Francis Poulenc: Priez Pour Paix

Francis Poulenc: Priez Pour Paix

Just a month ago at the Moab Music Festival we opened the season with a program about war. The original inspiration came from John Brancy and Peter Dugan who toured extensively with a beautiful program celebrating the centenary of the end of WW 1 (the armistice). I...
Francis Poulenc: Sanglots

Francis Poulenc: Sanglots

I used to practice yoga regularly but I’ve fallen out of it in recent years. I guess this is a gentle reminder to myself that I want to get back into it. I reaped multiple benefits from practicing yoga: physical, mental, and spiritual. The word “yoga” literally means...
Poulenc:  Montparnasse

Poulenc: Montparnasse

Having just finished the NYFOS season in New York with our Lorca program, tossed off a Gershwin concert for our gala a couple of weeks later, and presided over my twentieth-fifth anniversary concert at Wolf Trap with music ranging from German Lieder to Cuban rumba, I...
Francis Poulenc:  L’une d’avril

Francis Poulenc: L’une d’avril

L’une d’avril (April Moon) is the very last song French composer, Francis Poulenc, ever wrote from his song cycle, La courte paille (The Short Straw). The song voices the concern of parents for the violence of the modern world. He composed the work in 1960 during the...
Françis Poulenc:  Montparnasse

Françis Poulenc: Montparnasse

My preferences change a lot, so only two things have earned from me the immutable stamp of “absolute favorite” over the years. My absolute favorite color: green. My absolute favorite art song: Poulenc’s “Montparnasse.” Green is obvious, it’s the best...