FP 93, written in 1938.
00:00 - I. Andante
03:24 - II. Allegro giocoso
05:30 - III. Subito andante moderato
12:17 - IV. Tempo allegro - Molto agitato
15:06 - V. Très calme - Lent
17:46 - VI. Tempo de l'Allegro initial
19:36 - VII. Tempo introduction - Largo
In reference to his nearly completed Concerto for organ, strings, and timpani (193, Poulenc wrote that "This is not the happy-go-lucky Poulenc who wrote the Concerto for two pianos, but a Poulenc en route to the cloister -- a fifteenth century Poulenc, if you like." Though not explicitly religious, the concerto follows a new development in the composer's style that led to the composition of numerous sacred works and several secular works distinct in their sense of gravity and deliberation.
The concerto was commissioned by and dedicated to Princess Edmond de Polignac. In essaying his first work for organ, Poulenc sought counsel from masters living and dead. Maurice Duruflé, who was the solost in the earliest performances, advised the composer on matters of the instrument's registration {"La registration a été établie avec le concours de Monsieur Maurice Duruflé"}. Poulenc also studied the organ music of Buxtehude and Bach, whose influence is reflected in the work's neo-Baroque figuration and ornamentation and in its occasional harmonic anachronisms.
The concerto is structured as a single continuous movement with the character of a fantasia.
- It begins with a dense chord in the organ, followed by a graceful unaccompanied melody in dotted rhythms. The slightly askew sonority of the next chord bumps the melody from its previously diatonic path. A duet follows between the organ, mysterious in its high range, and foreboding timpani. The opening material returns with a different "wrong" chord, followed by a lushly harmonized string melody underpinned by timpani. The intensity increases with a low faint rumble in the timpani and organ pedal, which is suddenly punctuated with percussive exclamations.
- The long-building tension finds release in the subsequent Allegro section, in which the strings and organ alternately take the foreground with a nimble melody that makes its way through an ever-changing harmonic context. A new figure enters, characterized by of a series of repeated ascending tetrachords that outline a triumphant major seventh chord.
- The Andante section begins abruptly with a plaintive organ solo that eventually evokes a rich, lyrical response from the strings. This conversational passage is followed by a more somber mood, evoked by worrisome melodies and an unyielding pulse. Poulenc once again builds dramatic tension by thickening the harmonies, bringing the music to a peak with a series of stout, cathartic chords in the organ.
- A dreamy string interlude provides a transition to a brief Allegro section. A rhapsodic melody floats atop lucid, soothing harmonic progressions borne upon a gentle pulse.
- The organ emerges with ever-thickening harmonies to usher in the next section, a fast passage with thematic roots in the first Allegro.
- The organ introduction returns, followed by a reverent viola solo accompanied by delicately plucked strings. As the orchestra fades, the organ ends the concerto with a final emphatic proclamation.
The piece is dedicated: "Dédié très respectueusement à la Princesse Edmond de Polignac". - เพลง
Now THAT is an example of how to use harmony!
Poulenc never takes himself seriously, his music is full of pranks, out of tone gimmicks, then he suddenly pulls out the most divine melody... his mastery of composition is of a higher class, and he makes it sound like he doesn't even have to try hard ! Poulenc makes me proud to be french 🥖🍷 🧀
And for decades France did not take him seriously ; UK neither!
Not the baguette emoji😂
There are several compositions including this concerto in which the composer took himself and his art very seriously.
@@remomazzetti8757 that's right, my comment was a general one and this video was probably not the most relevant for it 🙃
"Poulenc never takes himself seriously" except when he does. All of his wonderful sacred choral music and much of the secular too -- such as FIGURE HUMAINE. And there's his crowning masterpiece, DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES, one of the truly great operas of the mid-20th century. One might even argue that seemingly frivolous works such as LES MAMELLES DE TIRESIAS are fundamentally serious. That is one of the reasons that Poulenc's music has endured, when so many entertaining works by his contemporaries have faded from view. People make a similar mistake in assessing the worth of the music of Liszt, another fundamentally religious composer who was deeply immersed in the attractions of the transitory, material world.
If you can't ever get to a concert hall, it's worth 'pulling out all the stops' to hear this astounding piece through the best possible hi-fi. Having just built a six-foot high bass speaker I am discovering unsuspected pedal-note depths - yes down to 20Hz, as John Rapp here noted - in a recording I have owned for years of a BBC Festival Hall broadcast. Thrilling music, verging on insanity!
Such amazing, complex, sad and joyfull music at the same time
First time listener. This is crazy. I love it.
Having just heard this live in Symphony Hall with the BSO and now with this recording I can hear Bach, a sublime piece to be savored.
Wow, I listened to that concert too! It was phenomenal!
This concerto is so heartfelt. As an organist myself i adore this piece. Poulenc truly bought the organ to life
I love this concerto way too much.
+Haden Plouffe Yes what a great work it is! Enjoy :)
Me too
You said, "I love this concerto way too much." If I may, why do you think that is? I love it to. I remember the occupation. I hear the rebellion of the French heart. I hear the streets of P. and the majesty of having excellence at hand.
I love this work... as an act or rebellion against the Bach's Toccata in d minor. The mordant... da, da, daaaa. Francls spit in their eye. CVD
Charles Davis wtf are you talking about?
CrossbowManD is
Dude those chords kill my entire soul
yeah, at 22:35, goosebumps!
Just heard this at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Alain Altinoglu conducting, Thierry Escaitch, organ....the crowd went wild. I still have chills.
Aside from this piece being so beautiful and powerful, I've noticed something wonderful in the comments. There is no hate-mongering. It would suggest that people who have the ability to appreciate great beauty have much better things to do and say.
shut up - JUST KIDDING :-) I appreciate this comment and had to make an ironic post.
Go f yourself,
I Hate you SO MUCH for saying that........
Yeah. God, this SUCKS!
j/k. Love it.
To see Duruflé as a soloist in
this recording is so haunting and it makes my heart smile. The gift of perfection from his incredible technical agility was absolutely wonderful!
What a beautiful and mysterious blend during the last slow section! Awesome piece throughout, love this style of harmony.
Tre capolavori: la musica di Poulenc, l'esecuzione di Duruflé e la direzione di Prêtre. Tutto perfetto.
When your name is 'Pretre' . . . . Circonflet, messieurs!
Poulenc is pretty hardcore.
It is!!
@@richarddey3809 -- Excellent appreciation and analysis...Must seek Gaylord. Bravo from San Agustinillo!
Only in this concerto, and in a few other places (like at the end of Dialogues des Carmelites). He IS a brilliant composer. I love his music, and this piece especially, beyond reason,. but I wouldn't say it's really all that hardcore.
@@2906nico Listen to Un soir de neige
This has got to be a definitive performance of the work, wouldn't you say ? So fine---and well recorded, too.
What a most beautiful concerto! And performance! I love the 20 hz pedal notes!...John Rapp
La perfection musicale absolue . Une oeuvre divine !
Oui, absolument!
This piece and indeed this very recording have been a part of my collection for a good number of years. I have always loved both its delicacy and its power, and it's grand to find it here!
OMG!!! Durufle is playing in this 1961 recording??? How special! The chords pierce the soul...wow
Durufle - in whose arms Vierne died *THE SAME YEAR*
superb concerto
So wonderful to see the score!! It's always been my favorite organ concerto
God, this is briliant. This recording knocks nearly all the others out of the park.
yes, by far
A magnificent work. Wonderful to listen to this concerto with the score. Thank you Olla-Vogala.
Thé best performance ! Thanks to Georges Prêtre and Maurice Duruflé !
Capolavoro assoluto...opera immortale. Nessun musicista è più "francese" di Poulenc, credo.
Wonderful piece by a great composer. This recorded performance, with the score; Sir, what a great service you've done.
This is really great piece. I'm very inspired from this gorgeous piece. Organ is such a fascinating instrument.
I remember when my mum bought this on Vinyl in the old days before CDs. Me and my younger brother though this was scary music.
It is!
Yes - this recording at St. Etienne du Mont. A lot of the credit goes to Cavaille-Coll
I have it and still play it.
Quel coloriste qui sait jouer avec toutes les possibilités et la variété de l'orgue et de l'orchestre. Un concerto magistral.
On a joué ça juste avant le moment où je vous parle, c'est pour fêter l'armistice qui est demain, j'étais en violon 2. Je ne me lasse pas de ce concerto! J'aimerais tellement pouvoir le rejouer avec un orchestre, sans oublier le ou la soliste!❤
@@underiaash2737 Elle parle - bien entendu - de la guerre qui suivrait! Mais nou l'ecoutions , le 1 April 2022 - *en moment de guerre!* C'est . . .. ca !
@@underiaash2737 Great!
Toutes les grandes idées inspirées, musique, films, philosophie, inventions, révélations viennent toutes de l’inconscient collectif. Très souvent les artistes utilisent l'inspiration du dehors, la logique déductive, l'extrapolation de l'évidence et du raisonnement connus pour dévoiler la droiture somptueuse et magnifique d’une architecture sonore construite avec patience et ténacité. C'est une vérité qui nous est révélée spontanément à l’écoute ou qu’avec le temps nous devons vérifier par nous-même afin de savoir si tel ou tel compositeur peut changer nos esprits et notre existence. J'ai pas peur d'écrire que Francis Poulenc nous a bouleversé. Quel impressionnant et mystérieux mélange au cours de la dernière partie lente! J'aime ce style d'harmonies 🤠
No not at all. The collective unconscious s just the seed-bed of individual talent. Man can be a God. But not with advisors like you!
Toutes les grandes idées inspirées, musique, films, philosophie, inventions,
révélations viennent toutes de l’inconscient collectif. Très souvent les artistes utilisent l'inspiration du dehors, la logique déductive, l'extrapolation de l'évidence et du raisonnement connus pour dévoiler la droiture somptueuse et magnifique d’une architecture sonore construite avec patience et ténacité. C'est une vérité qui nous est révélée spontanément à l’écoute ou qu’avec le temps nous devons vérifier par nous-même afin de savoir si tel ou tel compositeur peut changer nos esprits et notre existence.
Hardcore Cartesianism. The French 'probleme' !
@@MartinSmithMFM C'est beau comme la rencontre d'abord improbable, puis messianique d'un parapluie et d'une machine à coudre sur une table de dissection cher Martin👑
Yes - the 'Dead March'
Magnifico Concierto. Una belleza !!!
16:30 lol. When the organ has to be the woodwind ensemble, too.
One of the advises a lot of composers give to young composing students (particularly those who are also pianists) is to never imagine the organ as a keyboard instrument like the piano or the harpsichord, but instead a wind ensemble.
@@zanexiao4488 I don't really agree with that. Although the organ has stops named after real instruments its a unique sound which cannot replace them
@@zanexiao4488 They must be unmusical indeed if they cannot either respond to the organ or not. Most people love it or hate it
9:20 is just... so good
13:30 too
20:00 as well
Excellent commentaire, très juste, très français, qui en évite le patois. 😉
I was invited to watch a dance program one evening at St. Mary's College (across the highway from Notre Dame). The program was choreographed to this Concerto. The music completely turned my classical music experience upside down. Savage and sublime alternating in strikingly inventive chiaroscuro. It has been one of my favorites ever since.
Masterpiece.
One of my favorite - thanks for sharing - it was nice watching the score.
My favourite organ concerto. So happy to see the score for the first time. Thanks!
*Are* there any others?
This is FABULOUS!
Genial und so realistisch, unbeschreiblich!
Thank you very much Olla for the score synchronisation !! It is really really helpful:)!!!
I will play this piece in contrabass part next week and am studying ... I‘m so excited;)
Fantastic!!!!
20:20 is anybody else just blown away by this motif?
Can't check, out of context; sounds like the sustained ambiguous resolving and not resolving 7th just before the Dutch fairground organ bit! That technique is also heard in the Glagolithic Mass.
Fantastic!
Qué maravilla de obra!
that resolve in the strings is gorgeous from 1:24 - 1:28 :)
The organ is certainly not tuned in equal temperament and that just give an amazing and unique sensation to this mysterious concerto!
LuizBHMG it seems to be slightly flatter than A = 440 Hz which also creates an interesting effect
Jack Levinson Yeah, it can also be that. Many people may concern about this, but this creates actually a great effect!
Yes! It makes it cosmic, menacing and out of this world. Amazing.
@@VasilyMusic you are delusional, you should seek a psychiatrist.
@@Whatismusic123 🤡🤡🤡
Pour l'anecdote, Poulenc était allé demander conseil auprès de Maurice Duruflé pour la registration de l'orgue dans cette pièce. Donc toute la registration si c'est aussi génial on sait pourquoi!
Poulenc had *NO IDEA* about the pedals! It was premiered in VENICE ! Poulence *never touched an organ in his life!* *AND YET*
NICE, One of my favourite composers!
A most beautiful concerto, I love those awesome pedal notes at 20 hz...john rapp
cavaille coll 32 reed, all his stops speak quickly, his family designed and built pipe organs in france and had to build organ sounds for large spaces
A classic and that's for sure ✈
Two words: Thank you!
Francis Poulenc:g-moll Orgonaverseny FP 93
1. Andante 00:05
2. Allegro giocoso 03:24
3. Subito andante moderato 05:30
4. Tempo allegro - Molto agitato 12:17
5. Molto calmato - Lento 15:06
6. Tempo de l'Allegro initial 17:46
7. Tempo introduction - Largo 19:36
Maurice Duruflé-orgona
Párizsi Konzervatórium Zenekara
Vezényel:Georges Pretre
Köszönöm az értékelést
Köszönöm az értékelést
Yes this is the version I remember on the EMI label which had a picture of Notre Dame Paris ie the big window.
Köszönöm az értékelést
C'est tellement stylé !
One of the best of the Angry, Expressive, Moody French organ music. A very good rendition as well.
from 20:25 starts one of the most wonderful themes in music history
Truly beautiful! Probably inspired by Alleluia from the Symphony of Psalms
@@ruslan.denshaev --Colossal masterpiece.....BRAVI from Mexico City!
someone linked this in a fanfiction im fucking dead i love it
i sure hope you were in that fanfiction looking for modern french composers
OH MY GOD THATS WHY IM HERE RN
@@jesterfangirl3741 LMFAO now im wondering which fanfic it was
Ideal zum Tiefbasstest der Lautsprecher.👆👆😃😃😃😃 Viele Grüße aus Warthausen bei Biberach an der Riß
Fantastic channel and a service to many, many. Strongly subscribed if there was such a thing.
Holy molly! That is a terrific piece. Phantom of the Opera style and all over the place and holds together right through to the end. Love it.
Phantom of the Opera style! That is an insult to Francis Poulenc!
Poulenc was pretty theatrical. One dictionary says his music always had a bit of the "café" attitude...whatever that means.
When friends of mine who are not musicians or serious music lovers hear this, they say exactly the same thing! But it's not an insult. Music can be very disorienting, you are entering a different dimension, and the first thing you do is to try and locate yourself - where am I - what era - familiar or unfamiliar - what is the mood? etc, and the gentleman I think is just doing that. "Phantom of the Opera" is shorthand for (I'm guessing something like) "dramatic, a bit scary, intense, grandiose,..." and it is indeed all those things. The only problem is to think you've nailed it down, so that you stop really listening. Anyway, that's my take on it.
I agree with David Roddis; maybe it's like the mood in Phantom of the opera. However, it's another kind of music which is more serious and doesn't belongs to entertaining music.
@@murrayaronson3753 anachronistic. L-W obviously knew FP but I never wasted time with F of the O
Love it
Durufle as soloist, what more do you want. Fabulous concerto by first class performers. Outstanding.
There are a couple that are better. He did Saint-Saens as well, but the best one is 1960 Zamjochian and Charles Munch.
Poulenc is really brilliant. My choir sang "Les Tisserands" in quarantine style. Write this down in the research. You will love it for sure:
Corale Novarmonia - Les Tisserands (F. Poulenc)
Thank you, Olla-Vogala, for sharing this. Thank you also for the photographs. So nice to see Francis.
Years ago I leaned this to play with a community orchestra. Have I learned some wrong notes?!!
Well, it's easy!
Goosbumps
This is what give ME "Phish at the Sphere" feelings.
0:05 is a good place to start. ^ ...... Man, this is good stuff!
Magnificent!
Один из любимых !
It's something else than Saint-Saëns's 3rd symphony...its interesting how they both used the combination of organ and orchestra in completely different ways. I especially like 3:26
Probabilmente è solo una mia impressione, ma a me pare che la cupa sonorità di quest'organo male si sposi con l'orchestra, ognora traslucente di timbri diafani e semoventi...
Grande opera comunque e, a parte questa tara che mi pare davvero pesante, grande interpretazione!
Moltissime grazie per la condivisione!!
The more I listen to it, the more impressed I am. This is a kind of thing you can't listen to just once, you have to analyze it to fully appreciate it.
Also big thanks for the description! It helped me BIG time with my essay on this concerto. Merci!
Essay? What fun! For whom?
@@MartinSmithMFM I had a subject called Music Score Analysis at my University like a year ago.
@@VasilyMusic Great! I agree. I want to analyze music too! But to do that with love, without killing it stone dead. We would need a whole new methodology. I hope to live long enough to find the starting points for that! You are *very inspiring*
Which university?
@@MartinSmithMFM University of Film and Television in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I study Sound production, so we have some music related disciplines. It's not easy to analyze it, but if you can read sheet music, it's definitely possible
One of the great cries of anguish of the West to God.
This is a tribute by Poulenc for J. S. Bach's "Fantasy and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542." G MINOR. That is important.
With musical example.
True
I mean in Rene Machaut's book on Poulenc (in French)
Both Bach and Poulenc knew the possibilities of the organ. Certainly evident here for Poulenc's concerto. I think Bach may have been quite thrilled in a strange way to hear this!
Wow
- Perfect! -
Here's your soundtrack. Now all we need is a major motion picture...
All of my favorite parts just sound like he was trying to write BWV542 without writing BWV542.
Spooky, exhilarating, and thrilling.
Deserves to be a regular Halloween event.
In a big, spooky Gothic cathedral with a humongous loud organ.
I feel like I'm in a horror silent film listening to this. I'm journeying to Dracula's castle or fleeing through the sewers from the phantom of the opera.
14:43 the strings sound like the strings in Tschaikowskys pathetique
Until today, I thought I was completely unfamiliar with this piece. Now it strikes me that this was featured in the TV interview that Rose Kennedy gave to Robert MacNeil in 1974. Specifically, it was used to chilling effect when she spoke about the assassination of her son, President Kennedy.
This and Bunin's are very cool organ concertos!
Whoooooo?
@@MartinSmithMFM Revol Bunin, he was Shostakovich's first student but didnt get much recognition unfortunately
@@phoebedraper3046 Yeah I have heard the name! Shostakovich also has some remarkable music especially the Preludes and Fugues but Poulenc did not know him. But strangely, Poulenc and Boulez were on good terms!
The orchestra here is not the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire but the Orchestre National de l'ORTF (now Orchestre National de France). The recording location is the Église Saint-Etienne-du-Mont where Duruflé had a position as organist (FR = titulaire)
Trueeeee. Cavaille-Coll, yes?
It should be a Cavaillé-Coll indeed !
14:38 - I thought first time that there will be the quote from Adagio from Pathetique Symphony of Tchaikovsky.
WWR - music i think he did it consciously. It like he speaks with geniuses from past
yeah i noticed too
There is a similar quote in his ballet Les Biches
Very good!!!This is his masterpiece?
This or the concerto for 2 pianos
@@specialperson335 Plenty of great Choral music and also the Piano Concerto but above all *THE SONGS*
@@MartinSmithMFM totally agree! his songs are fantastic
One of my favorite pieces also - wonder why he says it is in Gm when the score shows it is in CM - you learn something new ever day.
It follows the convention, common after the 19th century, of notating music that is sufficiently chromatic without a key signature even if it has an identifiable key.
The point in a key signature is to show which notes have an accidental most of the time (which is why a lot of baroque music notates minor-key works with one flat fewer/one sharp more than it should have). If a piece is chromatic enough, there normally aren't any notes which appear all the time, so it's often just left out.
@@sashakindel3600 Of course it is in G MInor, that is the whole point, it draws on the Bach piece of that key. Modern composers from Debussy onwards do not use key signatures. There is no C Major in this at all. It is entirely in G Minor and related major keys here and there. *That is the whole raison d'etre of the piece!*
This is like proto-prog Rock
Lit
Definitely the best recording of this piece made. Such a shame about the flat solo reed stop 😖
A good one , but not the best.
Lefebre at Notre Dame...exquisite!
that is how caivalle coll built it. he actually completely revoiced the organ after it was built due to poor reviews.
@@georgemurphy2579 French reeds!
@@georgemurphy2579 Phillipe Lefebvre? He is the oldest *titulaire* at Notre-Dame
@@cacamalapasa1508 Cavaille-Coll would not have been around in 1938
ストリングス・セクションは六人組の仲間オネゲルの交響曲みたい
この曲はプーランクにしては珍しくバッハ風
オネゲルはバッハ好き
I just melt at: 13:33
There are versions I prefer to this one, but it's still very good.
Whot kind ofversion do you mean?
F. Stover there are many. This is a good one. EPower BIGGS at Boston's Sym. Hall. Best one is Lefebre at Notre Dame!
@@joluijten8935 Recordings
but poulence hinself supervised this recording, he was there. and he conferred with the organist on the registration. poulenc died 2 years later
@@georgemurphy2579 Is it on TH-cam? I discount Biggs a bit these days - although loved him years back. His name always excited me!
У него определенно особеный язык.Я счастлив
The Kontrabaß might as well have had been celli III or trumpets
poulenc composed this after a friend of his died in a motorcycle/car accident i believe, and may be about his spiritual experience about his conversion to Christianity. the organ is a french symphonic instrument designed for the stops overtones to combine harmonics rather than just collide.
also, poulenc was present for this recording and worked with dupre concerning the organ stop registrations since poulenc knew more about sypmphony instruments and not organ stops, especially those of cavaille coll
Wasn't that a it earlier?
The conversion came with the Gloria and the Rocamadour stuff, no?
Go listen to English organs. All organs do that!
@@MartinSmithMFM no english organ sounds like this th-cam.com/video/JZ-KqXbsXkY/w-d-xo.html
@@cacamalapasa1508 Dupre? You mean Durufle?
Poulenc is Stravinsky - light version.
What would the G.P.R. notation indicate?
To answer your specific question they stand for Grand-Orgue, Positif & Récit - divisions, i.e. keyboards, of the classical and contemporary French organ. There are instructions in this score on what stops to pull for each division as well as where to play the notes in the score. See the good article on French organs here: letourneauorgans.com/en/info_general.php.
Yes, an amazing and thrilling performance!
@@deankauffman1589 thank you Dean. I had figured it was division instructions but not being familiar with French organ registration I could not make sense of it. And thank you for the link.
How sweet that you responded. Thank you.
@@deankauffman1589 Meaning, roughly, 'full blast - all the keyboard together - a damned great noise! The earliest organ at Salisbury could be heard *a mile off* That was in the 14th century
Manic Depression in G Minor
A bit. But not then. He'd got over it. It was occasioned by the death of Pierre-Octave, in a terrible accident, in around 1931. I forget. Then came the Catholic pilgrimage, the change of life. This, dear friend - this is about the WAR THEN - and *sadly, sadly* (I weep) *THE WAR NOW* (!!!!!)