You will find below a selection of reference books, bibliographical and analytical, chosen from current works on the composer. It’s not, of course, an exhaustive list. Books written in French are quoted as follows: [F].
Francis Poulenc. "Echo and Source". Selected Correspondence 1915-1963, translated and edited by Sidney Buckland, London, Gollancz, 1991, 448 p.
This work remains a valuable document for English readers who will find in it a selection of 350 letters written by or to the composer, and translated into English. Poulenc reveals himself, converses and rubs shoulders with some great names of his century, suffers, enthuses...
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Francis Poulenc, Correspondance 1910-1963, edited by Myriam Chimènes, Paris, Fayard, 1994, 1128 p. [F]
Starting from Sidney Buckland’s book, Myriam Chimenès has compiled this huge survey which brings the number of published letters to over a thousand. When it appeared in 1994, this work revolutionised our understanding of the composer. The Bible for any music-lover who is a Poulenc enthusiast.
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Renaud Machart, Poulenc, Paris, Seuil, 1995, 252 p. [F]
This indispensable biography possesses two great strengths: splendid illustrations and a chronological biography which reads like a novel yet gives pride of place to the music and in-depth analysis. An absolute must.
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Henri Hell, Francis Poulenc, Paris, Fayard, 1978, 391 p. [F]
The reference book for generations of readers. Written by someone who was close to Poulenc, this book was published during the composer’s lifetime in 1958 and was completed in 1978.
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Jean Roy, Francis Poulenc, Paris, Seghers, 1964, 191 p. [F]
A very good overview which describes the man, his life, his works. An ideal first introduction to the composer.
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Carl B. Schmidt, Entrancing Muse: A Documented Biography of Francis Poulenc, London, Pendragon Pr, 2001, 621 p.
The benchmark in English on Poulenc.
A fascinating biography and well-documented (620 pages nonetheless!). Full appendices with, for example, the programme of Poulenc and Bernac’s concert tours, much unpublished analysis.
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Carl B. Schmidt, The Music of Francis Poulenc , A Catalogue, Oxford University Press, USA, 1995, 640 p.
Indispensable work for university level, this complete catalogue lists (in English) every work, how it came into being, his original manuscripts and analysis. Includes also a few recently discovered unpublished compositions.
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Richard Burton, Francis Poulenc, Absolute Press, 2002, 114 p.
Amazing work by an English author which charts the paradoxical links between Poulenc’s late discovery of Catholicism and his homosexuality.
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Francis Poulenc, Entretiens
avec Claude Rostand, [Interviews with Claude Rostand] Archives Sonores de l'INA, Cassettes Radio France, 1995 [F]
Have you heard Poulenc’s inimitable voice? Have you heard him talk about his childhood, his music, his spiritual conversion in 1936? These sound archives from the INA resound with gentle nostalgia and the whiff of yesteryear. As it is now out of print, snap up any second-hand copy.
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Francis Poulenc, Journal de mes mélodies, Paris, Cicero, 1993, 160 p. [F] In English: Diary of my songs, Gollancz, 1989.
Published and annotated by Renaud Machart, this book is the perfect companion to Bernac’s "Poulenc et ses mélodies", a little less analytical but warmer. Poulenc himself offers clues to a better understanding of his love for setting words to music.
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Francis Poulenc, Moi et mes amis, confidences recueillies par Stéphane Audel, Paris, La Palatine Ligugé, 1963, 206 p. [F] In English: My Friends and Myself, trans. by James Harding, Dobson, 1978.
An interesting account of Poulenc and his acquaintances, from interviews edited by Stéphane Audel. Sadly, out of print, this book can sometimes be bought second-hand on the internet or at bookshops.
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Francis Poulenc, À bâtons rompus (écrits radiophoniques, Journal de vacances, Feuilles américaines), written & edited by Lucie Kayas, Arles, Actes Sud, 1999. [F]
A series of radio interviews which cover the particularly eclectic musical tastes of Poulenc. Each broadcast is devoted to a performer, a composer or a theme: song, fairground music, sacred music, jazz. An amazing testimony.
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Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc et ses mélodies, Paris, Buchet-Chastel, 1978, 220 p. [F] In English Francis Poulenc: The man and his songs, Kahn & Averill, 2006.
In 1978 Bernac decided to write this account from his enormous knowledge of the songs, the majority written in conjunction with Poulenc himself.
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Dialogues des Carmélites, Paris, L'Avant Scène Opéra, 1983, 144 p. [F]
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Dialogues. The conception, the orchestration, first performances with Denise Duval, Bernanos’ text.
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Alban Ramaut, Francis Poulenc et la voix, Lyon, Symétrie, 2005, 336 p. [F]
A very interesting musicological study of Poulenc’s relationship with the voice
(songs, choral and operatic works).
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Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature, edited by Sidney Buckland & Myriam Chimènes, Farnham, Ashgate, 1999, 409 p.
This selection of essays translated into English covers such subjects as the links between Poulenc, Matisse and dufy, the birth of the Dialogues, the role of private patronage, an analysis of "Tel jour telle nuit" and a comparison between Cocteau’s Voix humaine and the setting by Poulenc. Compelling in-depth reading.
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Jean Roy, Le groupe des six, Paris,
Seuil, 1994, 222 p. [F]
Jean Roy is a specialist in 20th Century French music. This work is a perfect reflection of his scholarship and his passion for this period. And once again, we appreciate the concise approach of the Vice-President of our Association!
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Yannick Simon, Composer sous Vichy, Symétrie, 2009, 432 p. [F]
A very interesting essay which depicts French musical life during the Occupation.
Francis Poulenc demonstrated his own “resistance” with the composition of the Violin Sonata (1942) dedicated to Garcia Lorca, Deux Poèmes de Louis Aragon (1943) and Figure Humaine (1943) on a text written by Paul Eluard.
