Francis Poulenc

Francis Poulenc Francis Poulenc Music, Art and Literature Edited by SIDNEY BUCKLAND and MYRIAM CHIMÈNES First published 1999 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX 14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © Sidney Buckland, Myriam Chimènes and the contributors, 1999 The authors have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Francis Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature 1. Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963. 2. Composers—France— Biography. 1. Buckland, Sidney. II. Chimènes, Myriam. 780.9'2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Francis Poulenc: music, art and literature/edited by Sidney Buckland and Myriam Chimènes. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 1-85928-407-8 1. Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Poulenc, Francis, 1899-1963—Friends and associates. 3. Arts, modern—20th century—France. I. Buckland, Sidney. II. Chimènes, Myriam. ML410.P787 F73 1999 780\92—dc21 99-31632 CIP ISBN 13:978-1-85928-407-0 (hbk) Contents List of figures and plates vii Notes on contributors xii Acknowledgements xvi Abbreviations xviii Introduction 1 1 Poulenc and Koechlin: 58 lessons and a friendship Robert Orledge 2 Poulenc's choral works with orchestra Keith W. Daniel 3 Raymonde Linossier: 'Lovely soul who was my Sophie Robert 4 'My ideal library' Francis Poulenc 5 'The coherence of opposites': Eluard, Poulenc and the poems of Tel jour telle nuit Sidney Buckland 6 Nogent music: Poulenc and Dufy Marjorie Running Wharton 7 'All my pleasure is in making new discoveries': Francis Poulenc visits American museums of art. From Feuilles américaines. Extraits de journal Francis Poulenc 9 48 flame' 87 140 145 178 196 8 Distilling essences: Poulenc and Matisse Carl B. Schmidt 199 9 Poulenc and his patrons: social convergences Myriam Chimènes 210 In search of a libretto Denis W al eche 252 10 vi 11 12 CONTENTS Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of the opera Claude Gendre 274 ' A musical confession': Poulenc, Cocteau and La Voix humaine Denis Waleckx 320 13 Poulenc, Britten, Aldeburgh: a chronicle Philip Reed 348 14 Francis Poulenc - disc jockey Lucie Kay as 363 Index 389 List of figures and plates Figures 0.1 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 6.3 Jacques-Emile Blanche painting a portrait of Francis Poulenc in Offranville in 1920. This photograph features in Poulenc's albums, now in the Music Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Dedication to Raymonde Linossier in Les Biches, Editions des Quatre Chemins. By permission of the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris. Enfantine (French version). By permission of the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris. Enfantine (English version). By permission of the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris. Letter from Francis Poulenc to Sylvia Beach, no date. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. Francis Poulenc's subscription to Ulysses. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library: Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Francis Poulenc at Oxford on 25 June 1958, after being awarded an Honorary Doctorate. Private collection: all rights reserved. Francis Poulenc and Pierre Bernac at Uzerche, August 1936. Private collection: all rights reserved. Francis Poulenc and Yvonne Gouverné at Uzerche, August 1936. Private collection: all rights reserved. Eluard and the picnic by Lee Miller. (Nusch and Paul Eluard, Roland Penrose, Man Ray and Ady, Mougins, France, Summer 1937.) © Lee Miller Archives. Raoul Dufy woodcut, 'La Chèvre du Thibet' ('The Tibetan Goat'), showing the original layout of illustration and poem on the page. © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'Le Dromadaire' ('The Dromedary'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'La Chèvre du Thibet' ('The Tibetan Goat'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. xx 100 108 109 111 120 128 155 156 157 179 181 182 viii LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES 6.4 'La Sauterelle' (The Grasshopper'). © AD AGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'Le Dauphin' ('The Dolphin'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'L'Ecrevisse' ('The Crayfish'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'La Carpe' ('The Carp'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. 'La Souris' ('The Mouse'). © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. Old postcard of Nogent. By permission of the Musée de Nogent. 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Henri Matisse, preliminary drawing for 'Le vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd'hui' known as 'le sonnet du cygne' ('The Swan' sonnet), in Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé, 1932. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.903. Henri Matisse, preliminary drawing for 'The Swan' (marked 'Le Cygne II'), c. 1932, showing the elaborate shading and hatching that Matisse later eliminated. © Succession H. Matisse/ DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.904. Henri Matisse, refused etching for 'The Swan'. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.694XXIV. Henri Matisse, refused etching for 'The Swan'. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.694XXV. Henri Matisse, refused etching for 'The Swan'. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.694XXVI. Henri Matisse, accepted illustration for 'The Swan', showing the culmination of Matisse's refining technique, the drawing reduced to a thin line and filling the entire page, leaving the page almost white. © Succession H. Matisse/DACS 1999. The Baltimore Museum of Art: The Cone Collection, formed by Dr Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland, 1950.12.693XXIX. 183 184 185 186 187 188 201 202 203 204 205 206 LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES 9.1 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 12.1 12.2 12.3 13.1 Salon programme for the concert held at the home of Madame Mante-Rostand, 23 June 1934. Private collection: all rights reserved. 'Pieta, pastel of Mother Thérèse of St Augustine or of Mother Henriette of Jesus'. Coll. Carmel de Compiègne. Photo. Hutin. Published by kind permission of the Carmel of Compiègne. Photograph of Gertrud von le Fort in 1951. Published by kind permission of Eleonore von la Chevallerie and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach. Photograph of Georges Bernanos in 1947. Photo. Izis. All rights reserved. Photocopy of Emmet Lavery 's Song at the Scaffold, together with his dedication to Baroness Gertrud von le Fort. Published by kind permission of Eleonore von la Chevallerie and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach. Drawing by Jean Cocteau of the actress Berthe Bovy, who created the role of'Elle' in the stage version oïLa Voix humaine at the Comédie Française in 1930. © AD AGP, Paris and D ACS, London, 1999. Costume sketch by Cocteau, 6 December 1958. Private collection: all rights reserved. Second costume sketch by Cocteau, 6 December 1958. Private collection: all rights reserved. Peter Pears in a dress, as the Husband in Les Mamelles de Tirésias at the 1958 Aldeburgh Festival. Private collection: all rights reserved. ix 226 275 280 285 291 324 342 343 358 Plates Between pages 236 and 237 1 2 Canotiers aux bords de la Marne (Boatmen on the banks of the Marne) by Raoul Dufy, 1925. © AD AGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1999. La Nappe blanche (The White Tablecloth) by Jean-Siméon Chardin, French (1699-1779), oil on canvas, c. 1731/32, 96.8 x 123.5 cm. Mr and Mrs Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1944.699. Photograph © 1999, The Art Institute of Chicago, all rights reserved. LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES X 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Saint Francis by Francisco de Zurbarán, Spanish (1598-1664), oil on canvas, 207 * 106.7 cm. Herbert James Pratt Fund. By kind permission of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Copyright © 1998, all rights reserved. Poulenc's dissonant harmonisation of a chorale theme by Koechlin, scored for brass in December 1921 (Ex. 1.2). By permission of the Koechlin Archives. Poulenc's harmonisation of 'Hilf deinem Volk, Herr Jesu Christ' (early March 1922) as copied and corrected by Koechlin (Ex. 1.3a). By permission of the Koechlin Archives. Koechlin's harmonisation of 'Hilf deinem Volk, Herr Jesu Christ' made on 20 March 1922, using Poulenc's bass in the first two phrases (Ex. 1.3b). By permission of the Koechlin Archives. 'En route pour la foire': Francis Poulenc and Raymonde Linossier. Private collection: all rights reserved. Raymonde Linossier in her study in about 1929. Private collection: all rights reserved. Adrienne Monnier's bookshop, La Maison des Amis des Livres, at No. 7, rue de l'Odéon. Francis Poulenc and Paul Eluard in 1931 at the Hyères home of the Noailles. Photograph from Poulenc's albums (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Nusch Eluard by Man Ray. © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1998. 'Nous avons fait la nuit ... ' from Facile. Poem by Paul Eluard, photograph of Nusch by Man Ray. © Man Ray Trust/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London, 1998 and reproduced by permission of the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Denis. A page from Poulenc's album, showing two views of the Château de Kerbastic, the Brittany home of the Polignacs, and a view of the Château du Tremblay, the Normandy home of Poulenc's sister, Jeanne Manceaux (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Geneviève Sienkiewicz at her home, probably in the Rue Chaptal. Photograph from Poulenc's albums (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. At the Noailles in the Place des Etats-Unis, Paris, in 1932, shortly after the première of Poulenc's Le Bal masqué in Hyères. Left to right: Yvonne de Casa Fuerte, Vittorio Rieti, Charles Koechlin, Igor Markevitch, Francis Poulenc, Nora Auric, Henri Sauget, Georges Auric, Roger Désormière and Nicolas Nabokov. By permission of the Koechlin Archives. LIST OF FIGURES AND PLATES xi 16a-b Two photographs from Poulenc's albums: a) The Princesse Edmond de Polignac, and b) Poulenc and the Comtesse Marie-Blanche de Polignac, both in pyjamas, with François Mauriac, at the Polignacs' home in Antibes (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. 17 Portrait of Poulenc (1920), by Jacques-Emile Blanche, currently in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours. By permission of Roger-Viollet. 18 An unknown portrait of Poulenc by Jacques-Emile Blanche, featured in Poulenc's album and dated 'Offranville 1920'. By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. 19 A photograph of Poulenc in uniform, taken in the same year, 1920. By permission of Roger-Viollet. 20 A little-known portrait of Poulenc by Jacques-Emile Blanche, dedicated by Poulenc to Darius Milhaud and dated 'Offranville 19 July 1930'. Photograph by Patrick Lorette. Private collection: all rights reserved. 21a-b Two photographs from Poulenc's albums: a) Christian Dior and Francis Poulenc at a costume ball, 'Le bal de la lune sur mer', given on 16 January 1951 at the home of the Noailles; b) In the kitchen at Maxim's: Poulenc with Louise de Vilmorin and Blaise Cendrars (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. 22 Francis Poulenc rehearsing Dialogues des Carmélites with Gianna Pederzini (First Prioress) and the conductor Nino Sanzogno, Milan, January 1957. Photograph from Poulenc's albums (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. 23 Francis Poulenc with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in Cannes in 1955. Private collection: all rights reserved. 24 Francis Poulenc at the microphone, being interviewed by Bernard Gavoty, probably during the televised concert he gave with JeanPierre Rampai and Denise Duval for Jeunesses Musicales de France at the Salle Gaveau on 14 May 1959. By permission of Roger-Viollet. Notes on contributors Sidney Buckland was born in South Africa in 1940 and educated there and in France. She has lived in England since 1974. She is a graduate in both music and French. She taught French literature for twenty-five years, specialising in the poetry of Paul Eluard. It was Poulenc's settings of Eluard's poems that first drew her to his music and that led to her translation of the letters of Poulenc, 'Echo and Source'. Selected Correspondence 19151963 (London: Gollancz, 1991). Through her work on this edition, she met Myriam Chimènes, with whom she has since collaborated both as translator and as co-editor. Her forthcoming translations include Myriam Chimènes's monograph of Pierre Bernac and Lucie Kayas's edition of Poulenc's A bâtons rompus. Myriam Chimènes was born in Paris in 1952. She is a musicologist and research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Institut de recherche sur le patrimoine musical en France, Paris). She studied musicology at the Sorbonne, gaining a Master's degree for her dissertation on Pierre Bernac (1973) and a PhD for her thesis on Debussy's ballet Khamma (1980). She is on the editorial board for the Critical Edition of the Complete Works of Claude Debussy, has edited Jeux in collaboration with Pierre Boulez (Paris: Durand, 1989) and is preparing the edition of Khamma. She has published the correspondence of Francis Poulenc (Paris: Fayard, 1994) and is currently working on a monograph of Pierre Bernac, to be translated by Sidney Buckland for publication in the UK by Ashgate. She has also coedited, with Catherine Massip, a collective work on Darius Milhaud, in the series 'Portrait(s)' (Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1998). For several years Myriam Chimènes has been involved in a further field of research: the social history of music (France 1870-1940). She has written several articles on this subject which she is now developing into a book to be published by Fayard, under the title Elites sociales et vie musicale en France sous la IIIe République. Myriam Chimènes recently organised a symposium on 'Musical Life in France during the Second World War'. A book on this subject is being prepared for publication under her direction. Keith W. Daniel was born in New York City in 1947. He received his PhD in musicology from SUNY Buffalo in 1980, specialising in twentiethcentury French music. His dissertation was published in 1980 by UMI Research Press, under the title: Francis Poulenc: His Artistic Development and Musical Style. He has since published numerous articles on Poulenc. He has been teaching for nearly twenty-five years, the last fifteen at Concord NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xiii Academy in Concord, Massachusetts. In 1975 he conducted Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, and has continued to sing and conduct, mainly in the Boston area. Claude Gendre was born in Paris in 1933 and educated at the Sorbonne, where he received the CAPES de lettres modernes in 1962 and, in the same year, the Diplôme d'études supérieures for his work: 'The Song at the Scaffold by Gertrud von le Fort and Dialogues des Carmélites by Georges Bernanos: Study and Comparative Essay'. He later obtained a Diplôme d'études approfondies for his dissertation: 'Un thème et ses variations: Les Carmélites de Compiègne et Blanche de la Force' (University of Poitiers, 1984). He has since written extensively on the Carmelites of Compiègne, his articles and essays appearing in specialist journals both in France and the USA. Claude Gendre taught literature for twenty years before becoming principal of a college. Lucie Kayas was born in Antony, near Paris, in 1959. She studied musicology at the Sorbonne and thereafter followed classes in history of music and aesthetics at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. At the same time, she studied piano, chamber music and musical analysis at the Ecole Normale de Musique. After teaching for five years at a municipal conservatoire in the Paris region, she took up a post in Hamburg as French editor for the record company Deutsche Grammophon. Since January 1996 she has worked in the publications department of the Châtelet concert hall in Paris, while at the same time continuing two lines of private research, on Francis Poulenc and André Jolivet. Her publications include an analysis of Tannhàuser for the series 'Guides des opéras de Wagner' (Paris: Fayard, 1989) and André Jolivet, Portraits (Arles: Actes Sud, 1994), a collective work which she co-directed with Laetitia Chassain-Dolliou. Most recently, she has edited Francis Poulenc's A bâtons rompus (Arles: Actes Sud, 1999). Robert Orledge was born in Bath, Somerset in 1948, and educated at Clare College, Cambridge (1965-71) where he gained a BA (Hons) music degree in 1968, an MA in 1972, and a PhD in 1973 for his thesis on Charles Koechlin. Since 1971 he has lectured in music at the University of Liverpool, where he was awarded a Personal Chair in 1991. He has published numerous articles on French music from 1850 to 1950 in leading journals, and his five books to date are: Gabriel Fauré (London: Eulenburg, 1979; 2nd edn 1983); Debussy and the Theatre (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982); Charles Koechlin (1867-1950): His Life and Works (Luxemburg: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1989; 2nd edn 1995); Satie the Composer (Cambridge: xiv NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS Cambridge University Press, 1990) and Satie Remembered (London: Faber, 1995/Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1996). Philip Reed was born in Northumberland in 1959. He studied at the universities of Leeds and East Anglia, completing a doctoral dissertation on Britten's music for film, theatre and radio in 1987. His many publications include A Britten Source Book (with John Evans and Paul Wilson, Aldeburgh: Britten-Pears Library, 1987), Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten, vols 1 and 2 (co-edited with Donald Mitchell, London: Faber and Faber, 1991), a study of Billy Budd (with Mervyn Cooke, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1995), On Mahler and Britten (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1995), and contributions to The Making of 'Peter Grimes' (edited Paul Banks, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1996). He is currently working on the third volume of Britten correspondence. From 1984 he was on the staff of the Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh. In 1997 he became Head of Publications at the English National Opera. Sophie Robert was born in Paris in 1968 and educated at the Sorbonne, where she obtained a Master's degree in Modern Literature, and a Diplome d'études approfondies in French Literature and Civilisation. Since 1995, under the direction of J.-Y. Tadié, she has been preparing a doctoral thesis on the following subject: 'Adrienne Monnier et la vie littéraire 1915-1950'. She has edited the correspondence of Adrienne Monnier and Jules Romains (Bulletin des Amis de Jules Romains, nos 75-6, 1995, and nos 77-8, 1996). Her articles include 'Adrienne Monnier et le Mercure de France', in Digraphe, March 1995, and Targue, La Maison des Amis des Livres et les Surréalistes', in Ludions, nos 2/3, 1997-98. Sophie Robert lectures in French Literature at the Institute of European Studies in Paris. Carl B. Schmidt was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1941. He received his BA degree from Stanford University and his MA and PhD degrees from Harvard University. He is Professor of Music at Towson University, Maryland, and is a noted authority on seventeenth-century French and Italian opera and ballet. He has also written extensively on twentieth-century subjects. His numerous articles have appeared in musicological journals both in the USA and in Europe. He has published The Livrets of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Tragédies-lyriques: A Catalogue Raisonné (New York: Performers' Editions, 1995), edited missing portions of Antonio Cesti's // Porno d'oro for AR Editions, and edited a volume of Lully motets (with Anne Baker, John Hajdu and Lionel Sawkins). Recently he has published The Music of Francis NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xv Poulenc: A Catalogue (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), a new edition of Poulenc's Flute Sonata (Chester), and the first editions of Quatre poèmes de Max Jacob (Paris: Salabert) and the cello-piano version of Suite Française (Paris: Durand). Entrancing Muse: A Documentary Biography of Francis Poulenc will be published by Pendragon Press in late 1999. Carl Schmidt is currently compiling a catalogue of the music of Georges Auric for publication. Denis Waleckx was born in Lille in 1958. After studying music in various conservatoires, he began a degree in musicology at the Sorbonne in 1977, obtained the CAPES in 1981 and the Agrégation d'Education Musicale two years later. Since then he has combined teaching with research. After completing a Master's degree on the contemporary French composer Guy Reibel, he became interested in the music of Francis Poulenc. In 1991 he gained a Diplôme d'études approfondies for his dissertation, directed by Manfred Kelkel, on Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tirésias. This led to five years of further study, culminating in a Doctorate in History of Music and Musicology for his thesis 'La musique dramatique de Francis Poulenc (les ballets et le théâtre lyrique)' (Paris, Sorbonne, 1996). Denis Waleckx is currently an Inspecteur d'Académie. Marjorie Running Wharton was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1944. She gained a BA degree in French at Luther College in 1966, and an MA in French at Tulane University, New Orleans, in 1970. In 1998, she gained the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, specialising in piano, at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Her thesis topic for this degree was 'Visual Art and Poetry in the Songs of Francis Poulenc'. Marjorie Running Wharton teaches piano and French at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Acknowledgements The collective thanks of the editors and contributors are due firstly to Madame Rosine Seringe, niece and godchild of the composer Francis Poulenc, for her interest and encouragement throughout the preparation of this volume and for kindly granting permission to make use of copyright material. We would also like to thank the Association 'Les Amis de Francis Poulenc' in Paris and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, for the generous assistance they have given to this project. The editors wish to record their personal appreciation of the grant made to them by the late Paul Sacher. For the use of copyright materials and for invaluable help and advice we thank the following individuals: Thierry Bodin, William Bush, Chris Chettleburgh, Eleonore von la Chevallerie, the late Loïc Chotard, Deirdre Donnellon, Christine Erlih-Jolivet, Laurent Freitas de Brangança, the late Douglas Gardner, Jean-Charles Gateau, Roy Howat, Maurice Imbert, Graham Johnson, the late Madeleine Li-Koechlin, Yves Koechlin, Catherine Labrusse, Rosine Lambiotte Donhauser, Jacqueline Latarjet, the late Raymond Latarjet, François Leroux, Madeleine Milhaud, Robert Orledge, Mr Ozanam, Ian Qualtrough, Martine Riou, Barbara Sienkiewicz, Olesia Sienkiewicz and William Tanner. For permission to reproduce manuscripts, photographs, paintings and drawings in their collections we thank the following archives, libraries, museums, and their curators: Archiv Charles Koechlin, Kassel, Germany (Otfrid Nies); The Art Institute of Chicago; The Baltimore Museum of Art (Jay McKean Fisher); the Bibliothèque musicale Gustav Mahler, Paris; the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris (Yves Peyré and Jean-Luc Berthommier); the Bibliothèque Méjanes, Aix-en-Provence; the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Josiane Laurent, Catherine Massip and Elisabeth Vilatte); the Britten-Pears Foundation, Aldeburgh; the Carmel of Compiègne, Jonquières (Sister Alix-Anne and Sister Liliane); the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach; the Institut national de l'audiovisuel INA, Paris, (Maïc Chomel); the Institut Mémoires de l'édition contemporaine IMEC, Paris (Olivier Corpet and Patrick Fréchet); The Lee Miller Archives, Sussex; the Musée d'art et d'histoire de Saint-Denis (Frédérique Barret and Sylvie Gonzalez); the Musée Guimet, Paris (Francis Macouin); Musée de Nogent (Olivier Maître-Allain); The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The New York Public Library, Berg Collection of English and American Literature (Wayne Furman); Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xvii Special Collections (William L. Joyce, AnnaLee Pauls and Margaret M. Sherry); Stanbrook Abbey Archives (Dame Eanswythe Edwards). The publishers Actes Sud, Editions Fayard and Editions Gallimard have kindly given permission for the use of the following copyright material: extracts from Poulenc's radio talks A Bâtons rompus and from Feuilles américaines © ACTES SUD. Extracts from Francis Poulenc: Correspondance 1910-1963 © Editions FAYARD. Poulenc's reply to a survey carried out by Raymond Queneau, Pour une bibliothèque idéale © Editions GALLIMARD. Reproduction of nine poems by Paul Eluard: 'A Pablo Picasso (I)', 'Je croyais le repos possible', 'Rideau', 'Être', 'Intimes (II, IV, V)', 'Balances (III)', in Les Yeux fertiles, and 'Nous avons fait la nuit' in Facile © Editions GALLIMARD. Translations of all the poems are by Winifred Radford and Sidney Buckland © Sidney Buckland. Music examples are reproduced by kind permission of Chester Music and Ricordi. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. Any who have not been acknowledged here are requested to notify the publisher for amendment to be made in subsequent editions. This book owes its existence to Rachel Lynch at Ashgate Publishing who initially suggested that we undertake the project. Her continued encouragement, her careful reading of the texts, her thoughtful responses and pertinent advice, her help with matters far beyond the literary have put us greatly in her debt. She has been a matchless editor and she has our deep gratitude. To Caroline Cornish who, with admirable commitment and expertise, has steered this work through all the complex stages of its production, we offer our heartfelt thanks. Abbreviations 1. Bibliographic references Books by Francis Poulenc Correspondence (ed. Buckland) Francis Poulenc - 'Echo and Source \ Selected Correspondence 1915-1963, translated and edited by Sidney Buckland, London: Gollancz, 1991 Correspondance (éd. Chimènes) Francis Poulenc - Correspondance 1910-1963, réunie, choisie, présentée et annotée par Myriam Chimènes, Paris: Fayard, 1994 Entretiens avec Claude Rostand Francis Poulenc, Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, Paris: Julliard, 1954 Journal de mes mélodies Francis Poulenc, Journal de mes mélodies, Paris: Grasset, for La Société des Amis de Francis Poulenc, 1964. Foreword by Henri Sauguet. Diary of my Songs (trans. Radford) Francis Poulenc, Diary of my Songs/ Journal de mes mélodies, translated by Winifred Radford, London: Gollancz, 1985. Foreword by Graham Johnson. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Mâchait) Francis Poulenc, Journal de mes mélodies, édition intégrale et notes établies par Renaud Machart, Paris: Cicero, 1993 Moi et mes amis Francis Poulenc, Moi et mes amis, confidences recueillies par Stéphane Audel, Paris-Geneva: La Palatine, 1963 Trans. Harding Francis Poulenc, My Friends and Myself (Moi et mes amis), trans. James Harding, London: Dobson, 1978 ABBREVIATIONS A bâtons rompus (éd. Kayas) xix Francis Poulenc, A bâtons rompus, écrits radiophoniques: précédé de Journal de Vacances et suivi de Feuilles américaines, textes réunis, présentés et annotés par Lucie Kayas, Arles: Actes Sud, 1999 Books on Francis Poulenc Bernac Pierre Bernac, Francis Poulenc: The Man and his Songs, London: Gollancz, 1977 Bloch Franc ine Bloch, Phonographie de Francis Poulenc, Paris: Bibliothèque nationale, 1984 Daniel Keith W. Daniel, Francis Poulenc: His Artistic Development and Musical Style, Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1980, 1982 Hell Henri Hell, Francis Poulenc: Musicien français, Paris: Fayard, 1978 Mellers Wilfrid Mellers, Francis Oxford: OUP, 1993 Machart Renaud Machart, Francis Poulenc, Paris: Seuil, coll. Solfèges, 1995 Schmidt Carl B. Schmidt, The Music of Francis Poulenc. A Catalogue, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995 Poulenc, 2. Public archives BNF Mus Music department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France INA Institut (Paris) national de l'audiovisuel Fig. 0.1 Jacques-Emile Blanche painting a portrait of Francis Poulenc in Offranville in 1920. This photograph features in Poulenc 's albums, now in the Music Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF Mus). By permission of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. See also Plates 17, 18, 19 and 20. Introduction Sidney Buckland and Myriam Chimènes Francis Poulenc's last major song-cycle is entitled Le Travail du peintre - The Artist's Craft. It groups together settings of seven poems by Paul Eluard, dedicated to painters. It is an unusual composition, 'a work quite out of the ordinary', as Poulenc described it in a letter to Alice Esty, the American singer and patron of the arts who commissioned the cycle. The initial inspiration came from a collection of Eluard's poetry, published in 1948 under the title Voir (Seeing). In this sumptuous book, in large format and printed on vellum, are poems to thirty-two artists, each represented by a colour reproduction of a painting, and a drawing in black and white. The seven poems which Poulenc chose from Voir were dedicated to Picasso, Chagall, Braque, Gris, Klee, Miró and Villon. His intention, as he states in Journal de mes melodies, was 'to paint musically'. The result was a compelling fusion of music, art and literature. To the craft of the poet and the painters, Poulenc had added the craft of the composer. 'I hope', he wrote to his benefactor, 'that you will not be disappointed with le travail du musicien.'' When the song-cycle was ready for publication, Picasso agreed to provide the cover, just as he had done some thirty years earlier, for Poulenc's Poèmes de Ronsard. His design- giving simply the title and the names of both poet and musician in broad brush-strokes - echoed the concept of Raoul Ubec's original front cover for Voir. Five days after completing the cover, on 13 March 1957, Picasso made a sketch of Poulenc in graphite, now in the Musée Picasso in Paris. It was one of many portraits of Poulenc painted by a number of very different artists. Some thirty-five years earlier, for example, Poulenc had sat for Jacques-Emile Blanche. Portraitist of such literary and musical luminaries as Proust and Debussy, writer, critic and undeniable man-of-the-world, the multi-gifted Blanche fascinated Poulenc. At this time, among the composer's close friends and artistic associates were Jean Cocteau and Max Jacob, both - like Jacques-Emile Blanche - equally talented in literature and painting. These men were the embodiment of the fusion of the arts, and their company was undoubtedly attractive to Poulenc. Referring to his sittings for Jacques-Emile Blanche, he confided in a letter to Milhaud: 'My visits to Blanche have been very enjoyable indeed. He really is a most charming conversationalist.' He held Blanche in high esteem, describing him in Journal de mes mélodies as 'a man of immense culture and perfect taste'. The description might as easily have applied to himself. 2 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE From his earliest childhood, the arts had been an intrinsic part of Poulenc's life. The image is often evoked of the composer aged two, sitting at a white lacquered toy piano with cherries painted on it, and 'sight-reading everything from department-store catalogues to old railway timetables'. 1 But it was not only music that enthralled the young Poulenc. To Claude Rostand he confessed that he had never been able to do without poetry and that, by the age often, he could recite all of Mallarmé 's Apparition by heart, in the secret hope of one day becoming a great tragedian. Poulenc 's recently published Journal de vacances, a diary he kept at the age of twelve while taking the waters at Luchon and Biarritz with his parents and his sister Jeanne, reveals that even at this early age he was receptive to architecture, had a well-developed aesthetic sense, and was already drawing comparisons between art and music. After an outing on 19 August 1911 he made the following entry: We took the car and visited two very remarkable churches. The first was Saint-Aventin, a 13th-century church just like in Le Roi d'Ys, very interesting with superb frescoes from those times. Then we saw the church at Acauze, very pretty with its old sculptures and its very old bas-reliefs. There was an ancient, wrought-iron grille of great beauty, both in its finish and in its design, a ravishing altar piece in carved wood, and a font carved straight into the stone, which is very rare.2 During the same month, he attended a performance of Tosca, and again his diary shows that he had not only a discerning ear but also a discerning eye: Home for lunch, then to the open-air theatre where Campagnola was singing the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca. Jean Laure was Scarpia and Ariette Berges was Tosca. I really enjoyed it, I can tell you, because everyone acted so well. Campagnola very Italian, which was marvellous. And he has a splendid voice. Berges has a very pretty voice and lots of diction. She was very good, especially in the last two acts, as her voice is a bit shrill in the high register. In the first act she wore a horrible costume, orange and canary-yellow. Campagnola's costume wasn't very appropriate, it was more a costume for Werther. Jean Laure's was very sinister, specially in the first act when he had his coat on. I really liked the first act because everything pleased me in it, above all the role of the sacristan which is very funny. A few weeks later the young Poulenc was taken to see Carmen. His reaction was immediate and instinctive. At the age of twelve he was clearly defining his concept of the composer's métier, in terms that would barely change throughout his life: I really enjoyed it especially as it was very well sung and is truly a musical masterpiece and will never seem rococo like so many others. The musical INTRODUCTION 3 art is highly developed and the composer seems to have poured his heart into certain passages where you feel a kind of passion you can't really describe. It's not exactly modern because there are no dissonances but it doesn't matter, it seems to be a story that actually happened to him and he pours all his sad and happy thoughts into his harmonies. It's quite an art! ! ! By his early twenties Poulenc was already a celebrated member of the musical avant-garde. His compositions were being performed at concerts in the Rue Huyghens and at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier; he was both friend and follower of the iconoclastic Erik Satie, and was one of the legendary Groupe des Six. The extent of his musical connections stretched beyond the borders of France. He had met Bartok and Manuel de Falla and, during trips to Italy and Austria with Milhaud, had encountered Casella, Malipiero and Labrocca, as well as Schoenberg, Webern and Berg. Through his childhood friend, Raymonde Linossier, he had been introduced to the literary avant-garde that frequented Adrienne Monnier's bookshop, La Maison des Amis des Livres. At that historic meeting-place in the Rue de l'Odéon, he had forged connections that would incontrovertibly shape his musical style. There, he heard Apollinaire reading his own poems, and first encountered Louis Aragon and Paul Eluard. Poulenc's twenties coincided with the Roaring Twenties, with the riotous social and cultural whirl that erupted after World War I. The public manifestation of new ideas and artistic collaborations was characterised by the continued success of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, by the launch of Rolf de Mare's Ballets Suédois and the Comte de Beaumont's Soirées de Paris. The more private side of these collaborations and the bonds of friendship that were formed is vividly depicted by Darius Milhaud in his memoir Ma vie heureuse. Describing the group that, for two years, met regularly at his home every Saturday evening before going on to dine at a little restaurant at the top of the Rue Blanche, he writes: We were not all composers, for our numbers also included performers: Marcelle Meyer, Juliette Meerovitch, Andrée Vaurabourg, the Russian singer Koubitzky; and painters: Marie Laurencin, Irène Lagut, Jean Hugo's fiancée Valentine Gross, Guy Pierre Fauconnet; and writers: Lucien Daudet, Raymond Radiguet, a young poet who was brought to us by Cocteau. After dinner, lured by the steam-driven roundabouts, the mysterious booths, the 'Daughter of Mars', the shooting galleries, the games of chance, the menageries, the din of the mechanical organs with their perforated rolls seeming to grind out simultaneously and implacably all the blaring tunes from the music-halls and revues, we would visit the Fair of Montmartre, or occasionally the Cirque Médrano, to see the Fratellinis in their sketches, so steeped in poetry and imagination that they were worthy of the Commedia dell'Arte. We finished up the evening at my house. The poets would read their poems, and we would play our latest compositions. Some of them, such as Auric's Adieu New York, Poulenc's 4 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Cocardes and my Bœufsur le toit were continually being played. We even used to insist on Poulenc's playing Cocardes every Saturday evening: he did so most readily. Out of these meetings, in which a spirit of carefree gaiety reigned, many a fruitful collaboration was to be born.3 Coming from this background, Poulenc saw the integration of the arts as perfectly natural. Throughout his life, he would view music in terms of literature and painting. At the age of twenty-one, attempting to communicate the originality of Satie's Socrate, he wrote to Paul Collaer: 'Socrate is not a fresco by Puvis or Denis. It is a still-life by Picasso, the Vierge à la chaise, something akin to Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli or the St John Passion, in other words, neither mural, nor painting, nor cantata, nor drama. It is quite simply pure Satie.' At fifty, wanting to convey to Louise de Vilmorin his recent setting of her poem 'Mazurka', he described his composition in terms of Alain-Fournier's 1913 classic: 'I like my Mazurka a lot. The atmosphere is very much the ball in Le GrandMeaulnes - soft, melancholy and sensuous.' Both literature and painting served Poulenc not merely as a source of comparison but also as a source of inspiration. Constant in his life was this fertile interchange with the other arts, enabling him to assert with conviction: 'Musicians teach me technique. It is writers and artists who provide me with ideas'.4 In commissioning the essays that make up the present volume, we wanted to look more closely at some of these ideas, at some of the attitudes and influences that enriched the life and work of Francis Poulenc. Together with the contributors who have joined us in this venture, we have chosen certain key elements in Poulenc's life, shone a bright light on them and looked at them anew. Viewed collectively, these essays focus on the nature of certain of Poulenc's friendships - with his teacher Charles Koechlin, with the muse of his youth, Raymonde Linossier, with the English composer Benjamin Britten, with the gifted and gracious Geneviève Sienkiewicz, one of his mother's friends who became Poulenc's friend in turn. We examine Poulenc's emotional affinity with Paul Eluard, and his spiritual complicity with Georges Bernanos. We evoke the social circles in which he moved, and assess the role of the salons as centres of musical convergence in his life. We follow Poulenc in his constant search for the ideal libretto, accompanying him closely in his setting oîLa Voix humaine and throughout the genesis oí Dialogues des Carmélites. We look in depth at the history of the sixteen Carmelite nuns of Compiègne beheaded during the French Revolution, at the literary works inspired by their martyrdom and, in turn, at Poulenc's inspired response to Bernanos 's account of this event. We bring a new appraisal of Poulenc's choral works with orchestra, seen in fascinating contiguity with his apprenticeship with Charles Koechlin. INTRODUCTION 5 Analogies of technique with Dufy and Matisse are explored, incorporating, for the first time, the relevant illustrations into the discussion. Finally, we look at Poulenc's musical tastes as he himself presented them in his little-known radio programmes of 1947-49. These are complemented by two texts from among Poulenc's own writings, bringing lively insights into his literary and artistic tastes. The first is 'My ideal library', a list compiled by Poulenc himself of books he would have chosen - or rejected - for the perfect library. The second is 'All my pleasure is in making new discoveries', extracts from Feuilles américaines, in which Poulenc gives his impressions of various paintings seen in American museums while on tour there with Bernac in early 1950. Some of the studies in this volume contain extracts from documents and letters that have never been published before. These include the diary and certain letters to and from Charles Koechlin; correspondence relating to Raymonde Linossier, Adrienne Monnier and Sylvia Beach; letters from Poulenc to various of his patrons, as well as excerpts from the memoirs of Geneviève Sienckiewicz and the diary of Madame de Saint-Marceaux; letters from Bernanos's executor, Albert Béguin, to Poulenc, and a notable letter from Poulenc to the Reverend Mother of the Carmel of Compiègne, written in September 1955, relating to the terminal illness of his friend Lucien Roubert. Many other letters in this volume appear in English for the first time. A number of these are quoted in their entirety due to their importance in Poulenc's life. Memorable among them is Poulenc's impassioned plea for the hand of Raymonde Linossier, written not to her but to Alice Ardoin, asking her to intercede with her sister on his behalf. Various exchanges between the composer and his patrons are given in full, where these throw important light on the nature of his commissions. Also given in English for the first time, and revealing of Poulenc's quest for the perfect libretto, are the exchanges between Poulenc and Milhaud's friend, the writer and librettist Armand Lunel. Included as well is the entire interchange between Poulenc and Benjamin Britten, in the chapter that chronicles their relationship and Poulenc's connection with Aldeburgh. From the fusion of views brought by the contributors, various recurring themes have emerged, often with resonating echoes between the essays. Of these, stronger and more pervasive than ever, is the theme of ambiguity. From the opening study of Poulenc and Koechlin, for example, paradoxes are rife. Already in the public eye, Poulenc chooses to place himself in the position of a pupil. By so doing, he conforms to the example set by Erik Satie, who is himself a non-conformist. At the height of his anarchic escapades with Raymonde Linossier and Léon-Paul Fargue, Poulenc subjects himself to the discipline of serious work with Koechlin on the Bach chorales. Similarly, while participating in the anti-establishment exploits of the Potassons and the Bibistes, he is nevertheless frequenting the musical salons of Parisian high 6 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE society, in which he moves with natural ease. And while he is perfectly at home staying in the opulent comfort of his sister's Château du Tremblay or in the luxury abodes of the Comtesse de Polignac and the Vicomtesse de Noailles, he is equally happy spending weeks on end composing in a sparse room in Provence or the Morvan, provided he has a piano there. Paradoxical, too, is the contrast between the personalities of the paternal Koechlin and the high-flying Poulenc. What formed the basis of the friendship between these two very different men? A similar question is asked of Poulenc's rapport with the poet Paul Eluard whose background, beliefs and life-style appear at first to be so at variance with those of the musician. Yet in the case of both Koechlin and Eluard, deep-seated affinities are discovered beneath the apparent differences. Among the compounding ambiguities that resonate between these essays is the notion of masks, of concealment. In the study of Poulenc and Dufy, many of the works of both composer and artist are shown to have a surface charm and ease that masks a disciplined craftsmanship. While Poulenc's technical mastery is made evident in the essays dealing with his choral writing, with his settings of Tel jour telle nuit, La Voix humaine and Dialogues des Carmélites, his endeavours to conceal his efforts are nowhere more blatantly expressed than to his patron, the Princesse Edmond de Polignac, to whom he writes of his Concerto for organ: 'Never, since I first began composing, have I had so much trouble finding my means of expression, but I nevertheless hope that it now flows freely without giving the impression of too much effort. ' The 'myth of facility' that dogged Poulenc throughout his life - la légende de facilité, as Claude Rostand expressed it in his interviews with the composer - was in fact largely a myth of his own making. 'The myth is excusable,' Poulenc explained to Rostand, 'since I do everything to conceal my efforts.' In making this assertion, Poulenc was referring mainly to his methods of composition, but the remark applies equally to his approach to interviews. While giving an impression of spontaneity, both his written and spoken interviews were always carefully constructed. The nonchalant, self-assured image which he wanted to project of himself- in interviews, in his dealings with publishers, promoters and concert-organisers - was a carefully studied one. Lucie Kayas, in her essay on Poulenc at the microphone, brings this aspect to the fore, quoting Pierre Vidal's perceptive assessment of the private Poulenc behind the public mask: 'Poulenc was an anxious man who did not like to subject himself to the question-and-answer game widely practised by some of his colleagues. He preferred to speak alone, with a plan in mind, while pretending to improvise.' One cannot but be struck by the parallel with Poulenc's setting of La Voix humaine, where the vocal writing, while giving the impression of the rhythms and inflections of normal speech, is musically - as Poulenc describes it in a INTRODUCTION 7 letter to Louis Aragon - 'the very opposite of improvisation'. In the 'rigorously ordered score,' every change of mood and tempo, fleeting and sudden as these may appear, is carefully and precisely notated. There is much food for thought in the fact that this final stage-work - which Poulenc describes as his own 'musical confession' - is entirely underpinned by ambiguity and ambivalence. The sole protagonist is a woman, talking to her former lover on the telephone. Throughout, the telephone is both a lifeline and an instrument of death, connecting her to her distant lover, but also ultimately destroying her by cutting off that connection to him. The score itself constantly fluctuates between two opposite emotions: agitation and calm. And while the vocal line is largely an extended form of recitative, the orchestral background is lush and sumptuous in texture, 'bathed in sensuality'. When Poulenc termed La Voix humaine 'a musical confession' he was seeing a similarity between the monodrama and a particular episode in his own personal life. He was at the time in a state of emotional turmoil due to the departure, for career reasons, of a young friend to whom he had become strongly attached during his later years. But La Voix humaine is a musical confession in far deeper terms than that. It is an encapsulation of the complex elements at the core of Poulenc's personality - the ambivalence, the ambiguities, the paradoxes. It is also a prototype of his response to a literary text, revealing his finely tuned receptivity to words, prosody, meaning. Above all, it is Poulenc's way of perfectly fusing music and literature. Poulenc was almost sixty when he wrote La Voix humaine. A few years before, he had completed Le Travail du peintre, fulfilling his desire 'to paint musically'. Some forty years before that, while serving in World War I, he had received a copy of Apollinaire's Le Bestiaire, illustrated by Dufy. It was this blend of art and literature that inspired him to write his first songs. Here, from the start, was the cross-fertilisation between the arts that enriched Poulenc's work throughout his life. Poulenc had wanted to close his cycle, Le Travail du peintre, in 'joy and sunshine, with Matisse'. For reasons that are still not fully understood, Eluard declined to write a poem to Matisse.5 Nevertheless, Matisse remains a striking example of the interchange between the arts that so enhanced Poulenc's life, and so we offer that example, not to close our introduction, but rather to open the way towards what we hope will be an enlightening collection of views on Poulenc and the relation of his music to art and literature. On seeing an exhibition of Matisse's drawings for a book on Mallarmé 's poetry, Poulenc discovered a method of composition that he appropriated for himself. This is discussed in detail in Carl Schmidt's chapter, 'Distilling essences'. But just as Poulenc makes constant allusions to Matisse's methods in relation to his own compositions, so Matisse uses musical terms to define his way of painting. Throughout his writings on art come analogies with music: 'All my colours 8 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE sing together, like chords in music. They have the strength required for a choir', he affirms, stressing: 'Colours have an intrinsic beauty which should be preserved, just as one tries to conserve timbre in music.' 6 Matisse prescribed a way of working in paint which aptly reflects our collective aim in this volume. As Poulenc wanted to end Le Travail du peintre with Matisse, we leave the final word to the artist: 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. Notes 1. Moi et mes amis, p. 36. 2. A bâtons rompus, p. 27. Lucie Kayas, in her editorial note 2, p. 27, points out that Poulenc was probably confusing the fifteenth-century church of Cazeaux (which he calls 'Acauze') with the twelfth-century church of Saint-Aventin. 3. Darius Milhaud, Ma vie heureuse, trans. Donald Evans (1952), London: Calder and Boyars, pp. 83-4. 4. Quoted by Marcel Schneider in 'Francis Poulenc et les artistes. L'entretien des muses', Le Monde de la musique, January 1999, pp. 42-5. 5. In Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 58, Poulenc states that when he asked Eluard for a poem on Matisse, Eluard only 'half-promised' him, as 'he did not share [Poulenc's] passion for this painter'. However, Eluard's biographer, Jean-Charles Gateau, indicates that a poem on Matisse was intended for the collection Voir, but that the poem remained unwritten, for reasons that are complex and not entirely clear. He suggests that Eluard may have felt that Matisse was 'the preserve of Aragon'. See Gateau, p. 317. In explanation of this intriguing remark, Jean-Charles Gateau has kindly referred us to Aragon's many writings on Matisse, particularly those in the year 1947, when Eluard would have been preparing Voir for publication. (All Aragon's texts on Matisse are grouped together in Henri Matisse, roman (1971), Paris: Gallimard, 2 vols) He also points out to us that Matisse painted numerous portraits of Louis and Eisa Aragon. He further suggests that Eluard may have dropped the idea of a poem to Matisse in deference to Picasso, whose opinion of Matisse was openly dismissive. We are grateful to Jean-Charles Gateau for communicating these views to us in a letter of 3 May 1999. 6. All quotations by Matisse are from his collected writings, Ecrits et propos sur l'art, edited by Dominique Fourcade ( 1972), Paris: Hermann, quoted in Bosseur, Jean-Yves (1998), Musique et arts plastiques. Interactions au XXe siècle, Paris: Minerve, pp. 60-62. 42 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes All the extracts from Koechlin's diaries and unpublished letters and most of the music examples in this chapter came from the Archives of Madeleine Li-Koechlin in L'Hay-les-Roses and were cited by kind permission. Very sadly, Madeleine died on 12 October 1997 and her literary manuscripts have now been deposited by the Koechlin family in the Bibliothèque Gustav Mahler in Paris, and the musical manuscripts in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. I should also like to acknowledge the help I have received from Sidney Buckland, Chris Chettleburgh, Myriam Chimènes, Deirdre Donnellon, Yves Koechlin, Otfrid Nies and Ian Qualtrough in the preparation of this study. All translations, unless acknowledged, are my own. 1. Poulenc's lessons took place during the twelve months of November 1921— January 1922, March-July 1922, January-March 1923, and March 1925, and not in 1921-24 as is generally maintained. See Koechlin's diaries. 2. Between 18 and 27 September 1923. For further details see Orledge, R. (1975), 'Cole Porter's ballet Within the Quota', The Yale University Library Gazette, 1, no. 1, July, pp. 19-29. 3. 'La musique - plaisir de l'esprit ou jouissance sensuelle?' (March 1921), pp. 219-41, and 'D'une nouvelle mode musicale' (August 1921), pp. 132-46 (with Op. 65 no. 15 as a musical supplement). 4. 'Conférence sur Gabriel Fauré' (27 May 1921), pp. 221-3; (3 June 1921), pp. 233-5, and 'Conférence sur Bruneau' (19 August 1921), pp. 333-4; (26 August 1921), pp. 341-3. 5. 'Etude sur les notes de passage' (November 1920; February 1921; March 1921). These three articles were published in one volume by Eschig in 1922. 6. See Koechlin's diaries. The first performance had been given four days earlier at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier. 7. See Satie's letter of 28 September 1918, cited in 'Charles Koechlin: Correspondance', éd. Li-Koechlin, Madeleine (1982), La Revue musicale, nos 348-50, p. 33, with a facsimile on p. 34. Koechlin willingly accepted the offer on 30 September, but did not have the time to organise the necessary rehearsals for Satie's concert on 19 October as he had to leave for America immediately afterwards as the musical representative on Théodore Reinach's promotional team of visiting French scholars. See Orledge, R. (1995), Charles Koechlin (1867-1950), 2nd edn, Luxemburg: Harwood Academic Publishers, p. 27. 8. Koechlin orchestrated his 1915-17 ballet La divine vesprée (Op. 67) for Diaghilev in August 1918 though it was never performed by the Ballets Russes. See Orledge, op. cit., note 7, p. 28. 9. Koechlin's 'Les temples' from the Etudes antiques (Op. 46 no. 1) was turned down at the historic meeting of the Société Nationale on 15 January 1909 which led to the founding of the SMI, together with Conté par la mer by Ravel's pupil, Maurice Delage. This would explain why Ravel wrote first to Koechlin about the POULENC AND KOECHLIN 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 43 formation of his 'new and more independent society' on the following day. See Orledge, op. cit., note 7, p. 26. Including Emile Vuillermoz in Le Temps (14 January 1921 ); Henri Woollett in Le Monde musical (November 1921 ); Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi in The Musical Times (November 1921-January 1922) and vol. 5, no. 4 of Music & Letters (1924). It was Koechlin's interest in wind instruments that helped draw Poulenc towards him. Mile Melon was the coach of Cécile Boutet de Montvel, a niece of César Franck. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 48, n. 1. See Daniel 1982, p. 9. Poulenc, Francis (1935), 'Mes maîtres et mes amis', Conferencia, no. 21, 15 October, p. 522. Moi et mes amis, p. 43. Poulenc's Trois pastorales of 1917 are dedicated to Vines who gave the first performance on 5 November 1918 at the Ritz Hotel in Madrid at a concert for the Société nationale de musique de Madrid. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 18-21, n. 2, p. 81. Vines also gave the first performance of the Trois mouvements perpétuels. This took place on 5 April 1919 at a Lyre et Palette concert in the Rue Huyghens, and not on 9 February as was generally thought to be the case. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 19-2, n. 3, p. 84. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 17-14, pp. 55-6; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 24. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 17-5, p. 56; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 25. Moi et mes amis, pp. 143-4 (trans. Harding pp. 106-7). Collet, Henri (1920), 'Un livre de Rimsky et un livre de Cocteau. Les Cinq Russes, Les Six Français et Erik Satie', Comœdia, no. 2587,16 January, p. 3. See also Poulenc's letter of 21 January 1920 to Paul Collaer in Collaer, Paul (ed. R. Wangermée), Correspondance avec des amis musiciens, Liège: Mardaga, 1996, pp. 56-7, which clearly shows that Les Six was by no means the 'arbitrary' selection of composers that Collet implied, and that the Album des 6 was already scheduled for publication in its final ordering. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 21 -19, p. 136; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 42. Cited in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 21-19, n. 2, p. 136. Ibid. See Koechlin's diaries. From a letter in the Koechlin Archives. 'Entendu pour vendredi après-midi à 2Î/2-3 heures.' Myers, Rollo (1951), 'Charles Koechlin', The Chesterian, April, p. 94. See Op. 73 : Réalisation des thèmes de [14] chorals de Gabriel Fauré of 1917-20 and Op. 74: Divers réalisations de chorals (themes by other composers) of 1920. See Orledge 1995, p. 356. When Milhaud asked him for a work to perform alongside Cole Porter's Within the Quota and his own Création du monde in 1923, Koechlin chose to arrange two chorales for small orchestra (Op. 76 no. 2). The Douze chorals (Op. 78) of April-May 1921 and Quinze chorals (Op. 79) of June-July 1921, both on his own themes. Moi et mes amis, p. 41. In the Koechlin Archives and copies in the Archiv Charles Koechlin, Sângerweg 44 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 3, D-34125 Kassel, Germany. I am grateful to Otfrid Nies for providing me with these. Chevaillier, Lucien (1929), 'Un entretien avec ... Francis Poulenc', Le Guide du concert, 15 no. 30, 26 April, pp. 855-6. 'Aucune nuance n'est indiquée, la dissonance tenant lieu de crescendo.' For further details see Orledge, R. (1987), 'Satie, Koechlin and the ballet Uspud\ Music & Letters, 68, no. 1, pp. 26-41. 'Evolution de l'harmonie. Période contemporaine depuis Bizet et César Franck à nos jours' in Lavignac et La Laurencie ( 1925), Encyclopédie de la musique, Paris: Delagrave, vol. 2, pp. 691-760. Koechlin also used extracts from Poulenc's Impromptus. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-13, p. 194 and p. 195, n. 4. Kirnberger, J. P. and Bach, C. P. E. (1784-87), Joh. Seb. Backs vierstimmige Choralgesânge, Leipzig, i-iv. This excludes chorales taken from larger works, such as no. 1 in Poulenc's edition. See Schmeider, Wolfgang (1950), Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis der musikalischen Werke Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis. Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hártel, pp. 158-60. Cantata BWV 119 was written for the inauguration of the Leipzig town council on 30 August 1723, and the final chorale comes as no. 9. The original is also in C major. Collaer 1996, p. 95. We also know from a letter to Milhaud of July 1922 that Poulenc was then reworking the modulation exercises in the Traité d'harmonie by Henri Reber. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 22-19, p. 167. Koechlin would also have introduced him to the theoretical works of his own teacher, André Gedalge, and he used Widor's Traité d'orchestration as his bible. Ibid., letter 22-26, p. 175; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 57. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 22-22, pp. 169-71. The following ratings come from p. 171, n. 9. Op. 75 of 1918-20. Poulenc had heard Louis Fleury and Pierre Camus play it at the opening concert in Salzburg on 8 August 1922. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 22-26, p. 175; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 57. Ibid., letter 23-3, p. 184. Ibid., letter 23-7, p. 189. Poulenc would have been referring to the Sonata for clarinet and piano of September 1922 and the Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone of August-October 1922 (see Schmidt, FP 32-3, pp. 90-97). Koechlin would have been happier discussing technical exercises than original compositions, and their written appreciations of each other's works, though generally admirative, are few and far between. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 23-12, p. 193. Ibid., letter 23-13, p. 194. See also p. 195, n. 1 for details of this concert on 19 May 1923. Koechlin also heard Poulenc's Trois mouvements perpétuels played alongside his own Sonata for two flutes. Ibid., p. 195. Milhaud, Darius (translation Donald Evans) (1952), Notes Without Music, London: Dobson, p. 131. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 23-38, p. 212. Ibid., letter 23-26, pp. 204-5; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 60-61. Letter in the Koechlin Archives, cited in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 23-38, n. 1, p. 212, though it more properly belongs with letter 23-26 POULENC AND KOECHLIN 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 45 as by late October 1923 the orchestration of Les Biches was already with the copyist. Ibid. The final version in BnF Mus MS 17675 of 'Décembre 1923'. The 41-page score contains all eight recitatives, which are very lightly scored and last for 148 bars altogether. The extract in question is bars 18-20 of the first recitative. Poulenc was worried that The bassoon playing the first horn line would sound strangulated, an oboe too heavy, and a clarinet too - dull.9 ('Le basson jouant le Io cor serait étranglé, un hautbois trop gros, une clarinette trop mate') But Koechlin must have reassured him that this last was not the case, and that the clarinet would be the best choice. See Fig. 133, bars 1-4 (pp. 80 bar 5 to 81 bar 2) in the 96-page piano reduction published by Heugel in 1924 (H. 28, 730). See Schmidt, FP 35, pp. 107-9. From Bibliothèque de l'Opéra, Paris, MS 16327. From the letter in the Koechlin Archives, op. cit., note 51. Ibid., p. 3. We should remember that Poulenc had been experimenting with these instruments in his 1922 sonatas. Letter in the Koechlin Archives. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 24-24, p. 240; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 73-4. Ibid., letter 24-14, p. 234. Ibid., letter 25-5, p. 252. Poulenc had heard the first performance in Paris of this quartet at an SMI concert on 16 February 1925. Its world première was by the Quatuor Pro Arte in Mulhouse on 20 January 1924. See letters in the Koechlin Archives. Koechlin signed for the loan on 15 January 1926, officially with 8 per cent interest. Poulenc waived this by letter four days later, and the loan was repaid at the original sum in March 1929 (see Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 29-3, p. 300). Koechlin regularly taught between 12 and 15 pupils each month to help make ends meet. Letter in Koechlin Archives. In the end, it was published by neither press, reaching proof stage with Editions Oiseau-Lyre in 1947 but only finally appearing in 1991 with Editions Billaudot (G.501 l.B). Ibid. Heugel had sent Poulenc's latest songs (at his request) together with the copies of Koechlin's Précis des règles du contrepoint mentioned above. Poulenc refers to the Traité de l'harmonie written in 1923-26, of which Volumes 1 and 3 (including Koechlin's realisations of the exercises in Volume 2) had appeared chez Eschig in 1927 and 1928. Curiously, Volume 2 was not published until 1930. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 29-3, p. 300; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 85. There is no record in Koechlin's diaries of his attending the concert on 3 May, and between 21 May and 28 August 1929 he was, as Poulenc feared, in America giving lessons and lectures. His symphonic poem La joie païenne (Op. 46 no. 5) won the Hollywood Bowl Prize and was first performed there on 13 August, conducted by Eugène Goossens. The first part appeared in Le Ménestrel, 98e année, no. 15 (10 April 1936), pp. 117-19 and the second in 98e année, no. 16(17 April 1936), pp. 125-7. The late Mme Li-Koechlin kindly sent me copies of these articles. Poulenc's 'Eloge de la banalité, Présence, III, no. 8 (Oct. 1935), pp. 24-5, answered by Ernst Krenek, 'A propos de la "Banalité*", Présence, III, no. 10 (Dec. 1935), pp. 34-6.1 am grateful to Ingrid Westen of the Paul Sacher Institute, 46 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Basle, for locating these articles and providing me with copies (via Sidney Buckland). On p. 25 of his article, Poulenc admits that Le Bal masqué is his 'most spontaneous tribute to banality' ('mon tribut le plus spontané à la banalité'), and that it was a performance of this cantata that had brought him to Geneva that month. Op. cit., p. 24. Ibid. Ibid., pp. 24-5. Krenek, op. cit. (Dec. 1935), p. 35. Ibid. Ibid. Letter of 25 February 1936 in the Koechlin Archives. Koechlin proposed a meeting on either 28 or 29 February. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-3, p. 411. Ibid., letter 36-4, pp. 411-12, n.d., but almost certainly 16 March 1936. Letter of 25 March 1936 in the Koechlin Archives. Le Ménestrel, 10 April 1936, p. 117. Ibid. Ibid., p. 118. Ibid., p. 119. Le Ménestrel, 17 April 1936, p. 125. Ibid., p. 126. Le Ménestrel, 98e année, no. 20 (15 May 1936), pp. 157-9. 'Aproposdel'''Atonar',LeA/<?/?e.s/re/,98e année, no. 24(12 June 1936), p. 195. From 'Some ideas about my Octuor', Stravinsky's first published article in The Arts (January 1924). Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-41, p. 214. Letter of 6 February 1949 in La Revue musicale, op. cit., p. 155. Letter of 2 August 1945, in the Koechlin Archives. Koechlin Archives. The orchestration occupied Poulenc from October 1941 to June 1942 in Noizay and Paris. See Schmidt, FP 111 p. 312. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 42-6, pp. 519-20. Koechlin was doubtless aware that Satie's additional recitatives for Gounod's Le Médecin malgré lui had allowed it to be presented as an all-sung opera alongside Poulenc's music for La Colombe in January 1924, as opposed to its original 1858 form as an opéra-comique. Poulenc refers to scene 6 'La Mort et le Bûcheron' (Death and the Woodcutter), scene 1: 'Le petit jour', in which the peasants set out for the fields at dawn; and the final scene 8: 'Le repas du midi', in which they return for their midday meal. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 42-7, pp. 520-21, probably of 21 August 1942; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 128-9. In the Koechlin Archives, dedicated 'Pour mon/ cher maître Charles/ Koechlin en/ -réclamant son/ indulgence -/ Très affectueusement/ Francis Poulenc/1942' (now in the author's collection). Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 42-12, p. 525. Koechlin's Traité de l'orchestration in four volumes dates from 1935-36 and 1939-43 and was published by Eschig in 1954-59. Comœdia (20 March 1943), 1 and 4. My thanks go to Myriam Chimènes for locating this and to Deirdre Donnellon for transcribing it for me. Ibid., p. 4. POULENC AND KOECHLIN 47 100. Ibid., p. 4. 101. Letter in the Koechlin Archives of 22 March 1943. Gustave Samazeuilh had told him about Fernand Pécoud's part in the original orchestration of Pénélope, though neither party then knew that Pécoud had scored Act 2 scene 2 and the end of Act 3. 102. Poulenc sent the programme to Yvonne de Casa Fuerte in a letter of 30 July 1945 (see Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 45-18, pp. 601-2). It consisted of Banalités (Apollinaire: 1940); Fiançailles pour rire (Vilmorin: 1939); Tel jour telle nuit (Eluard: 1936-37); Cinq poèmes de Max Jacob (1931); Montparnasse and Hyde Park (Apollinaire: 1945); Dans le jardin d'Anna and Allons plus vite (Apollinaire: 1938); C and Fêtes galantes (Aragon: 1943). 103. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 45-6, pp. 587-8. This is a translation of the version recopied on 30 April, and has been slightly amended from the first version, dated '27 avril à minuit', found in Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 153-4. 104. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 45-7, p. 588, probably of 2 May 1945; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 154-5. 105. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 46-6, pp. 623-4. Koechlin went to London between 5 and 14 July, helping Messiaen find Novello's offices on the 9th, and meeting the writer Edward Lockspeiser at a dinner with young composers on the 13th. 106. In Le Figaro littéraire ( 17 May 1952). 107. In his fifth lecture on 'The contemporary movement' delivered (in an English translation by his pupil Catherine Urner) in Berkeley, California on 7 August 1928, pp. 14-15. Taken from a handwritten copy by Koechlin in the Koechlin Archives. 108. Letter of 28 May 1945 in the Koechlin Archives, written the day after the Poulenc Festival described above. Koechlin repeated this opinion about Poulenc's 'great progress' in another letter to Milhaud on 2 August 1945, when he again stressed how much he preferred his 'moving songs' and Les Biches to Les Animaux modèles. ('Des mélodies émouvantes de Poulenc, qui m'a semblé très en progrès, c'est beaucoup mieux que le ballet des Animaux modèles, qui ne vaut pas Les Biches.') 109. Sauguet commented on Poulenc's 'egocentricity' in a letter to Collaer of 22 November 1954 (Collaer 1996, p. 428), although Koechlin was not given to false modesty either, as far as his own music and achievements were concerned. 84 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. See Orledge, Robert, 'Poulenc and Koechlin: 58 lessons and a friendship', Chapter 1, this volume. 2. Clarendon (Bernard Gavoty) (1963), 'Hommage à Poulenc', Le Figaro, 13 December, p. 26. 3. Moi et mes amis, p. 41. 4. Guth, Paul ( 1952), 'Des Mamelles de Tirésias au Stabat Mater: Francis Poulenc à deux côtés', Le Figaro littéraire, 17 May, p. 4. 5. See Daniel, pp. 40-41 ; Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-17, n. 2, p. 424; Schmidt, pp. 256-7. 6. See Daniel, pp. 155-6; Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-9 and n. 1, pp. 414-15; Schmidt, pp. 279-83. POULENC'S CHORAL WORKS WITH ORCHESTRA 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 85 See Mellers, p. 79. Aubade was commissioned by the Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Noailles. See Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 101 -2. Not that 'serenity' was to grace his life over the ensuing five years, as he struggled with a painful love affair with a terminally ill young man and the emotionally draining experience of writing an opera about sacrifice and death, his masterful Dialogues des Carmélites. See chapter 5, 'Serenity', in Daniel, pp. 47-56. The dedication of the Stabat Mater reads: 'à la mémoire de Christian Bérard pour confier son âme à Notre-Dame de Rocamadour' (In memory of Christian Bérard to commit his soul to Our Lady of Rocamadour). The subject of suffering and death was soon to occupy him - indeed, it would possess him - as he worked on his opera Dialogues des Carmélites. See Daniel, p. 59. Stefan Kostka and Dorothy Payne system of notation: lower case Roman numerals = minor chords; upper case Roman numerals = major chords; ° = fully diminished; 0 = half-diminished, e.g. vii°3/V = fully diminished seventh, in second inversion of dominant. Journal de mes melodies (ed. Machart), p. 43. Ibid., p. 51. V^l is really a jazz chord: dominant seventh with a lowered - sometimes called 'flat' - fifth. This last chord of the introduction is tantamount to pandiatonicism, as it lacks only the & from the entire B1, scale. This harmonic device now dominates pop music when the performers want to achieve a similar 'settling in'. See Gendre, Claude, 'Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of an opera', Chapter 11, this volume. This is less likely, considering Poulenc's life-long penchant for self-doubt. Quoted in Roy, Jean ( 1964), Francis Poulenc, Paris: Seghers, p. 144. Ibid. The much-quoted description of Poulenc as both 'monk' and 'guttersnipe' (moine et voyou) originatesfromthe critic Claude Rostand. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 61-17, p. 980. Schmidt, Carl, 'Distilling essences: Poulenc and Matisse' and Wharton, Marjorie, 'Nogent music: Poulenc and Dufy', Chapters 8 and 6, this volume. Andrea Mantegna, Italian painter (1431-1506) and Francisco de Zurbarán, Spanish painter (1598-1664). In conversation with Stéphane Audel, Poulenc stated: 'Mantegna and Zurbarán correspond very closely to my religious ideal the one with his mystical realism; the other with his ascetic purity that still permits him at times, without a qualm, to dress his women saints as ladies of fashion.' Quoted in Correspondence (ed. Buckland), letter 320, n. 1, p. 410. Record liner notes. EMI (La Voix de Son Maître), 1731 95 1 PM 375 (Sept Répons des ténèbres and Sécheresses), 1984. Mellers, p. 141. Poulenc's first choral writing with orchestra, the ballet Les Biches, which preceded Sécheresses by fourteen years, was clearly influenced by Les Noces and Pulcinella, so the Stravinsky connection is certainly not new. Oedipus Rex seems to have been more of an inspiration, with its insistent minor third and grand final chorus, for the Stabat Mater. 86 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 30. Poulenc pushed the limits of tempo late in his career, especially with his slow metronome markings of less than 50. He often cautioned pianists and conductors to follow his tempo indications and not push ahead; even in this movement, he adds 'surtout sans presser' midway through. Poulenc felt that, as a composer slows down in his advancing years, so too do his tempi. 31. See note 15 above. 32. This seminal piece, completed just before Poulenc began work on Dialogues, is another serious, often dissonant work which, though often overlooked and infrequently performed, is crucial to understanding the mature Poulenc, the Poulenc I call 'serene'. 33. It is worth recalling at this point that Sept Répons des ténèbres was to have been premiered by Bernstein. 34. In a letter to Yvonne Gouverné concerning Sécheresses, written in May 1938, Poulenc states: 'What I would never have conceded to Eluard or to Apollinaire oh! irony - I conceded to James ... because he paid me for the work. I wanted him to be happy. You saw the result.' See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 38-4, p. 460; trans. Correpondence (ed. Buckland), letter 138, p. 114. RAYMONDELINOSSIER 129 Notes 1. This essay is dedicated to the memory of Raymond Latarjet (1911-98) with whom I had enthralling conversations about French literature and, above all, about his aunt, Raymonde Linossier. The title is a quote from Malherbe: 'Belle âme qui fus mon flambeau'. See above, p. 95. 2. Yvonne Lançon was at that time regional delegate for 'Jeunesses musicales de France' at the Académie Drômoise. 3. Lançon, Yvonne (1963), 'Au cimetière de Valence, Raymonde Linossier dort avec dans ses doigts le manuscrit des "Biches" de Francis Poulenc', in Le Dauphiné Libéré, Wednesday 13 March, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 4. Fargue, Léon-Paul (1932), 'Une Violette noire', D'après Paris; Le Piéton de Paris followed by D'après Paris (1932-39), Paris: Gallimard, collection Soleil, 1964, pp. 235-7. 5. Letter from Poulenc to Marie-Blanche de Polignac [November 1943], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 43-14, p. 548. 6. Adrienne Monnier (1892-1955), owner of the celebrated bookshop La Maison des Amis des Livres, publisher and author of collections of poetry and chronicles. 7. Soupault, Philippe ( 1980), unpublished interview with Catherine Labrusse, great grand-niece of Raymonde Linossier, 8 July, ms, notes taken by C. Labrusse, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 8. Monnier, Adrienne ( 1930), 'Raymonde Linossier' in Les Nouvelles littéraires, 25 April, reprinted in 1953, Les Gazettes, Paris: Julliard, and in 1960, Rue de l'Odéon, Paris: Albin Michel, pp. 67-74. References henceforth will relate to the latter edition. 9. Henri Hoppenot ( 1891 -1977), French poet and diplomat. 10. Extract from a letter from Henri Hoppenot to Adrienne Monnier, Santiago, 11 March 1923, in Mousli, Béatrice (éd.) (1997), Correspondance Adrienne Monnier & Henri et Hélène Hoppenot, Paris: Editions des Cendres. 11. Soupault 1980, interview with Catherine Labrusse. See note 7. 12. André Spire ( 1868-1966), senior civil servant and poet. 13. See note 8. 14. Extract from an unpublished letter from André Spire to Adrienne Monnier, 20 August 1954, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 15. Extract from a letter from Poulenc to Adrienne Monnier [29 December 1953], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 53-35, p. 778. 16. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 65. 17. Poulenc, Francis, 'Lorsque je suis mélancolique' in Le Souvenir d'Adrienne Monnier, Mercure de France, January, p. 72. 18. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 66. 19. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, Thursday [summer 1930], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 30-9, pp. 325-6. 20. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, 30 December 1954, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 54-39, p. 813. 21. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 66. 130 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 22. Poulenc, Francis (1956), 'Lorsque je suis mélancolique'. See n. 17. 23. Adrienne Monnier was in a position to date events fairly precisely by referring to the notebooks in which she recorded sales in her bookshop, and in which she very often noted between brackets the name of the purchaser. 24. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 67. 25. Letter from Poulenc to Adrienne Monnier, Nazelles, 21 May 1923, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-12, p. 193. 26. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 68. 27. She does, however, mention it twice, in the same terms. The first time in 1930 in 'Raymonde Linossier', and again in 'Souvenirs de l'autre guerre', Gazette des Amis des Livres, January 1940, reprinted in Rue de l'Odéon, p. 60: 'This was where Poulenc's Rapsodie nègre was first performed.' 28. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 10-1, pp. 47-8. See also Chimènes, 'Poulenc and his patrons: social convergences', Chapter 9, this volume. 29. Georges Linossier, 1857-12 November 1923; Marie-Anne Linossier, née Céas, 1865-7 October 1917. 30. Georges Linossier was the author of L'Hygiène du Dyspeptique, published by Masson in 1900, in the collection La Bibliothèque d'hygiène thérapeutique, directed by Dr Proust. In September 1904, Marcel Proust wrote to him to ask for some advice on his health, beginning: 'I do not know whether you will recall that in happier times my father, Dr Proust, introduced me to you.' Eventually, after twelve pages of details and questions, Marcel Proust gave up the idea of sending his letter and it was found among his papers after his death. This information and the quotation are taken from letter 134, Marcel Proust to Georges Linossier and the annotations to this same letter in Kolb, Philip (ed.) (1978), Correspondance de Marcel Proust, 1904, vol. IV, Paris: Plon, pp. 248-54. Dr Linossier also collaborated in a treatise, Traité des maladies de l'estomac, published in 1905, with, among others, a contribution from Dr Maurice Soupault (d. 1904), the father of Philippe Soupault. This would explain the connection between Raymonde Linossier and the writer Philippe Soupault (1897-1990). 31. Private collection. Quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 289, n. 4. 32. Suzanne Latarjet (née Linossier), 1886-1962. 33. Andre Latarjet, 1877-1947. 34. See Chimènes, 'Poulenc and his patrons: social convergences', Chapter 9, this volume. 35. See Schmidt, p. 248. 36. Letter from Suzanne Latarjet to Adrienne Monnier, Lyon 16 May 1930, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 37. Alice Ardoin (née Linossier), 1893-1964. 38. Unpublished letter from Alice Ardoin to Léon-Paul Fargue, no date (mid or end 1930), Léon-Paul Fargue Archives. Alice Ardoin was planning to publish an anthology to the memory of Raymonde Linossier. The text by Léon-Paul Fargue, 'Une Violette noire', and by Philippe Soupault, 'Raymonde Linossier à la faculté de droit' (ms Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet) were also to be included. Phalange, to which Alice Ardoin refers in this letter, was ajournai published in Paris, founded by Jean Royere in 1906. 39. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes). 40. Hell, Henri ( 1958), Francis Poulenc, musicien français, Paris: Pion. RAYMONDE LINOSSIER 131 41. See letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, 30 December 1954, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 54-39, p. 813. 42. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 14. In this edition, Renaud Machart indicates, with the use of square brackets, phrases deleted by Poulenc when preparing his manuscript for publication. 43. Poulenc 1956, 'Lorsque je suis mélancolique'. See n. 17. 44. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 54. 45. The examples given here are cited by Myriam Chimènes in Correspondance. The dedications appear in order on the following works: Piano reduction of the finale of the Concert Champêtre; Chansons gaillardes; Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone; Le Gendarme incompris, manuscript of the version with piano accompaniment, including indications for the orchestration. 46. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 25-9, p. 257. 47. BnF Mus, quoted by Myriam Chimènes in Correspondance. 48. Private collection. Quoted by Myriam Chimènes in Correspondance. 49. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 25-9, pp. 255-7; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 76-8. 50. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-21, p. 796; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 219. 51. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 28. 52. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-1, p. 320. 53. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, May 1930 [Granada], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-8, p. 325. 54. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin [summer 1930], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-9, p. 325. 55. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-14, p. 330. 56. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, Noizay, Thursday [9 October 1930], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-13, p. 329. The 'anthology' referred to is that described in note 38. 57. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 17. 58. Noizay, Thursday [9 October 1930], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-13, p. 329. 59. Les poésies de Malherbe, edited by Philippe Martinon, Paris: Classiques Gamier, p. 149. 60. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin [30 May 1930], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 30-8, p. 325. 61. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), n. 3, p. 329. 62. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 29. 63. Ibid., p. 28. 64. Letter from Alice Ardoin to Poulenc [Paris, August 1942], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 42-5, p. 519. 65. Monnier, Adrienne (1953), 'A l'Opéra avec Francis Poulenc', in Les Gazettes, Paris: Julliard. 66. Ibid. 67. [September 1942], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 42-16, p. 528. 68. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 53-35, p. 778; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 215. 69. Poulenc 1956, 'Lorsque je suis mélancolique ...'. See n. 17. 132 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 54. Ibid., p. 55. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 28-4, pp. 287-90. See above, p. 112, on 'Bibism'. BnF Mus, quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 319, n. 2. BnF Mus, quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 331, n. 1. See above, letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, 21 July 1928, p. 98. Unpublished postcard from Poulenc, signed also by Raymonde Linossier, to Adrienne Monnier, no date but probably 1929, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. Letter from Poulenc to Marie-Blanche de Polignac [28 October 1943], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 43-12, p. 546. Letter from Poulenc to Alice Ardoin, April 1957, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 57-17, p. 868. See above, p. 94 concerning his * funereal style'. Rough draft of one of the handwritten versions of Sylvia Beach's memoirs, Shakespeare and Company. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. Sylvia Beach (1887-1962) had opened a bookshop/lending-library in 1919, Shakespeare and Company, modelled on Adrienne Monnier's bookshop, but for English and American authors. It was first situated at 8 Rue Dupuytren, but in 1922 she moved opposite Adrienne Monnier's La Maison des Amis des Livres, 12,Ruedel'Odéon. Extract from an unpublished letter from Sylvia Beach to Adrienne Monnier, IMEC (Institut Mémoires de l'édition contemporaine), Paris. Beach, Sylvia (1956, 1959), Shakespeare and Company, London: Faber and Faber, p. 157. Beach, Sylvia, rough draft for Shakespeare and Company. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. Ibid. Soupault, Philippe, interview with Catherine Labrusse. See note 7. The following information was provided by Monsieur Ozanam, archivist of the Ordre des Avocats: whilst admission to the Ordre des Avocats usually takes place five years after admission to the bar, Raymonde Linossier requested her admission to the Paris bar a year late, in January 1926. Her admission was therefore registered retrospectively, as from January 1921. See above, pp. 112-14. Beach 1956, pp. 157-8. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. Linossier, Raymonde, 'Souvenez-vous! Vous comprendrez', réponse des jeunes femmes françaises aux jeunes femmes allemandes, ms, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. Bard, Christine ( 1993), Les féminismes en France. Vers l'intégration des femmes dans la cité. 1914-1940. Doctoral thesis, directed by Michèle Perrot, Université de Paris VII, Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand, p. 61. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 70. RAYMONDE LINOSSIER 133 95. Zamacoïs, Miguel (1926), 'Les femmes en robe', in Le Gaulois, 19 January. 96. Interview with Mme Kempf, wife of the president of the Tribunal de Commerce. No date, no heading. Catherine Labrusse Archives. 97. Raymonde Linossier had in fact been working at the museum 'in an informal capacity' for two years before being officially recognised as an 'unsalaried temporary attaché' according to the terms of the decree of 9 November 1925. This information was kindly provided by the curator of the library of the Musée national des Arts Asiatiques-Guimet. 98. Linossier, Raymonde (1928), 'Mythologie du Bouddhisme dans l'Inde', Mythologie asiatique illustrée, Paris: Libraire de France, bd Saint-Germain, pp. 29-67. A copy, no. 2 on Madagascar paper, exists in the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 99. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odèon, p. 71. 100. Grousset, René (1930), 'Raymonde Linossier' in Les Débats, 3 February. 101. Etudes d'Orientalisme (1932), published on behalf of the Musée Guimet, in memory of Raymonde Linossier, Paris: Librairie Ernest Leroux, 28 Rue Bonaparte. 102. Unpublished, undated letter from René Grousset to Alice Ardoin, probably written just after the death of Raymonde Linossier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 103. Lalou, Marcelle ( 1932), Introduction to Etudes d'Orientalisme', n. 101. 104. Unpublished letter from René Grousset to Alice Ardoin, 20 February 1932, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 105. See above, pp. 109-12. 106. Linossier, Raymonde, Oeuvre des FOU-JI-TA, typescript, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 107. Monnier, Adrienne 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odèon, p. 66. 108. For the text of Bibi-la-Bibiste, see Appendix, pp. 138-9. 109. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odèon, pp. 66-7. 110. McDougall, Richard (1976), The Very Rich Hours of Adrienne Monnier, New York: Scribners and (1996) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, p. 459. For further dimensions of 'Bibism' see above, pp. 109-12. 111. Unpublished letter from Ezra Pound, addressed to Les Soeurs X 'Shakespeare et Cie', 8 rue Dupuytren, Paris, written in French on paper headed The Dial, dated London 28 July 1920, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 112. The Little Review, 1920, vol. VII, no. 3. British Library. 113. Unpublished letter from Raymonde Linossier to Sylvia Beach, Sunday 30 May [1920]. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 114. Could this have been the embryo of Poulenc's Rapsodie nègrel 115. Soupault, Philippe, Raymonde Linossier à la faculté de droit, ms, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 116. Linossier, Raymonde (1919), 'La revue des revues' in Littérature, no. 1, March. 117. Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 118. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 119. Beach 1956, p. 159. 120. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odèon, p. 68. 134 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 121. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Souvenirs de l'autre guerre', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 48. 122. Monnier, Adrienne, Rue de l'Odéon, p. 70. 123. Letter from Poulenc to Adrienne Monnier, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 18-20, pp. 78-80. 124. Unpublished letter from Poulenc to Sylvia Beach, no date. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 125. Unpublished letter from Raymonde Linossier to Adrienne Monnier, no date, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 126. Private Collection. Quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 289, n. 12. 127. Rapsodie nègre, London: Chester; Paris: Rouart, Lerolle & Cie, 1917, dedicated to Erik Satie - catalogue no. 81, Les Argonautes (rue de Seine), no date, AS. 128. Letter from Poulenc to Adrienne Monnier, Villeneuve-La-Grande, Aube, Saturday 18 December 1918, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 18-20, pp. 79-80. This letter was written while Poulenc was serving in an anti-aircraft division during the war and was missing Paris and his friends. 129. Unpublished postcard, the only known correspondence co-signed by Poulenc and Raymonde Linossier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 130. Extract from an unpublished letter from Raymonde Linossier to Adrienne Monnier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 131. Monnier, Adrienne, * Souvenirs de l'autre guerre', Rue de l'Odéon, pp. 47-8. 132. Doctor Thérèse Bertrand-Fontaine was the first woman to pass the examinations for the position of 'chef de clinique' in 1928, and the first woman doctor in the Hôpitaux de Paris in 1930. Her friend and sister-in-law Jacqueline Fontaine was the daughter of Arthur Fontaine (1860-1931), eminent man of letters who organised many readings at his home. Léon-Paul Fargue, for example, read Valéry's La Jeune Parque there in 1917. 133. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Souvenirs de l'autre guerre', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 49. 134. Ibid., pp. 48-9. 135. Issue no. 8, November 1922, devoted to Valéry Larbaud. 136. Unpublished letter, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 137. See, for example, Fargue's Poésies, and especially Ludions. 'La chanson du chat' is a phonetic declension of the term 'potasson': Potaçao, potasseau, potacé, Pot-à-C, etc. 138. Extract from an unpublished letter [Lyon, 16 V 30], Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 139. Unpublished letter to Adrienne Monnier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 140. Lemaître, Solange (1956), 'Parler d'Adrienne ...', Le Souvenir d'Adrienne Monnier, Mercure de France, January. 141. Unpublished, undated letter, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 142. Unpublished postcard, St Just, 2 August 1928, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 143. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier*, Rue de l'Odéon, p. 69. 144. The reference here is to La Musique chinoise, by Louis Laloy (1912) and possibly to La musique et les musiciens by Lavignac. The first and last titles have not been identified. 145. In 1918 Linossier bought three copies oîPoèmes, on 11 November, 29 November and 9 December, and one Tancrède. In 1919, she bought six copies of Poèmes, on 17 January, 20 February and 5 May, and three on 11 February 1919. On 15 April of the following year, she bought a luxury edition of Poèmes and Pour RAYMONDE LINOSSIER 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. 135 la musique. The above information derives from the sales ledgers and index cards relating to loans from La Maison des Amis des Livres, currently housed at IMEC. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 69. Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. A handwritten copy of this poem exists in the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. The poem appeared again in Sous la lampe (1930), Paris: Gallimard. Fargue, Léon-Paul (1932), 'Une Violette noire', D'après Paris; Le Piéton de Paris followed by D'Après Paris (1932-39), Paris: Gallimard, collection Soleil, 1964. Unpublished letter dated 4 September 1920. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. Unpublished letter postmarked 7 October 1924, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. Satie had taken umbrage at the enthusiastic reception given to Auric and Poulenc by the critic Louis Laloy, whom he detested. He saw the growing friendship between his disciples and Laloy as a personal betrayal, and thereafter became estranged from the two younger composers. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 25-9, pp. 255-7; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 76-8. The following extracts are from unpublished, undated letters from Raymonde Linossier to Adrienne Monnier in the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet: 'A woman is screaming from the other side of the Rue Reynaldo Hann [sic]\ To take revenge I'm hammering out Satie's love poems on the tin pot that serves me as apiano.' 'A young girl from Montpellier came to play music with me this morning. Poor Satie, poor Parade! it was both comical and heartbreaking. I play four-hand pieces with my little nephews. When I think that only two days ago I was listening to Petrouchka!' This is clear from the card-index relating to loans from the lending library at Shakespeare and Company, housed in the Princeton University Library. Sylvia Beach made literary history when, in 1922, she published James Joyce's Ulysses - at that time banned in every English-speaking country - under the imprint of her American bookshop in Paris, Shakespeare and Company. Beach 1956, p. 74. James Joyce's letters to Sylvia Beach, J920-1940 (ed. Banta, Melissa and Silvermann, Oscar A) (1987), Plantin Paperbacks, Letter 1. Letters ofJames Joyce (ed. Gilbert, Stuart) ( 1957), London: Faber and Faber, pp. 157-8. Ibid., p. 154. Ibid., p. 159. Beach 1956, p. 74. Postcard dated 9 April 1921, Letters of James Joyce (ed. Ellmann, Richard) (1966), London: Faber and Faber, p. 40. Letter dated 10 April 1921, Letters of James Joyce (ed. Gilbert, Stuart) (1957), London: Faber and Faber, p. 161. Beach 1956, p. 157. Joyce, James (first unlimited edition 1937; this edition 1954), Ulysses, London: The Bodley Head, p. 502. 136 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 168. Editor's comment on p. 7 of the 1991 edition of Bibi-la-Bibiste, Paris: La Violette Noire. 169. Soupault, Philippe, interview with Catherine Labrusse. See note 7. 170. Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 171. Unpublished letter from Raymonde Linossier to Sylvia Beach, Sunday 30 May. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 172. Ibid. 173. Beauté mon beau souci, one of three novels in the collection by Valéry Larbaud, Amants, heureux amants (1923), Paris: Gallimard. 174. Unpublished letter from Raymonde Linossier to Adrienne Monnier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 175. The initials stand for the Révérend Père Léon-Paul Fargue. 176. Unpublished letter to Adrienne Monnier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 177. Ibid. 178. Letter to Adrienne Monnier, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 18-20, pp. 78-9. 179. Unpublished letter to Adrienne Monnier, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 180. Unpublished letter. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 181. Extract from an unpublished letter, 25 August [1920 or 1923], IMEC. 182. Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 183. Ibid. 184. Unpublished letter dated 25 January 1956. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 185. Unpublished letter from Maurice Saillet to Francis Poulenc, 11 August 1955, BnF Mus. 186. La Fleur de Nézondet was a flower invented by Léon-Paul Fargue which was used as a theme for a tapestry by Marie Monnier, exhibited in 1927 at La Maison des Amis des Livres. 187. Unpublished letter. Dossier Marie Monnier-Bécat, IMEC, Paris. 188. Unpublished letter. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 189. In a letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Poulenc wrote: 'Les Animaux is the proof that I celebrate my deaths without terror.' Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 546. 190. Poulenc, Francis (1956), * Lorsque je suis mélancolique'. See n. 17. 191. Thérèse Bertrand-Fontaine and Jacqueline Fontaine were both considered to be Potassons. See above, pp. 112-13 and n. 132. 192. Unpublished letter. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 193. Unpublished letter, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 194. Unpublished letter dated 25 January. Papers of Sylvia Beach. Manuscripts Division. Dept of Rare Books and Special Collections. Princeton University Library. 195. Unpublished letter dated 1 March 1960. Ibid. 196. Unpublished letter dated 22 February 1961 or 1962. Ibid. 197. Ibid. 198. Unpublished letter dated 1 March 1960. Ibid. 199. The dedication in French reads: à R.L., offerte et insaisissable. Letter from RAYMONDE LINOSSIER 137 Henri Hoppenot to Adrienne Monnier, Santiago, 11 March 1923. See note 10. 200. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 68. 201. Unpublished letter, no date [beginning of 1931], Léon-Paul Fargue Archives. 202. Soupault, Philippe, 'Raymonde Linossier à la faculté de droit', ms, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 203. Ibid. 204. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-14, p. 896. 205. Extract from an unpublished letter dated Wednesday [6 May 1930], Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. 206. Monnier, Adrienne, 'Raymonde Linossier', Rue de l'Odéon, p. 71. 207. McDougall 1976; 1996, p. 459. 208. Extract from an unpublished letter, no date, Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 172 Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 21. Ibid. Bernacl977,p.97. Quoted in Hell 1978, p. 137. Hell 1978, p. 143. Burgos, Jean (1982), 'Eluard ou les rituels de régénération' in Pour une poétique de l'imaginaire, Paris: Seuil, p. 331. Breton, André (1965), Premier Manifeste du Surréalisme (¡924), Paris: Pauvert, p. 27. Breton, André (1965), Second Manifeste du Surréalisme (1930), Paris: Pauvert, p. 154. Quoted in 'Hommage à Francis Poulenc', Bulletin de la Phonothèque Nationale (January-March 1963), special supplement, p. 13. Letter to Bernac, 24 June [1944], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 44-4, p. 554; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 135. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 39. Moi et mes amis, p. 62. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 94. Rostand, Claude (1963), 'Francis Poulenc - hier et demain' in Le Figaro littéraire, 1 February. Sams, Jeremy (1991), 'Secrets of Friendship' in Times Literary Supplement, 29 November, p. 8. interview with Breton and Eluard on Czech Radio, Prague, 9 April 1935. Text in Eluard, Oeuvres Complètes (1968), Paris: Gallimard, vol. II, p. 1029 and note p. 1314. Fragment from Blason dédoré de mes rêves written in 1952 shortly before Eluard's death. Eluard intended to make important corrections to the text and the poem is generally considered to be unfinished. Eluard, Oeuvres complètes, vol. II, p. 685. Eluard was born Eugène-Emile-Paul Grindel. The name Eluard was that of his maternal grandmother, which he adopted when he began to publish his poems. Gateau, Jean-Charles (1988), Paul Eluard ou Le Frère voyant, Paris: Laffont, p. 14. See Lewis, Jill (1996), Introduction to Paul Eluard: Unbroken Poetry II, (trans. Gilbert Bowen), Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books, p. 13. See Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 107-9. Gateau, Jean-Charles (1994), Paul Eluard: Capitale de la douleur, Paris: Gallimard, p. 53. See also Gateau 1988, p. 12. Gateau 1988, p. 12. Gateau 1994, p. 53. Bernac 1977, p. 30. Roy, Claude (1993), La Conversation des poètes, Paris: Gallimard, pp. 153-4. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 44-16, p. 573; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 142. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 43-4, p. 539; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 132. ELUARD, POULENC AND TEL JOUR TELLE NUIT 173 29. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 48-2, p. 646; Correspondence (ed. Buckland),p. 171. 30. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 26. 31. See Moi et mes amis, p. 18 and Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 891. 32. Quoted in Gateau 1988, p. 20. 33. Littérature, 1922, 1 April, no. 2. Reprinted in Le Poète et son ombre, p. 19. 34. Eluard, Donner à voir in Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 943. 35. Among those who illustrated Eluard's poetry - and also those whose paintings and drawings were 'illustrated' by his poems - were Man Ray, Max Ernst, Magritte, Dali, Chagall, Chirico, Miró, Léger, Marcoussis, Jean Hugo, André Beaudin, André Lhote, Valentine Hugo, Roland Penrose, Picasso, E. L. T. Mesens, Hans Bellmer, Henri Laurens, Oscar Dominguez, Gérard Vulliamy and Stanley William Hayter. 36. Lewis 1996, p. 35. 37. The artists who featured in Voir were the following: Picasso, Chagall, Gris, Villon, Léger, Klee, Braque, Chirico, Ernst, Miró, Tanguy, Masson, Beaudin, Man Ray, Magritte, Dali, Roland Penrose, Léonor Fini, Valentine Hugo, Balthus, Delvaux, Dora Maar, Dominguez, Ubac, Labisse, Cicero Dias, Jean Fautrier, Humphrey Jennings, Dubuffet, Hayter, Vulliamy, Chastel. 38. See Eluard, Oeuvres complètes, vol. II, p. 1086. 39. 'Le Travail du peintre* is the title of a sequence of seven poems dedicated to Picasso in Eluard's 1946 volume Poésie ininterrompue and reproduced in 1948 in Voir. Poulenc set the first poem, beginning 'Entoure ce citron de blanc d'œuf informe' as the opening song of his song cycle, to which he gave the title Le Travail du peintre. 40. Poulenc gave a talk on 7 March 1935, entitled 'Mes Maîtres et mes amis', published in Conferencia, 15 October 1935. 41. See Wharton, Marjorie, 'Nogent music: Poulenc and Dufy', Chapter 6, this volume. 42. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 61-17, p. 980; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 285. 43. 'Francis Poulenc par lui-même'. Talk by Poulenc given at the Club des trois Centres on 10 January 1962, preserved on cassette issued by Les Amis de Francis Poulenc, Paris, 1988, with the collaboration of Pierre Vidal and Studio Voxigrave. 44. See '"All my pleasure is in making new discoveries." Francis Poulenc visits American museums of art', Chapter 7, this volume. 45. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 46. See also pp. 45-8. 46. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 43-7, p. 542; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 133. 47. Gateau 1988, p. 159. 48. Moi et mes amis, p. 135. 49. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 93. 50. Eluard is responsible for the following titles among Poulenc's works: Miroirs brûlants', Teljour telle nuit', La Fraîcheur et le few, Le Travail du peintre', Figure humaine', and the ballet Les Animaux modèles. 51. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 50-33, p. 699; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 186. 52. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand pp. 17-18, and p. 135. See also Kayas, Lucie, 174 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 'Francis Poulenc - disc jockey', Chapter 14 and Wharton, Marjorie, 'Nogent music: Poulenc and Dufy', Chapter 6, this volume. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 135. See Kayas, Lucie, Chapter 14, this volume. Joë Bousquet (1897-1950) was wounded during World War I, in 1918. He remained paralysed until his death in 1950, spending 32 years confined to his bed, in a darkened room, often in extreme pain. Eluard began a correspondence with him in 1928, which continued until the outbreak of World War II. His Lettres à Joë Bousquet, with a preface and notes by Lucien Scheler, was published in 1973 in Paris by Les Editeurs Français Réunis. Ibid., letter from Eluard to Bousquet, p. 57. Ibid., p. 62. Ibid., p. 68. Ibid., p. 56. Poulenc, Francis (1935), 'Mes Maîtres et mes amis' in Conferencia, 15 October. Journal de mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 16. See Waleckx, Denis, 'In search of a libretto', Chapter 10, this volume. See Robert, Sophie, 'Raymonde Linossier: "Lovely soul who was my flame'", Chapter 3, this volume. In conversation with Stéphane Audel, Poulenc states: 'I met Eluard in 1917, at the same time as Aragon and Breton' {Moi et mes amis, p. 61). Similarly, he tells Claude Rostand that he met Eluard in 1917: 'I had been an admirer of Eluard's since the day I met him, in 1917, at Adrienne Monnier's bookshop in the Rue de l'Odéon. It was there that I also met Breton and Aragon' {Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 93). Some years later, in a further conversation with Stéphane Audel, he gives the date of their meeting as 1916: 'I met Eluard in 1916.1 was then 17 and Paul was three or four years older.' He again specifies that the meeting took place at Adrienne Monnier's bookshop: 'One afternoon in 1916, three young men whose names I barely knew crossed the threshold of the bookshop: they were André Breton, Paul Eluard and Louis Aragon.' Poulenc describes their attire, their army uniforms, their general demeanour, Breton with his impressive leonine manner, Aragon rosy-cheeked and fair-haired, with his gift of the gab and his irreverence, and Eluard who 'listened in silence and observed with a kind of loving indolence' {Moi et mes amis, pp. 131-2). While the atmosphere of his meeting with Eluard remained vividly with Poulenc for some forty years, the accuracy of the details is doubtful. In the first place, the year 1916 can be ruled out since Poulenc himself did not visit the bookshop until October 1917. (See Robert, Sophie, Chapter 3, this volume.) A further point is that Eluard could not have visited the bookshop in the company of Breton and Aragon either in 1916 or 1917, as his own historic first meeting with Breton, Aragon and Soupault did not take place until March 1919. This meeting is well documented: the poet Jean Paulhan had advised Breton to write to Eluard, whom he did not yet know, requesting a poem for the recently launched review Littérature. Breton wrote on 4 March 1919, and on the following Saturday, Breton and Eluard met at the Hôtel des Grand Hommes, Place du Panthéon. Aragon and Soupault were also at this meeting. (See Gateau 1988, pp. 74-6 and Lewis 1996, p. 13.) A study of the account books and registers of La Maison des Amis des Livres shows that Aragon became a subscriber to the lending section of the ELUARD, POULENC AND TEL JOUR TELLE NUIT 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 175 bookshop on 12 Feburary 1916 and Breton on 17 April 1916. But these events were independent of each other, as Breton and Aragon themselves only met in October 1917, both serving in the war in their medical capacities. (See Gateau 1988, p. 76.) The first mention in the registers of Eluard - and this under his real name of Grindel - is on 19 January 1918. (Adrienne Monnier's registers are housed at IMEC, Institut Mémoires de l'édition contemporaine, Paris.) It is therefore possible that Poulenc, who had been frequenting the bookshop with Raymonde Linossier since October 1917, encountered Breton, Aragon and Eluard there independently and, with the passage of time, compressed the image into a joint encounter. It is also possible, and to my mind more probable, that his memory of the three poets crossing the threshold together dated from 1919, for it was in that year that Eluard, Breton and Aragon first became involved in collaborative activity. Moi et mes amis, p. 133. Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 19. Roy, Claude (1993), La Conversation des poètes, Paris: Gallimard, pp. 150-51. Gouverné, Yvonne (1974), 'Hommage à Francis Poulenc' in Poulenc et Rocamadour, Zodiac, pp. 16 and 21. Lee Miller (1907-77) was the co-inventor with Man Ray of the solarisation technique in photography. She later became war correspondent for Vogue. She married Roland Penrose in 1947. See Penrose, Antony (1985), The Lives of Lee Miller, London: Thames and Hudson. Ibid., pp. 75-6. See particularly Eluard's volume A Pablo Picasso (1944), published in the collection 'Les Grands Peintres par leurs amis'. (Eluard, Oeuvres Complètes, vol. I, pp. 1653-5.) Eluard, Paul (1984), Lettres à Gala, Paris: Gallimard, p. 263. The First International Surrealist Exhibition opened in London at the New Burlington Gallery on 11 June 1936. A total of 2000 people were reputed to have attended that day. See Gateau 1988, p. 234. Eluard, Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, pp. 513-21. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-18, p. 425. Ibid., letter 36-15, p. 420. Rostand 1954, p. 107. Gouverné 1974, p. 21. Eluard, 'Au-delà de la peinture' in Donner à voir, Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 945. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-5 p. 412; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 105. Although Eluard and Gala were officially divorced in 1932, his letters to her throughout the 1930s and 1940s bear testimony to the continuing passion of their attachment. See Eluard, Paul, Lettres à Gala, Paris: Gallimard, 1984. See Gateau 1988, p. 175. Eluard, Poésie ininterrompue in Oeuvres complètes, vol. II, p. 35: 'Par toi je vais de la lumière à la lumière / De la chaleur à la chaleur / C'est par toi queje parle et tu restes au centre / De tout comme un soleil consentant au bonheur.' Poulet, Georges (1964), Etudes sur le temps humain, vol. 3, Paris: Librairie Pion, Editions du Rocher, p. 160. 176 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 85. Facile in Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 459: 'Femme tu mets au monde un corps toujours pareil / Le tien / Tu es la ressemblance.' 86. Ibid., p. 460: T u prends la place de chacun et ta réalité est infinie.' 87. Ibid., p. 465: 'Nue dans l'ombre et nue éblouie / Comme un ciel frissonnant d'éclairs / Tu te livres à toi-même / pour te livrer aux autres.' 88. Ibid., p. 466: 'Et dans ma tête qui se met doucement d'accord avec la tienne avec la nuit / Je m'émerveille de l'inconnue que tu deviens / Une inconnue semblable à toi semblable à tout ce que j'aime / Qui est toujours nouveau.' 89. Ibid., p. 460: 'Multiple tes yeux divers et confondus / Font fleurir les miroirs / Les couvrent de rosée de givre de pollen / Les miroirs spontanés où les aubes voyagent / Où les horizons s'associent.' 90. Lewis 1996, p. 23. 91. 'L'harmonisation des contraires'. See Burgos 1982, p. 333. 92. Ibid., p. 344. 93. Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 22. 94. See Bernac 1977; Hell 1978; Daniel 1982; Mellers 1993; Machart 1995; and Johnson, Graham and Stokes, Richard, A French Song Companion, publication Spring 2000, OUP. 95. See Lettres à Gala, letter 31, March 1936, p. 262. See also Gateau 1988, p. 232. 96. Les Yeux fertiles in Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 499. 97. The manuscript was sent, together with a letter from Paul and Nusch Eluard dated Barcelona, 23 February 1936, to Valentine Hugo with a view to her illustrating the poem. See Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 1480. 98. Burgos 1982, p. 362. 99. 'Au cours des années je t'ai retrouvée / O présence indéfinie / Volume espace de l'amour / Multiplié'. Poésie ininterrompue in Oeuvres complètes, vol. II, pp. 47-8. 100. Hell 1978, p. 142. 101. Feeling that Les Yeux fertiles was too visual a title for a song cycle, Poulenc had requested other titles from Eluard. The poet replied with the following propositions: Tout dire (Saying it all), Tel jour telle nuit (As is the day, so is the night), Aussi loin que l'amour (As far as love), and Paroles peintes (Painted words). Eluard himself favoured the latter. The fourth title,' he wrote, 'which seems to preclude music, might for this very reason create a quite striking effect.' Poulenc, however, chose Teljour telle nuit. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 37-1, p. 440; Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 109. 102. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 60-16, p. 951. 103. Eluard, Donner à voir in Oeuvres complètes, vol. I, p. 971 : Tout est comparable à tout, tout trouve son écho, sa raison, sa ressemblance, son opposition, son devenir partout. Et ce devenir est infini.' POULENC AND DUFY 195 Notes 1. See Perez-Tibi, Dora ( 1989), Dufy (trans. Shaun Whiteside), New York: Abrams, p. 311: The conception of an illustrated bestiary was planned in 1906 by Apollinaire and Picasso who, after sketching two figures, the figure of The Chicken and that of The Eagle, abandoned this project.' Perez-Tibi gives a further reference to this matter: Apollinaire, Oeuvres poétiques, text edited and annotated by Marcel Adéma and Michel Décaudin (1956), Paris: Gallimard, 'La Pléiade', p. 1027. 2. Lassaigne, Jacques (1954), Dufy (trans. James Emmons), Geneva: Skira, pp. 29-30. 3. See Robert, Sophie, 'Raymonde Linossier: "Lovely soul who was my flame'", Chapter 3, this volume. 4. The further six poems which Poulenc set but did not include in Le Bestiaire were: La Tortue, Le Serpent, La Mouche, La Puce, La Colombe, Le Boeuf. Poulenc published 'La Puce' in 1960 as part of a homage to Dufy compiled by Marcelle Oury. 'Le Serpent' and 'La Colombe' exist in manuscript form, entitled 'Deux mélodies inédites du Bestiaire'. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letters 19-10, 19-11 and 19-13, pp. 90-93, and letter 60-9, p. 946-7; see also Schmidt, pp. 3 8 ^ 4 . 5. In response to Claude Rostand's question: 'What is your most Dufy-like work?' Poulenc replied: 'Without doubt my valse-musette for two pianos, L'Embarquement pour Cythère, Cythère being, of course, those banks of the Marne within reach of the Paris metro.' See Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 176-7. 6. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 142. 7. Ibid., p. 176. 8. Poulenc, Journal de mes mélodies (trans. Radford), p. 109. 9. Ibid. 10. Perez-Tibi 1989, p. 140. 11. Ibid., p. 292. 12. Werner, Alfred (1970, reprinted 1987), Dufy, New York: Abrams, p. 78. 13. Christian Servas quoted by Perez-Tibi (1989), p. 76. 14. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 176. 15. Daniel, p. 52. 16. Peter Hansen quoted by Daniel, p. 52. 17. Quoted by Mellers, p. 179. 18. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 170. 19. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letters 34-6 and 34-9, pp. 397-400. 20. See preface to Moi et mes amis. 21. Jean-Michel Hayoz quoted by Daniel, p. 52. 22. Mellers, p. 8. 23. Ibid., p. 18. 24. Journal de mes mélodies (trans. Radford), p. 77. 25. Bernac, Pierre (1978), The Interpretation of French Song, New York: Norton, p. 300. 198 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. See Kayas, Lucie (1999), A bâtons rompus, écrits radiophoniques de Francis Poulenc. Textes réunis, présentés et annotés par Lucie Kayas. Arles: Actes Sud. Note from the editors: We would like to express our thanks to Lucie Kayas and her publishers for allowing us to translate and reproduce these extracts here. 2. Lucie Kayas suggests that Poulenc refers not to Bonnard, but to Léon Bonnat (1833-1922), one of the official painters of the IIIe Republic. See Kayas, 1999, op. cit, p. 226. 3. Lamiel is the hero of Stendahl's last unfinished novel. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 208 Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Moi et mes amis, p. 74. Translations are my own unless otherwise stated. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 173. Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 40. Bernac, Pierre ( 1977), Francis Poulenc: The Man and His Songs (trans. Winifred Radford), New York: Norton, p. 34. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 173-4. Ibid., pp. 174-5. Ibid., p. 175. When asked who he did not admire, he named El Greco, Van Gogh and Gauguin. Ibid., p. 172. See Elderfield, John (1984), The Drawings of Henri Matisse, New York: Thames and Hudson, p. 292. See also p. 104 for a description of the working method by which Matisse created the illustrations for this, his first illustrated book. I am extremely grateful to Jay McKean Fisher, Senior curator, prints, drawings & photographs of the Baltimore Museum of Art for his great kindness in showing me the Matisse maquette and sharing his expert knowledge of it. Etta Cone bought the maquette directly from Matisse. A brochure for the Paris exhibition can be found in the Baltimore Museum of Art (Cone Collection) which now owns Matisse's entire maquette for the Mallarmé book entitled Poésies de Stéphane Mallarmé; eaux-fortes originales de Henri-Matisse (Lausanne: Albert Skira & Cie, 1932). Skira commissioned Matisse's first illustrated book in 1930 and it was published with twenty-nine etchings in October 1932. The swan plate is opposite p. 118. The entire book is described, with illustrations, in Claude Duthuit, Henri Matisse: Catalogue raisonné des ouvrages illustrés établi avec la collaboration de Françoise Garnaud (Paris: Claude Duthuit, 1988), pp. 16-18. The thirty 'planches refusées' are described on p. 30. The Baltimore Museum of Art owns all of Matisse's working copies of this book. An exemplar at the Houghton Library of Harvard University contains a proof copy of the swan plate (see bMS Am 1892.10(14)). One of the rejected plates for the swan is reproduced in Gilles Néret, Matisse (Cologne: Taschen, 1996), p. 159. Flam, Jack (1995), Matisse on Art, rev. éd., Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, pp. 166-7. For the c. 1930 photograph, see Néret, p. 158. See my edition (Paris: Salabert, 1997). Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), pp. 19-20. POULENC AND MATISSE 209 14. Poulenc's [July 1941] letter quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 41-5, p. 510. 15. Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 56. The bracketed passage, eliminated from the first edition, has been restored in this edition. 16. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 172. 17. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 55-14, pp. 829-30. 242 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. 'Les snobs sont indispensables à la musique et aux arts.' Francis Poulenc interviewed by Francine Bloch, December 1958, Paris: Phonothèque nationale. 2. Letter to Paul Collaer, quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), Introduction, p. 29. 3. Emile Poulenc was one of the directors of a family pharmaceutical business that later became Rhône-Poulenc. 4. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 89-90. 5. Letter to Alice Ardouin [Nazelles], Saturday [21 July 1928], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 28-4, p. 288. 6. This is evident in a letter which the young Francis Poulenc's mother wrote to him from Vichy: 'We are all going to play music together with Monsieur Bourgeois (an accompanist) and the woman who was at the Opéra-Comique who will sing, as well as the Gauberts and your sister, which will be great fun. The season will close with a dinner on Monday at the doctor's and again ... a soirée musicale with Monsieur and Madame Poliakov, who are Russian and great lovers of music and who are now friends of ours and live in the same hotel.' Tuesday [summer of 1910]. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 10-1, pp. 47-8. 7. Audel, Stéphane, preface to Moi et mes amis, p. 10. 8. See letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, 1 October 1931, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-18, pp. 346-7 and above, pp. 231-2. 9. See below, note 132, and Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 82. POULENC AND HIS PATRONS 243 10. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 13. 11. Moi et mes amis, p. 40. 12. Letter to Elvira Viñes-Soto, 10 March 1949, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 49-3, p. 658; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 174. 13. Sienkiewicz, Geneviève, Ce ... et ceux quej 'ai aimés, unpublished memoirs, pp. 247-51, private collection. 14. This information was given in conversation with her daughters Barbara and Olesia Sienkiewicz and with Suzanne Peignot. 15. Sienkiewicz, Geneviève, op. cit., note 13, pp. 253-4. 16. Ibid. 17. Letter to Geneviève Sienkiewicz [Bagnoles-en-Forêt, February 1961], unpublished, private collection. 18. Letter to Geneviève Sienkiewicz, Monday [21 December 1959], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 937, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 270. 19. Tor you alone, Jacques and I will play through the first 3 movements of the Sonata.' Postcard from Poulenc to Geneviève Sienkiewicz [Rocamadour, 4 July 1953], unpublished, private collection. 20. Til expect you on the 17th ... Don't forget your piano specs, because I'll need you to work with me on Aubade and the Concerto which I'm recording.' Letter from Poulenc to Geneviève Sienkiewicz [2 September 1952], unpublished, private collection. Til be back on the 28th. Please keep the whole of Friday 30th for me, to work with me on the Champêtre which I'm playing at a Colonne concert on the 1st.' Postcard to Geneviève Sienkiewicz, Lausanne, Hôtel Beau-Rivage [January 1953], unpublished, private collection. 21. Poulenc, Francis ( 1961 ), Emmanuel Chabrier, Paris-Geneva: La Palatine. 22. Letter to Geneviève Sienkiewicz, Monday [21 December 1959], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 59-36 p. 937, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 269-70. 23. This little network was concentrated on the Plaine Monceau, in the triangle formed by the Boulevard Malesherbes, the Avenue de Villiers, and the Rue de la Terrasse, where the gardens of the various mansions met: Madame de Saint-Marceaux lived on the Boulevard Malesherbes; the Montagnacs, whose daughter Pata later married Charles de Polignac, lived in the Avenue de Villiers; and the composer Henri Février and his son Jacques in Rue de la Terrasse, as did Henriette Dumas. 24. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 39. 25. See letter from Jenny Poulenc to Francis Poulenc [Vichy], Tuesday [summer 1910], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 10-1, pp. 47-8. 26. See Robert, Sophie, 'Raymonde Linossier: "Lovely soul who was my flame'", Chapter 3, this volume. 27. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), Introduction, pp. 27-8. 28. See below, note 69. 29. Moi et mes amis, p. 178. 30. Gold, Arthur and Fizdale, Robert (1980), Misia, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, pp. 223-4 and p. 308. 31. Letter to Valentine Gross, Friday 14 [March 1919], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 19-6, pp. 87-8. 32. Letter to Diaghilev, Monday 28 April 1919, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 19-8, p. 89; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 34. 244 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 33. For a full account of this episode, see Moi et mes amis, pp. 178-9. 34. See in particular Poulenc (1935), 'Mes Maîtres et mes amis', in Conferencia, 7 March. 35. Letter from Poulenc to José-Maria Sert, undated, quoted in Gold and Fizdale (1980), p. 228. 36. Letter from Misia Sert to Poulenc, Hôtel Meurice [April 1923], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-11, p. 193. 37. See Une famille d'artistes en 1900. Les Saint-Marceaux, 'Les Dossiers du Musée d'Orsay', no. 49, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1992. 38. Letter to Madame de Saint-Marceaux, unpublished, private collection. 39. Madame de Saint-Marceaux, unpublished Diary, private collection. 40. Private collection. 41. Letter from Poulenc to Sauguet, 15 December [ 1953], quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes) p. 1012. 42. Auric, Georges ( 1979), Quand j'étais là, Paris: Grasset. 43. 'How long ago it was, that charming time Cocteau took me to your place, disguised as a private in the army!' Letter from Poulenc to Comte Etienne de Beaumont, 8 June [1954], quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 1011. 44. Letter to Comte Etienne de Beaumont, 29 January [1952], quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 1012. 45. See letter from Cocteau to Poulenc, 2 September 1918, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 18-5, p. 61 and note 2, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 26 and note 2, pp. 319-20. See also Cocteau (1989), Lettres à sa mère, vol. 1, Paris: Gallimard, pp. 416-17. 46. See letters 18-19 [December 1918]; 19-5 [2 March 1919]; 23-10, 14 April 19[23]; 23-23 [August 1923] in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes). 47. Jack in the Box performed by Marcelle Meyer and Genevieve's aria from Geneviève de Brabant, performed by Jane Bathori and Marcelle Meyer. 48. See Hugo, Jean (1983), Le Regard de la mémoire, Arles: Actes Sud/Labor, pp. 224-5. 49. Letter to Etienne de Beaumont, Nazelles, Indre-et-Loire, 14 April [1923], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-10, p. 192. Satie, for his part, composed especially for this occasion a Divertissement (La Statue retrouvée) and Ludions for Madame René Jacquemaire (the future Comtesse Jean de Polignac), with whom he gave the first performance. 50. Letter to the Comte Etienne de Beaumont, Friday, 1 o'clock [August 1923], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 23-23, p. 203. 51. The complete letters from Poulenc to Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles are preserved in the Music Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. A major part has been published in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes). 52. See Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 40. 53. Many of Poulenc's letters bear testimony to the gratitude he felt towards the Noailles for their support and friendship. 'Before leaving your house, allow me to thank you again from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful hospitality which has enabled me - at a time of life when I was no longer myself- to go back to and complete Aubade, which thereby doubly belongs to you' (Letter to Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles, 11 Place des Etats-Unis, Tuesday morning [18 June 1929]). 'You are both incomparable friends and I thank you from the deepest part of my heart for all you have done for me for weeks on end' (Letter to Marie-Laure POULENC AND HIS PATRONS 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 245 and Charles de Noailles, Tuesday morning [July 1929]). Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letters 29-12 and 29-13, p. 306. Letter to Alice Ardoin, Saint-Bernard, Hyères, Thursday [summer 1930], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 30-9, p. 325. See, for example, Poulenc's letters to Marie-Laure de Noailles, dated 2 September [1929], [11 April 1930], [16 March 1931], 14 February [1932] in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes). Letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles [Le Tremblay], 12 September [1931], unpublished, BnF Mus. See letters to Marie-Laure de Noailles [1 October 1930] in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes) and [11 April 1931], unpublished, BnF Mus: 'My main garden is taking shape. I have ravishing tulips in it at the moment. My orange trees and my myrtles are coming out tomorrow. My heart is beating very fast.' See also 'Bal des artistes', 14 February 1956, photograph disguised as Chabrier, in Fêtes mémorables et bals costumés 1922-1972, introduced by Jean-Louis de Faucigny-Lucinge (1986), Paris: Herscher, p. 83. See letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Wednesday [July 1938], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 38-8, pp. 465-6, trans. Correspondence (éd. Buckland), pp. 116-17. See letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, 2 September [1929], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 29-17, p. 310. Poulenc dedicated two songs to Marie-Laure de Noailles: 'Peut-il se reposer', the first of the Cinq poèmes d'Eluard, composed in part at Hyères in March 1935, and 'Je nommerai ton front', from Miroirs brûlants. He also gave her the manuscript of Le Gendarme incompris: 'I've recently come across this again, in my book-case. It's the manuscript of a collaboration with Jean [Cocteau] and Radiguet, which was never printed. Allow me to give it to you as a sign of loyal affection.' Letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, Saturday 30 April [1932], unpublished, BnF Mus. See letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Château du Tremblay, evening of 15 August [1936], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-15, p. 419, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 107. See Poulenc, Francis in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac ( 1965), Monaco: Jaspard, Polus et Cie, p. 90. A dedication on the score of Le Bestiaire confirms this: 'To Madame Jacquemaire, as a mark of my warm sympathy and in memory of a performance (excellent) of Le Bestiaire. Francis Poulenc. 1922'. Private collection. See also Rubinstein, Arthur (1980), Mes longues années. Grande est la vie, Paris: Robert Laffont,p. 153. A substantial correspondence bears testimony to the unfailing friendship of Poulenc for both the woman and the musician. Poulenc's letters are preserved in a private collection. A great number were published in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes). Apart from pleasure, Poulenc spent many working holidays in the country homes of the Polignacs: 'Thank you for the solitary piano, conducive to work.' See letter to Marie-Blanche and Jean de Polignac, Tuesday [31 July 1928], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 28-6, p. 290. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Monday [17 April 1939], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 39-3, p. 474, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 188. 246 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 68. Poulenc, in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac, op. cit., note 63, p. 91. 69. This requirement returns like a leitmotiv in his letters: 'Do not forget me, keep loving me a little' (Monday [August 1929]); 'Love me' (Wednesday evening [July 1931]); 'Tell me that you still love me ... Promise me that this will be a winter of perfect and daily love' (Château du Tremblay, 15 August [1936]); 'So keep loving me' (Anost, Friday [27 August 1937]); 'Love me' (Noizay, Monday [ 17 April 1939]); 'Think often of your Poupoule. Love his music, that's all I ask of you' (Noizay, Monday [28 August 1939]); T hope you still love me, me and my music' (Château du Tremblay [July 1949]), Correspondance (éd. Chimènes). 70. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Monday [August 1929], unpublished, private collection. 71. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac [November 1943], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 43-14, p. 548. 72. Poulenc dedicated a great many works to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, particularly songs: Trois poèmes de Louise Lalanne, 'Chanson bretonne' (Cinq poèmes de Max Jacob), 2e Intermezzo, 'Nous voulons une petite soeur' (Quatre chansons pour enfants), 'A toutes brides' et 'Une herbe pauvre' (Tel jour telle nuit), Trois poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin, La Grenouillère, 'La Dame d'André' (Fiançailles pour rire), 'Reine des mouettes' (Métamorphoses), Un soir de neige and Main dominée par le cœur. The Elégie for two pianos is dedicated to her memory. Poulenc dedicated the following works to Comte Jean de Polignac: 'Monsieur sans-souci' (Quatre chansons pour enfants), 'Les gars qui vont à la fête' (Chansons villageoises) and 'Fêtes galantes' (Deux poèmes de Louis Aragon). 73. See Conrad, Doda ( 1997), Dodascalies. Ma chronique du XXe siècle, Arles: Actes Sud, pp. 157-61. Georges and Nora Auric, Doda Conrad, Henri Sauguet, Jacques Février were included in the close circle. Among the foreign artists invited when they were passing through Paris, were Lily Krauss, Julius Katchen, Alexis Weissenberg and Leonard Bernstein. 74. See Une famille d'artistes en 1900. Les Saint-Marceaux, op. cit., note 37, p. 75. 75. 'It was dinner jackets and long dresses...' (Doda Conrad, op. cit., note 73, p. 157); 'Nothing could have been less affected than those soirées where music poured forth freely, unpremeditatedly, quite simply because a group of musician friends had come together. Friendship, that was the magic key to those gatherings' (Auric, Georges, in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac, op. cit., note 64); 'No affectation, no constraints hung over Marie-Blanche's soirées, during which musicians made music as much for their hostess and her guests as for their own pleasure' (Henry-Louis de la Grange, in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac, op. cit., note 63). 76. Auric, Georges, in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac, op. cit., n. 63. 77. See the corresponding page from the Polignacs' visitors' book reproduced in Hommage à Marie-Blanche de Polignac, op. cit., note 63. During this same soirée, Sauguet gave the 'pre-performance' of his Visions infernales. 78. See letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Wednesday [May 1949], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 49-6, p. 660. 79. See Chimènes, Myriam (1987), 'La Princesse de Polignac et la création musicale' in La Musique et le Pouvoir, Dufourt, Hugues and Fauquet, Joël-Marie (eds), Paris: Aux Amateurs de Livres, pp. 125-45, and Cossaert, Michael de (1978), The Food of Love, Princesse Edmond de Polignac (1865-1943) and her Salon, London: Hamish Hamilton. POULENC AND HIS PATRONS 247 80. See Pistone, Danièle (1994), * Suzanne Peignot et son époque' in Poulenc et ses amis. Revue internationale de musique française, no. 31, Paris: Honoré Champion, p. 39. 81. Private collection. 82. See Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 76. 83. See programmes for 19 December 1936 and 24 May 1939 in the Bernac Archives, Paris. 84. See Sauguet, Henri (1990), La musique, ma vie, Paris: Librairie Séguier, p. 302. The first public performance took place at a Sérénade concert on 4 February 1933. 85. Letter from Poulenc to Marie-Laure de Noailles, Noizay, 14 February [1932], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 32-3, pp. 362-4. 'Aunt Anna' was probably the poet Anna de Noailles, aunt of Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. The letter also refers to the writer Francis Careo, the painter Dunoyer de Segonzac, and Solange d'Ayen, a friend of Marie-Blanche de Polignac. 86. Moi et mes amis, p. 116. 87. This luncheon took place on Sunday 29 November 1931. On 4 December, Princesse Edmond de Polignac wrote to Poulenc: Thank you again for the delightful day I spent with you in your house which I find infinitely pleasing. It seems to me truly a wise man's house, with its charming terrace, of such sober lines, separating it from the vineyards and the road.' Quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 347, note 1. 88. 'A very lovely performance at Mme Dubost's on Sunday afternoon. Very pretty women. Huge success for Bartok.' Letter from Poulenc to Milhaud, Maundy Thursday [13 April 1922], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 22-3, p. 147. 89. See Milhaud 1987, p. 170 and Sauguet 1990, p. 254. 90. See Plaskin, Glenn ( 1985), Vladimir Horowitz, Paris: Buchet-Chastel, trans, from English by Alain Malraux. 91. The others who took part in this joint venture were Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel, Pierre-Octave Ferroud, Jacques Ibert, Roland-Manuel, Marcel Delannoy, Darius Milhaud, Georges Auric and Florent Schmitt. 92. The first public performance took place on 4 March 1929 at the Paris Opera. Poulenc's contribution consisted of a 'Pastourelle', of which the piano version became particularly popular. 93. See Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 87 and Bernac, Pierre, Entretiens avec Gérard Michel, quoted in Chimènes, Myriam (1973), Pierre Bernac, interpète et pédagogue, mémoire de maîtrise, Université de Paris, Sorbonne, p. 22. This new encounter with Bernac was to prove decisive, since it was the following year, after a concert in Salzbourg, that Bernac and Poulenc decided to form their duo. 94. Letter from Poulenc to Nora Auric, Wednesday evening [February 1932], unpublished, François Leroux collection. 95. See letter from André Bourin, 16 February 1998, Thierry Bodin collection. 96. See two letters from Poulenc to Madame Rolland de Renneville, Thursday [5 May 1927] and Saturday evening [18 June 1927], unpublished, Robert Shapiro collection. 97. Letter from Poulenc to Nora Auric, Wednesday evening [February 1932], unpublished, François Leroux collection. 98. Letter from Poulenc to Suzanne Latarjet, Noizay [November 1936], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-25, p. 433. 248 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 99. Vincent Laugier, a businessman and amateur musician who lived in Avignon. 100. Letter to Simone Girard, 9 January [1951], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 51-1, p. 700. 101. See above, pp. 236-7. 102. See letter from Poulenc to Auguste Lambiotte, Monday [2 November 1951], Donhauser-Lambiotte Archives, quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 1032. 103. August Lambiotte was the owner in particular of the manuscripts of Aubade and the Concert champêtre. See Schmidt. 104. See letter from Poulenc to Rose and Auguste Lambiotte, 1 May [1946], Donhauser-Lambiotte Archives, quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 1032. 105. Letter to Rose Lambiotte, Monday [25 October 1954], unpublished, DonhauserLambiotte Archives. 106. Letter to Simone Girard, Wednesday [October 1954], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 54-32, p. 808; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 223-4. 107. Letter to Simone and Pierre Girard, Friday [October 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-33, pp. 808-9; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 224. 108. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 164. 109. The following organisations in the USA commissioned work from Poulenc: Boston Symphony Orchestra (Concerto for piano), Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation (Sonata for flute and piano), Koussevitzky Foundation {Gloria), New York Philharmonic {Sept Répons des ténèbres). 110. 'Le bal des matières' was a ball 'where only the use of cardboard, paper, cellophane and other sorts of unusual materials was permitted'. See Faucigny-Lucinge, Jean-Louis de (1986), Fêtes mémorables et bals costumés 1922-1972, Paris: Herscher, p. 70. 111. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 164. 112. Letter to Charles de Noailles, Nazelles, 16 July [1928], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 28-2, pp. 284-6. 113. Ibid. To Claude Rostand, Poulenc painted a slightly rosier picture: 'It was my idea to compose a "choreographic concerto" simultaneously highlighting a female dancer and a pianist. My friends put at my disposal eighteen musicians, which was magnificent for a private performance, the contribution of the piano intensifying the possibilities of sound. That is how this amphibious work came about.' Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 79-80. 114. Ibid. 115. See letter from Poulenc to Charles de Noailles [March 1929], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 29-4, pp. 301-2. 116. See letter to Charles de Noailles, Saturday [c. February 1929], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 29-2, pp. 299-300. 117. See letter to Charles de Noailles [March 1929], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 29-4, pp. 301-2. 118. Faucigny-Lucinge, Jean-Louis de (1990), in Un gentilhomme cosmopolite, Mémoires, Paris: Perrin, p. 112. The first public performance of Aubade took place on 21 January 1930 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with choreography by Balanchine. POULENC AND HIS PATRONS 249 119. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 141. 120. Letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, 18 November [1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-24, p. 352. 121. Letter to Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles, Noizay, Friday [27 November 1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-25, p. 353; see also letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, 14 February [1932], ibid., letter 32-3, pp. 362-5. 122. See letter to Marie-Laure de Noailles, Noizay, Saturday [12 December 1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-28, pp. 355-8. 123. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Wednesday evening [July 1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-11, p. 341. 124. Born Jeanne de Montagnac, nicknamed Pata, she was reputed for her beauty and appreciated for the quality of her voice, endowed with a vast range. She sang in various salons, notably with Coco Madrazo. Her first marriage was to Maximilen Jaunez, with whom she had two children. Her second marriage was to Comte Charles de Polignac, brother of Comte Jean de Polignac and nephew of Princesse Edmond de Polignac. 125. Letter to Comtesse Charles de Polignac, Noizay, Thursday [13 August 1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-13, pp. 343-^4. 126. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, 24 August 1931, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-14, pp. 344-5. 127. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, Venice, 16 September 1931, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-17, p. 346. 128. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, Palazzo Polignac, 1 October 1931, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-18, pp. 346-7. 129. Princesse Edmond de Polignac attended a luncheon at Le Grand Coteau on Sunday 29 November 1931, in the company notably of Colette and Georges and Nora Auric. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 347. 130. Letter to Comtesse Charles de Polignac, Noizay, Saturday [October 1931], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 31-19, pp. 347-8. 131. The première took place on 5 September 1932 in Venice, in the concert series of the International Society of Contemporary Music, by Jacques Février and the composer, with the orchestra of La Scala, Milan, conducted by Désiré Dufauw. 132. Letter to Comtesse Charles de Polignac, Palazzo Polignac, Venezia, Thursday [8 September 1932], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 32-15, p. 372. Twenty years later, in conversation with Claude Rostand, Poulenc recounted the genesis of this commission in slightly different terms: This concerto was a commission from Princesse Edmond de Polignac for the Venice Festival of 1932. As she wanted Jacques Février and me to play in Venice, the princess had the idea of a double concerto. I was delighted by the commission and I composed the work very quickly, in two and a half months.' Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 82. 133. Letter to Princesse Edmond de Polignac, 31 December 1932, unpublished, private collection. 134. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, Venezia, Palazzo Polignac, 16 September 1934, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 34-6, p. 397. Later, Poulenc told Claude Rostand: 'I was the one who suggested to the Princesse de Polignac that I should write an Organ Concerto for her.' Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 164. 135. Diaghilev had been musical adviser to the princess until his death in 1929. 250 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 136. See Brooks, Jeanice ( 1993), 'Nadia Boulanger and the Salon of the Princesse de Polignac' in Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. XLVI, no. 3. 137. Letter from Nadia Boulanger to Poulenc, Hanneucourt Par Gargenville [September 1934], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 34-7, p. 398. 138. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Thursday [30 April 1936], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-9, pp. 414-15; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 106. 139. Letter to Igor Markevitch, Noizay, Wednesday [ 17 June 1936], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 36-13, p. 417. 140. Letter to Nadia Boulanger, Noizay [September 1936], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 36-20, p. 428. 141. Letter to Nadia Boulanger, Noizay, Saturday [November 1936], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 36-26, p. 434. 142. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 164. 143. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, 24 May 1938, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 38-5, pp. 462-3. 144. Letter to Princesse Edmond de Polignac, Noizay [May 1938], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 38-6, pp. 463-4. 145. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, Friday [27 May 1938], quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 464. 146. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, 10 December 1938, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 38-18, p. 472. The manuscript of the Concerto for organ has the following dedication: 'very respectfully dedicated to Princesse Edmond de Polignac by her faithful composer Francis Poulenc. October 1938'. Quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), n. 2, p. 472. 147. The first public performance took place on 21 June 1939 at the Salle Gaveau in Paris at a concert of La Sérénade, with Maurice Duruflé, conducted by Roger Désormière. 148. Letter from Princesse Edmond de Polignac to Poulenc, 17 September 1939, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 39-13, p. 481 ; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 121. 149. Sauguetl990,p.296. 150. Edward James spent the Easter weekend of 1936 at Noizay, in the company of Vittorio Rieti, Henri Sauguet and Claude Rostand, among others. He returned between 27 and 29 November 1938, at the same time as Yvonne de Casa Fuerte. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), n. 4, p. 452. 151. The violinist Yvonne Giraud, Marquise de Casa Fuerte. 152. Letter to Edward James, 10 July 1937, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 37-7, p. 446. 153. See letters from Edward James to Poulenc, 21 July 1937 and Tuesday morning [31 August 1937], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letters 37-8, p. 447 and 37-15, p. 451. 154. See above, letter from Poulenc to Pnncesse Edmond de Polignac, p. 235. Poulenc later recounted to Claude Rostand: 'I can still see myself coming out of that concert, saying to Auric: "Sécheresses will never be performed again. It is a total failure. I'm going to destroy it," and Auric, with his usual perspicacity, replying "You can quite easily destroy your Poèmes de Ronsard or your Soirées de Nazelles, but on no account this!".' Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 100-101. POULENC AND HIS PATRONS 251 155. Letter to Yvonne Gouverné, Monday [May 1938], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 38-4, p. 460; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 114. For a full analysis oí Sécheresses, see Daniel, Keith, 'Poulenc's choral works with orchestra', Chapter 2, this volume, pp. 50-54. 156. Letter from Alice Esty to Sidney Buckland, 25 March 1989, quoted in Correspondence (ed. Buckland), n. 4, p. 394. 157. Letter to Alice Esty, Noizay, 2 June [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-5, pp. 819-20; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 229-30. 158. Letter to Alice Esty, 26 August 1956, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-17, p. 850; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 243. 159. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), n. 4, p. 820. 160. As an illustration, when the twenty-year-old Poulenc came into contact with Stravinsky and Diaghilev at Misia's, he had already met them at Valentine and Jean Hugo's. 161. See Poulenc ( 1953), 'Souvenirs' in Jean Giraudoux et Pour Lucrèce, Cahiers de la Compagnie Renaud-Barrault, no. 2, Paris: Julliard, p. 29. 162. Gabriel Fauré, in reply to a journalist who stated: 'You have had a great deal of success in the salons', Excelsior, 12 June 1922, quoted in Fauré, Gabriel, Correspondance, edited by Jean-Michel Nectoux (1980), Paris: Flammarion, p. 108. 163. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letters to Milhaud, 25 July [1949], re. Paris; to Marie-Laure de Noailles, 2 September [1929], re. Deauville; to Marie-Laure de Noailles, Friday [11 April 1930], re. Madrid; to Marie-Blanche de Polignac [August 1934], re. Salzburg; to Brigitte Manceaux, 28 March 1956, re. Rome; to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, 21 November [1948], re. New York. 164. See letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Thursday [30 April 1936], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 36-9, p. 415; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 106. 165. Letter to Auguste Lambiotte, From the Ritz, Monday, unpublished, DonhauserLambiotte collection. 166. In relative terms, it is interesting that the state fee for a commission for ballet music in 1938 was fixed at 20 000 francs, whereas in 1929 Poulenc received 25 000 francs (equivalent to 28 750 francs in 1938) for the composition of Aubade. In 1938, the State offered 10 000 francs for a 'symphonic piece' whereas in 1931 Poulenc received 25 000 francs (equivalent to 29 750 francs in 1938) for the composition of the Concerto for two pianos. 167. It is somewhat surprising that Poulenc did not dedicate a single work to the Comtesse Charles de Polignac, although he did give her several scores inscribed with a dedication. 168. Letter from Poulenc to Prokofiev, Noizay, 15 October [1931], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 31-21, p. 350. 'Lyon-Allemand' was a French bank which went bankrupt at that time, causing wide repercussions. 169. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac [November 1932], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 32-20, p. 377; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 98. 170. Stravinsky, Igor, Poétique musicale, Paris: J.-B. Janin, pp. 133-4. 171. Stravinsky, Igor and Craft, Robert (1963), Souvenirs et commentaires, Paris: Gallimard, p. 116. 268 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 38-11, p. 468. 2. Guido Valcarenghi was director of the publishers Ricordi in Milan. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 53-7, n. 4, p. 752; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 387, n. 4. 3. Cocteau's La Voix humaine was first performed at the Comédie Française in 1930, with the Belgian actress Berthe Bovy (1887-1997) as the sole protagonist. 4. Poulenc gives the following account of the cirumstances that gave rise to Dugardin's suggestion: 'I was at La Scala, with my publisher Hervé Dugardin, and Madame Callas had been singing. And Madame Callas was pushing aside tenors and baritones to take her bows before the deservedly wild applause. At that point Hervé Dugardin turned to me and said: "But what you ought to set for her is La Voix humaine, since it's written for just one woman, and then she could have all the applause". So this work was born quite by chance, but there was never any question of Madame Callas performing it, mainly because it didn't interest her in the slightest.' Quoted in Waleckx, Denis (1996), La Musique dramatique de Francis Poulenc (les ballets et le théâtre lyrique), Doctoral thesis prepared under the direction of Manfred Kelkel, Université Paris IV, vol. 2, p. 409. See also Waleckx, Denis, '"A musical confession": Poulenc, Cocteau and La Voix humaine9, Chapter 12, this volume. 5. See Landormy, Paul (1943), in La Musique française après Debussy, Paris: Gallimard. Landormy notes especially (p. 161): 'Poulenc has never composed for the theatre ... I asked him why. I was greatly surprised to hear him reply that he was not attracted in any way to this form of art, that the theatre meant nothing to him, and that he was entirely taken up with chamber or orchestral music' 6. One-act farce by Radiguet and Cocteau with music by Poulenc, first performed on 24 May 1921 at the Théâtre Michel, Paris. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), n. 5, pp. 116-17; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 326-7. 7. Set in the idyllic landscape of the île de France (Mauritius), Paul et Virginie tells the story of the blossoming love of two innocent adolescents who know no evil. Recalled to France by her aunt, Virginie is obliged to leave and bids farewell to a heart-broken Paul. On her return she is shipwrecked and perishes before Paul's very eyes, and he dies of grief. 8. Raymond Radiguet: du 'Diable au corps ' aux 'Joues en feu ', radio programme by Georges Charbonnier, broadcast on 6 July 1952, INA Archives, Paris. 9. Satie's manuscript was recently discovered and went on sale at the Hôtel Georges V in May 1992, at a Jacques Guérin auction. This information was supplied by Monsieur Pierre Caizergues in the opening address to the symposium Honegger/Milhaud/Tailleferre at the Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier, in April 1992. 10. In a letter dated 31 March 1931, Poulenc writes to Sauguet: *I want you to know that it is with much joy that I bequeath Paul et Virginie to you. The libretto is full of memories, too full of memories, and this is one of the reasons that made me decide to distance myself from it. You are the only one worthy of touching this sacred memento because you loved Satie and admired Raymond.' See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 31-8, p. 339; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), letter 114, p. 93. IN SEARCH OF A LIBRETTO 269 11. Armand Lunel (1892-1977) wrote the libretti for various operas by Milhaud, most notably Les Malheurs d'Orphée, an opera in three acts first performed in Brussels at the Théâtre de la Monnaie on 7 May 1926. He also wrote Esther de Carpentras for Milhaud, and for Sauguet, La Chartreuse de Panne (see notes 13 and 14 below). 12. I am grateful to the Bibliothèque Méjanes in Aix-en-Provence for allowing me access to the Poulenc-Lunel letters (Fonds Lunel) in their collection, many of which were not, at the time, officially classified. 13. Esther de Carpentras is an opéra bouffe in two acts, with a libretto by Armand Lunel and music by Darius Milhaud, composed in 1925, and first performed in Paris at the Opéra-Comique on 3 February 1938. On 3 April 1937, the work was performed on radio, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. It is to this first radio version that Poulenc refers here. 14. La Chartreuse de Parme, opera in four acts and ten scenes, libretto by Armand Lunel, based on the novel by Stendahl, music by Henri Sauguet, composed between 1927 and 1936, and first performed at the Paris Opera on 30 March 1939. 15. Dedicated to Eugène Delacroix, this short novel tells of Paquita, the 'girl with the golden eyes', loved by both Henri de Marsay and the Marquise de San-Real. An audacious portrait of feminine love, the story ends with the death of Paquita, assassinated by the Marquise. 16. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes is a novel in four parts by Honoré de Balzac, written between 1838 and 1847. The plot, often bordering on the incredible, teeming with characters with multiple names, is far too complex to summarise here, but the salient elements are as follows: Lucien de Rubempré, who has become the instrument of Vautrin, a notorious and cunning convict, is passionately in love with the courtesan Esther. But Vautrin has other plans for the couple. He intends to sell Esther to the financier Nucingen and to marry off Lucien to a young girl of the aristocracy, thus securing for the young man the title of Marquis. Esther eventually commits suicide, and both Lucien and Vautrin are arrested. Lucien hangs himself in prison, after making compromising revelations, but Vautrin, cunning as ever, manages to extricate himself and becomes chef de la Sûreté, head of the detective force. 17. L'Abbesse de Castro, a novel by Stendhal (1783-1842), was published in 1839 and is set in the sixteenth century. Hélène de Capileari, from an illustrious family in the Roman region, is courted by Jules Branciforte, the son of a soldier. The young girl's family does everything to break up the relationship, including an assassination attempt on the suitor, foiled by Hélène, and the instigation of a duel, as a result of which Jules kills the brother of the young girl. This forces the family to flee abroad, and Hélène, led to believe that Jules is dead, is finally confined to the convent of Castro. Jules, who has taken another name and believes that Hélène is now married, performs great exploits in Mexico. Hélène, devoured by ambition, connives to become Abbess of the convent. Then, however, she is embroiled in a liaison with the bishop of the town, becomes pregnant and is thrown into prison. The two lovers eventually meet up again, but Hélène, although still in love with Jules, decides to kill herself rather than give herself in an unchaste state to her lover. 18. Letter to Armand Lunel [April 1937]. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 37-3, pp. 442-3. 19. Particularly as Poulenc wanted to limit his work to 1 lA hours! 20. Letter from Armand Lunel to Poulenc, 17 May 1937. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 37-6, p. 445. 270 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 21. Letter to Armand Lunel [end August 1937]. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 37-14, p. 451. 22. Letter to Armand Lunel, 12 October [1937]. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 37-17, pp. 454-5. 23. Interview with the composer by the RTB, 1944. Quoted in Hommage à Francis Poulenc: Poulenc et l'Art lyrique (no. 4), recorded on 25 May 1973, broadcast on 8 August 1973, IN A Archives, Paris. 24. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 38-11, p. 468. 25. Letter to Pierre Bernac [May 1945]. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 45-11, p. 591. 26. Letter to Pierre Bernac [September 1945]. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 45-25, p. 609. 27. Décaudin, Michel (ed.) (1991), 'Le Casanova d'Apollinaire "comédie parodique'", in Guillaume Apollinaire 18, Paris: Minard, collection Revue des lettres modernes. 28. Heude, Jean-Jacques, 'Le Casanova de Henri Defosse', ibid., p. 63. 29. Letter from Henri Defosse to P. M. Adéma, quoted in Debon, Claude, 'Un prix pour Casanova, livret d'Apollinaire, musique de Henri Defosse', ibid., p. 24. 30. Unpublished letter from Jacqueline Apollinaire to Poulenc, 2 May [1946], BnF Mus. 31. Poulenc to Micheline Banzet, in her radio programme Trois jours avec ... ; recorded 6 and 7 March 1956, broadcast 7 and 8 April 1958; INA Archives, Paris. 32. Interview with Poulenc who was on holiday in Tourrettes-sur-Loup, recorded on 17 August 1955. Fonds Marseille-Nice, copy in INA Archives, Paris. 33. Le Bal des voleurs was written in 1932 and first performed in 1938. Lady Hurff, her two nieces and their tutor are staying in Vichy. Three thieves arrive, disguised as Spanish noblemen, and attempt to strike up a conversation with Lady Hurff in order to steal her pearls. The latter, in the hope of enlivening her stay, enters into the game, pretending to recognise the leader of the gang, and invites them to her villa. The play makes amusing use of the device of quid pro quo and centres on the love of one of the nieces for the bogus prince Pedro. Their elopement and the final dramatic turn of events when the tutor recognises in Pedro a son who had been abducted in early childhood lead to the inevitable happy ending. 34. Letter to Jacques Leguerney, 3 July [ 1956]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-9, p. 841. 35. Interview by Francine Bloch, recorded 15 December 1958. Tape no. 216, archives of the Phonothèque Nationale, Paris. 36. Letter to Charles Munch, 23 May 1959. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 59-10, pp. 914-15. 37. La Machine infernale, a play in 4 acts by Jean Cocteau, was first performed on 10 April 1934. It is based on the Oedipus legend. 38. Letter to Darius Milhaud, 10 March [ 1959]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 59-5, p. 909. 39. Chéri was published in 1920. The novel tells of the doomed love of a middle-aged courtesan, Lea, for a very young and handsome boy, known as Chéri. Léa inevitably ends up alone, aged and hurt. 40. Interview with Denise Bourdet, 'Francis Poulenc: "Monte-Carlo, c'est pour moi Venise'" in Le Figaro littéraire, 2 December 1961, p. 19. 41. La Folle de Chaillot, play in 2 acts by Jean Giraudoux, was first performed on 19 December 1945. Aurélie is a countess, slightly crazy, wretchedly poor, but a poet. IN SEARCH OF A LIBRETTO 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 271 She finds herself in opposition to a group of repulsive representatives of the world of business. Poetry triumphs in the end. Interview with Denise Bourdet, 'Francis Poulenc: "Monte-Carlo, c'est pour moi Venise"'. See n. 40. Radio programme by Antoine Li vio, Anniversaire de Francis Poulenc: Dialogues avec Denise Duval, recorded on 21 February 1983, broadcast 28 February 1983 on France-Culture, duration 57'. INA Archives, Paris. Le Cardinal d'Espagne, a play in three acts by Henry de Montherlant, was published in 1960 and first performed in 1961. Cardinal Cisnéros, a tyrannical old regent, detestable and detested, is awaiting the arrival of the young King Charles. Charles's mother, Queen Jeanne, who has lost her mind, is locked up in her palace. Betrayed by the captain of his personal guard, Cisnéros is sent into retirement and dies of despair. Poulenc, Francis (1961), 'Opera in the Cinema Era', in Opera 72, January, p. 12. Georges Hirsch was the administrator of the Réunion des Théâtres lyriques nationaux from 1946 to 1951 and from 1956 to 1959. He was also a great friend of Poulenc. Nana, a novel by Emile Zola, was published in 1879, ninth in the series Les Rougon-Macquart. Nana is a ravishingly beautiful courtesan, made for luxury and pleasure. Motivated by a destructive force, she humiliates and ruins all those who desire her and ends her days, ill and debilitated, in a sordid hotel room. Hirsch, Georges ( 1963), 'Mon ami Francis Poulenc' in Démocratie 63, no. 172, 7 February. Poulenc to Micheline Banzet, in her radio programme Trois jours avec ... ; recorded 6 and 7 March 1956, broadcast 7 and 8 April 1958; INA Archives, Paris. Raymond Radiguet: du 'Diable au corps ' aia 'Joues en feu ', radio programme by Georges Charbonnier, broadcast on 6 July 1952, INA Archives, Paris. The same problem occurs in his ballets, most notably in Aubade, in which Poulenc's scenario is concerned with inner mood and emotion rather than external events. Balanchine, Lifar and in fact the public as well, preferred a version in which the external action was intensified by the introduction of the character of Actéon. See Chimènes 1994, letter 29-4, n. 2 and n. 3, p. 302; Waleckx, Denis (1996), 'Un compositeur librettiste' in La Musique dramatique de Francis Poulenc (les ballets et le théâtre lyrique), pp. 44-7. See n. 40. Poulenc to René Wilmet, in the latter's radio programme Plein feu sur les spectacles du Monde; Dans la galerie des hommes célèbres: Georges Bernanos. Recorded 23 May 1962, broadcast 10 September 1962. INA Archives, Paris. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 213. Poulenc interviewed by Francine Bloch. See n. 35. 'Blanche, c'était moi et Elle, c'est encore moi'. Letter from Poulenc to Hervé Dugardin, 30 March 1958. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 890. Letter to Bernac, 1 September [1953], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 53-19, p. 761. Poulenc interviewed by Martine Cadieu: 'Duo avec Francis Poulenc' in Les Nouvelles littéraires, 4 May 1961. Poulenc (1957), 'Comment j'ai composé les Dialogues des Carmélites'' in Opéra de Paris, no. 14, p. 17. Interview by Francine Bloch. See n. 35. Eleven letters taken from Poulenc's correspondence with Dr Louis Chevalier 272 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE went on sale at Le Nouveau Drouot, room no. 8, on 16 and 17 April 1985. The catalogue of this sale, with widely quoted extracts from the letters, is preserved in the Bibliothèque de l'Opéra, Dossier d'Artiste Poulenc. Colette (1942), 'A propos d'un ballet' in Comœdia, 22 August. Letter to Henri Sauguet [28 January 1954]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-5, p. 782. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart) p. 38. Poulenc ( 1946), 'Francis Poulenc ou les prestes pirouettes' in Contrepoints, no. 1, January, p. 49. Saint Pulgent, Maryvonne de (1983), 'Poulenc, un musicien anachronique?' in L'Avant-scène Opéra, May, no. 52, p. 99. Duval, Denise (1983), 'Une oeuvre que j'ai vue naître', ibid., p. 134. Poulenc interviewed by Francine Bloch. See n. 35. Interview with Denise Bourdet, 'Francis Poulenc: "Monte-Carlo, c'est pour moi Venise'". See n. 40. English translation of the First Prioress's words by Joseph Machlis in libretto accompanying EMI recording of Dialogues des Carmélites, 2C 163-12801/3. Poulenc (1957), 'Comment j'ai composé les Dialogues des Carmélites', in Opéra de Paris, no. 14, p. 17. See also Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), n. 4, p. 752; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), n. 4, p. 387. Letter to Pierre Bernac [22 July 1944]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 44-8, p. 561. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 15. Letter to Henri Sauguet [29 August 1939]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 39-10, p. 480; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), letter 146, p. 120. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 146. Bellas, Jacqueline (1963), 'Francis Poulenc ou "le son de voix de Guillaume'", Apollinaire III, in Revue des lettres modernes, nos 104-7, pp. 135-6. Letter to Pierre Bernac [27 August 1944]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 44-16, p. 573, trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 142. Bellas, Jacqueline (1963), pp. 139-40. Letter to Pierre Bernac, 24 June [1944]. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 44-4, p. 553; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 134. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 147. Journal de mes mélodies (ed. Machart), p. 28. Ibid., p. 14. Bernanos, Georges (1949), Dialogues des Carmélites, Neuchâtel: Editions la Baconnière; Paris: Editions du Seuil, 2nd tableau, scene 6, p. 49. Béguin, Albert (1956), 'Quand il écrivait Le Dialogue des Carmélites Bernanos luttait lui-même contre la mort prochaine' in Opéra de Paris, no. 13, pp. 14-15. Poulenc to René Wilmet, in the latter's radio programme Plein feu sur les spectacles du Monde; Dans la galerie des hommes célèbres: Georges Bernanos. See n. 52. Poulenc (1957), 'Comment j'ai composé les Dialogues des Carmélites', in Opéra de Paris, no. 14. Poulenc interviewed by Francine Bloch. See n. 35. Ibid. Cocteau quoted in Hell, p. 281. Waleckx, Denis (1996), 'Dialogues des Carmélites' in La Musique dramatique de Francis Poulenc (les ballets et le théâtre lyrique). See n. 4. IN SEARCH OF A LIBRETTO 273 90. See also Gendre, Claude, 'Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of the opera', Chapter 11, this volume. 91. See '"A musical confession": Poulenc, Cocteau and La Voix humaine", Chapter 12, this volume. 310 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. I am indebted to the work of two great specialists: Father Bruno de Jésus-Marie (1992), Le sang du Carmel ou la véritable passion des seize Carmélites de Compiègne, Paris: Cerf [abbreviated henceforth as Father Bruno 1992] and Professor William Bush (1993), Marie de l'Incarnation: La Relation du martyre des seize Carmélites de Compiègne. Aux sources de Bernanos et de Gertrud von le Fort. Manuscrits inédits. Textes présentés, établis, comparés et annotés par William Bush. Préface de Monseigneur Guy Gaucher, Paris: Cerf [abbreviated henceforth as Bush 1993]. Father Bruno de Jésus-Marie presents 'the complete dossier of the story which is more beautiful than fiction'. Professor Bush believes that works of fiction, such as the Poulenc-Bernanos Dialogues des Carmélites, have providentially served to make the sacrifice and the message of the blessed martyrs known to the world. 2. Natural daughter of the Prince of Bourbon-Conti and born in Paris on 16 November 1761, Madame Philippe entered Carmel on 23 September 1786 after a miraculous healing at the tomb of the Blessed Marie of the Incarnation (Acarie) at the Carmel of Pontoise. In Paris at the time her sisters were arrested, she fled the capital for eastern France, attempting unsuccessfully to find refuge in Switzerland. She returned to Compiègne in March 1795 to recuperate her part of the heritage of her decimated community, particularly books and manuscripts. On DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 311 the order of Abbé de Villecourt she became the historian of her martyred Carmel between 1832 and her death in 1836 at Sens. Declaration of the Carmelites to the District authorities. Departmental Archives of the Oise, Series Q: 'Fonds des Domaines Nationaux'. Bush 1993, MS I, p. 82; MS II, p. 123; MS III, pp. 222-1. A Brief Narrative of the Seizure of the Benedictine Dames of Cambray, of their Suffering while in the hands of the French Republicans, and of their arrival in England by one of the religious, who was an eyewitness to the events She relates, Partington, Ann Teresa [c. 1796-97]. Archives of Stanbrook Abbey, a copy of which was kindly provided by Dame Eanswythe Edwards, Archivist. Letter from Dame Mary Blyde to the Prioress of the Carmel of Darlington, July 15 [1797]. Archives of Stanbrook Abbey. Copy kindly provided by Dame Eanswythe Edwards, Archivist. Bush, William (1991), The Martyrdom of Love ... The Mystical Spirituality of Madame Lidoine, Jonquières: Carmel de Compiègne. This 22-page brochure contains the text of a Christmas carol written by the Mother of the Martyrdom, Madame Lidoine, as well as a commentary by Professor William Bush. Bush 1993, MS I, p. 95; MS II, pp. 167-8. Bush 1993, MS II, p. 177. Bush 1993, MS III, p. 217. See also MS II, p. 138. The sixteen martyrs are as follows: Mother Teresa of St Augustine (Lidoine), Prioress; Sister Saint Louis (Brideau), Sub-Prioress; Sister Henriette of Jesus (de Croissy); Sister of Jesus Crucified (Piedcourt); Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection (Thouret); Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception (Brard); Sister Teresa of the Heart of Mary (Hanisset); Sister Teresa of Saint Ignatius (Trézel); Sister Julie-Louise of Jesus (Crétien de Neuville); Sister Marie-Henriette of Providence (Pelras); Sister Constance (Meunier), novice; Sister Marie of the Holy Spirit (Roussel), lay sister; Sister St Martha (Dufour), lay sister; Sister Francis Xavier (Verolot), lay sister; Sister Catherine Soiron, extern; Sister Theresa Soiron, extern. A further four sisters had taken the vow but escaped martyrdom. They were Sister Pierre (d'Hangest) who died in 1792, Sister Stanislas (Legros) and Sister Thérèse (Jourdain) who left for Rosières-en-Santerre in 1794, and Sister Marie of the Incarnation who was away in Paris on personal business. Monseigneur de Teil, in 1909, would be named Vice-Postulator for the Cause of Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus. St Thérèse of the Child Jesus: Manuscrits autobiographiques, Edition du Carmel de Lisieux, 1957 (MS B, 3r; cf. MS A, 61r). Cf. Gaucher, Monseigneur Guy (1994), Thérèse de Lisieux et les seize Carmélites de Compiègne', in Carmel, Toulouse, 2, no. 72, pp. 70-75. Born 11 October 1876 in Minden, Gertrud was the eldest daughter of Baron von le Fort, a Prussian officer of Huguenot background. On the death of her father, Gertrud began to travel for the first time, at the age of thirty. Rome revealed to her the beauty of Catholicism and she decided to pursue studies in theology and history first in Heidelberg with Professor Ernst Troeltsch (whose Dogmatics she was to publish), and later in Berlin. In 1922 she settled near Munich at Baierbrunn, writing her Hymns to the Church prior to her conversion to Catholicism in 1926. Henceforth she would devote herself to literature. In 1939 she settled in Oberstdorf. After a stay in Switzerland, she returned to Oberstdorf where she died 1 November 1971 leaving an important literary legacy, translated 312 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE into numerous languages and consisting of more than a hundred titles, including the following: poetry: Hymns to the Church (1928; English translation, 1932); novels: The Veil of Veronica (1928; English translation, 1932) and The Pope from the Ghetto (1930; English translation 1934); essays: The Eternal Woman, The Woman in Time, Timeless Woman (1934; English translation, 1954); novellas: The Judgement of the Sea (1950, English translation, 1962); The Song at the Scaffold (1931; English translation, 1933); The Wife of Pilate (1955; English translation, 1957; narrative: Rome: the Eternal City (1955). von le Fort, Gertrud (1958), Aufzeichnungen und Erinnerrungen, Benziger Verlag, Einsiedeln/Zurich/Kõln, pp. 93-5. See Pottier, Joël (1981), Gertrud von le Fort et la France, Thèse de 3e cycle, Université de Toulouse, Le Mirail. von le Fort, Gertrud (1931), Die Letzte am Schafott, Munich: Kõsel & Pustel. See von le Fort, Gertrud, The Song at the Scaffold, trans, by Olga Marx (1933), New York: Henry Holt; then Sheed and Ward. All quotations following in the résumé above are from this edition. Dr Middendorf, Director of the State Library of Bavaria, gives the following information in a letter dated 19 April 1962 to Claude Gendre: 'It is impossible today to establish which books Gertrud von le Fort borrowed from the State Library of Bavaria. The book of Sister Marie of the Incarnation, Histoire des Religieuses Carmélites de Compiègne conduites à l'échafaud le 17 juillet 1794, Sens, 1836, 228p, is in the library and catalogued under the reference H. mon. 354.' M. l'abbé Auger (1835), Notice sur les 16 Carmélites de Compiègne. Sorel, Alexandre (1878), Les Carmélites de Compiègne devant le Tribunal Révolutionnaire, Compiègne: Imprimerie H. Lefebvre, p. 67. See Bush, William (1991), Gertrud von le Fort, Bernanos and the historical sources of 'Die Letzte am Schafott ', Jonquières: Carmel de Compiègne, pp. 7-11. See von la Chevallerie, Eleonore (1995), 'Gertrud von le Fort and the Fear of Blanche de la Force' in Renascence. Essays on Values in Literature {Literature and Martyrdom), vol. XLVIII, no. 1, Milwaukee: Marquette University, pp. 11-25. Gendre, Claude ( 1995), The Literary Destiny of the Sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and the Role of Emmet Lavery' (trans, by W. Bush) in Renascence. Essays on Values in Literature (Literature and Martyrdom), vol. XLVIII, no. 1, Milwaukee: Marquette University, pp. 36-55. See note 18. Letter from Blaise Briod to Gertrud von le Fort, 10 October 1936. Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.6603/1. Letter from Gertrud von le Fort to Blaise Briod, 30 October 1936, quoted in Pottier, Joël ( 1981 ) Gertrud von le Fort et la France, p. 81. See n. 16. Bruckberger, R.L. (1978), Tu finiras sur Véchafaud suivi de Le Bachaga. Mémoires, Paris: Flammarion, and Livre de Poche no. 5560 (1980), Paris: Flammarion, pp. 420-21. Ibid. Agostini had already worked with Father Bruckberger on the film Les Anges du Péché, in 1943. Georges Bernanos was born in Paris in 1888 and received a solid Catholic education. In 1905 he discovered his true vocation: to bear testimony to the presence of Christ in the world through his writings. After graduating in literature and law, he became a Royalist journalist. In 1914 he joined the army. In 1917 he DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 313 married a descendent of Joan of Arc's brother. To support his family he became an insurance investigator, relegating his writing to free moments on trains or in cafés. In 1926 he decided to live by his pen. His existence was marked thereafter by varied literary jobs, by polemics, by ongoing concerns about money and endless moves both in France and abroad. During the war he supported General de Gaulle and wrote only to support the French cause. In 1945 Dom Paulus Gordan, Bernanos's confessor in Brazil, persuaded him to return to France, as de Gaulle had asked him to do, but in 1947 he left again, for Tunisia where he wrote his final work, Dialogues des Carmélites. Stricken with cancer, he died at the American Hospital in Neuilly on 5 July 1948. The catalogue of his works contains more than forty titles, including: novels and short stories: Sous le soleil de Satan (1926); L'Imposture (1927); Une Nuit, Madame Dargent (1928); La Joie (1929); Un Crime (1935); Journal d'un curé de campagne (1936); Nouvelle Histoire de Mouchette (1937); Monsieur Ouine (1943); Un Mauvais Rêve (1950); Dialogue d'ombres (1955); essays and polemical writings: La Grande Peur des Bien-Pensants (1931); Les Grands Cimetières sous la Lune (1938); Scandale de la Vérité (1939); Nous autres Français (1939); Lettre aux Anglais (1942); Le Chemin de la Croix-des-Ames (1948); Les Enfants Humiliés (1949); La Liberté pour quoi faire? (1953); Français si vous saviez (1961); plus correspondence, lectures and articles. Murray, Sister Meredith ( 1963), La Genèse de 'Dialogues des Carmelites ', Paris: Seuil, pp. 84-106. Letter from Madame Armelle Guerne to Abbé Daniel Pézeril (11 July 1960), ibid., p. 20. Gordan, Dom Paulus, Streit um Bernanos, unpublished four-page text, presented to Claude Gendre on 10 December 1961, giving a passage originally intended for Dom Gordan's volume, Freundschqft mit Bernanos (1959), Kõln: Jakob Hegner, but finally omitted. Gendre, Claude (1989), 'Rencontres spirituelles autour des Carmélites de Compiègne et de Blanche de la Force', in Paradoxes et permanence de la pensée bemanosienne, Paris: aux Amateurs de Livres, pp. 137—45. Interview given by Fr. Bruckberger to Paris-Match (1960), no. 553. 'Ne pensez qu'à un autre regard auquel vous devez fixer le vôtre'. L'Autre Regard is the title of a play by Anne Delbée first performed on 17 July 1994 at Compiègne and based on the book by Bush, William ( 1993), La Relation du martyre des seize Carmélites de Compiègne par Soeur Marie de l'Incarnation, Paris: Cerf. Pézeril, Abbé Daniel (1949), 'Bernanos et sa mort' in Georges Bernanos, Paris: Seuil, pp. 355-8. Letter from Albert Béguin to Gertrud von le Fort, 14 October 1948, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.6495/1. Letter of Gertrud von le Fort to Albert Béguin, 6 January 1949, quoted in Murray, Sister Meredith, op. cit., note 30, p. 30. Letter from Gaspard de Cugnac to Albert Béguin, 30 November 1948, quoted in Murray, Sister Meredith, op. cit., note 30, p. 29. Letter from Albert Béguin to Gaspard de Cugnac, 4 December 1948, quoted in Murray, Sister Meredith, op. cit., note 30, p. 29. These indications are in italics and will be noted in scenes 1 and 2 of the Prologue; scene 2 of Tableau II; scenes 4 and 5 of Tableau III; scenes 4 and 5 of Tableau IV; scenes 1,4,13 and 17 of Tableau V. Bernanos, Georges ( 1949), Dialogues des Carmélites, Neuchâtel: La Baconnière, 314 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Collection Les Cahiers du Rhône / Paris: Seuil. New edition 1961 and 1984, Paris: Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade. Bernanos, Georges (1951), Die begnadete Angst, German trans, by Eckart Peterich, Freiburg: Herder Verlag. In German 'begnadete' means both 'sanctified' and 'sanctifying'. Tassencourt, Marcelle (1965), 'Dialogues des Carmélites du livre à la scène' in L'Avant-Scène théâtre, Paris, no. 337, pp. 7-8: 'We learned that, ahead of France, a German theatrical troupe was putting on Les Dialogues in Zurich, using the complete text... I persuaded Béguin to come with me to see the first performance. The play began at 7:30. It was admirable. Excellent production and, as far as I could judge, its being in a foreign language, a very beautiful interpretation. But by one o'clock in the morning, when the curtain fell for the forty-sixth or forty-seventh time, the Zurich audience seemed somewhat stunned. As always in theatrical matters, the proof of the play was in the staging, and things suddenly seemed as clear as night and day. Albert Béguin, with all the love and respect he had for his great friend Bernanos, then helped me to make this adaptation, by adding certain useful phrases which were needed. And so closely did he identify with Bernanos's thinking, that I do not believe even the most finely attuned ear could detect the additions.' Letter from Julien Green to Father Bruckberger, Paris, 25 November 1951, mainly unpublished. Copy in the archives of Claude Gendre. Gendre, Claude (1962), 'La Dernière à Véchafaud1 de Gertrud von le Fort et 'Dialogues des Carmélites' de Georges Bernanos. Etude et Essai de Comparaison. Mémoire de littératures Modernes Comparées, Paris-Sorbonne. See above, p. 288. The theme of sin appears only in the Prioress Lidoine's solicitude for the executioners: 'There are no martyrdoms without homicides.' The theme of solitude accompanies the death of Madame de Croissy: 'I am alone, Mother, absolutely alone.' The theme of the 'dead parish' {la paroisse morte) is more veiled, lying just beneath the surface: revolutionary France in persecuting priests, monks and the Carmelites has herself become a 'dead parish'. Estève, Michel (1960), 'Métamorphose d'un thème littéraire à propos des Dialogues des Carmélites', in La Revue des lettres modernes, Paris, no. 56-7, pp. 45-74. Emmet Godfrey Lavery was born in 1902 in Poughkeepsie, New York, and died on 1 January 1986 in Los Angeles. A lawyer, journalist and politician before devoting himself to the theatre, he founded the National Catholic Theatre Conference in 1937, was Director of the National Service Bureau of Federal Theatre from 1937 to 1939, and President of the Screen Writers' Guild from 1945 to 1947, at which date he was called before the MacCarthy commission. The following selected titles, listed by category, are illustrative of his output of some forty titles: stage plays: Crusade (1926); First Legion, translated into 14 languages (1934); Second Spring (1938); Kamiano (1940); The Magnificent Yankee (1946); Brother Petroc's Return (1949); Fenelon (1956); American Portrait (1948); Ladies of Soissons (1964). Screen plays: Hitler's Children ( 1942); Guilty of Treason ( 1950); Bright Road ( 1953); The Court Martial ofBilly Mitchell (1955). Williamsburg (1957). Ballets: Yankee Doodles (1964); El Dorado (1968), plus an opera with Ernst Krenek, Tarquín (1950). Also, TV scripts such as Prairie Lawyer (NBC TV, 1975), Continental Congress (1976). Letter from Emmet Lavery to Claude Gendre, 26 July 1984. DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES 315 52. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort, 7 March 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.7449/1. The Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach holds all the papers of Gertrud von le Fort. Her literary executrix, Frau Eleonore von le Chevallerie, has kindly made available to me all documentation concerning this question. 53. Letter from Gertrud von le Fort to Emmet Lavery, March 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.8875/1. Original letter in German, March 1949. English translation 2 April 1949. 54. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort, 8 April 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.7449/2. 55. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort, 3 May 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.7449/2. 56. Contract between Baroness von le Fort and Emmet Lavery, April 1949. 57. Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur, vol. VI, janvier 1955, Paris, pp. 152-60. Tribunal Arbitral de la Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques Ruling of 20 July 1953, Lavery against Bernanos heirs. 58. 'Lavery Play Wins Warm Reception', The Tidings, 27 May 1949. 59. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort, 28 May 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.7449/4. 60. Letter from Gertrud von le Fort to Lavery, 20 June 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.8875/2, in German, quoted by Emmet Lavery, in English, in his letter to the Société des Auteurs, Paris, 5 February 1953, and in Revue Internationale du Droit d'Auteur. See above, note 57. 61. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Claude Gendre, 26 July 1984. 62. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort, 28 June 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.7449/5. 63. Lavery, Emmet (1949), Song at the Scaffold. A Play in Two Acts from the story by Gertrud von le Fort, New York: Samuel French, 115 pp. Copy dedicated and sent to Gertrud von le Fort, 2 November 1949, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, QH 3 Lavery. 64. Letter from Gertrud von le Fort to Emmet Lavery, 30 May 1951, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.8875/3. 65. Letter from Lore Bronner to Gertrud von le Fort, 1 December 1951. Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.6609/8. 66. Programme of Gesang am Schafott, Munich: Lore Bronner-Biihne, May-June 1951. Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.6609/17. 67. Letter from Prof. Schmaus to Lore Bronner, quoted in the letter from Lore Bronner to Gertrud von le Fort, 10 June 1952. Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74.6609/19. 68. Lavery 1949, p. 104. 69. The following recordings were utilised as stage music: Divertissement by Jacques Ibert; Wellington's Victory by Beethoven; Christ lag in Todesbanden by J. S. Bach (organ), 'First Noel' (chimes); and Et ron, ron, ron, petit patapon by Marcel Grandjany (for harp). 70. Lavery 1949, p. 55. 71. Ibid., p. 91. 72. Ibid., p. 96. 73. Letter from Graham Greene to Lavery, 2 May 1955, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Emmet Lavery Collection, Articles and Letters, vol. II, p. 132. 74. Letter from Lavery to Julien Green, December, 1958, ibid., pp. 82-4. 75. Father Bruckberger's and Philippe Agostini's film was released in 1960. It 316 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE enjoyed a certain success, receiving a prize, the Prix de l'Office Catholique International du Cinéma, on 29 November 1960. Even though it diverged quite significantly from Bernanos's work, while keeping the same title, with the exception of one letter, 'Dialogue des Carmélites', the Société des Amis de Bernanos sued. This was the beginning of an ongoing litigation with judgements handed down in 1961, 1964, 1966, continuing right until 18 March 1992. See Wallmann, Margarita ( 1976), Les Balcons du Ciel, Paris: Robert Laffont, pp. 150-59. Poulenc, Francis (1957), 'Comment j'ai composé les Dialogues des Carmélites', in Opéra de Paris, no. 14, quoted in L'Avant-Scène Opéra, no. 52, Paris, May 1983. Poulenc, Francis ( 1964), Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, Paris: Julliard, p. 211. See note 77. This copy has been preserved by Madame Rosine Seringe, Poulenc's niece and god-daughter. Poulenc, Francis (1964): Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, Paris: Julliard. See Correspondence (ed. Buckland). See also Correspondance (ed. Chimenes). Letter to Pierre Bernac, 22 August [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-16, p. 758; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 206. Letter to Stéphane Audel, 31 August [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-18, p. 759; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 206. Letter to Simone Girard, 1 September [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), p. 761, quoted inn. 1. Letter to Pierre Bernac, 1 September [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-19, pp. 760-61; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 207-8. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Friday [11 September 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-21, p. 764; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 210. Letter to Doda Conrad [September 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-23, p. 766; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 211. Letter to Henri Sauguet, 9 September [ 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), p. 761, quoted in n. 1. Letter to Georges Auric, Tuesday, 22 September [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-25, p. 768. Letter to Yvonne Gouverné, Thursday [24 September 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-26, p. 769; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 212. Letter to Henri Hell, Monday [12 October 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-27, p. 769. Letter to Wanda Landowska, 13 October [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-28, p. 770. Unpublished letter from Albert Béguin to Francis Poulenc, 23 November 1953, BnF Mus. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Monday [7 December 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), p. 773, quoted in n. 1. Letter to Pierre Bernac, 18 December [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-31, p. 773. Letter to Jacques Leguerney, 9 December [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), letter 53-32, p. 774. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Friday [18 December 1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), p. 774, quoted in n. 1. Letter to Pierre Bernac, 19 December [1953], Correspondance (ed. Chimenes), DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES 317 letter 53-34, p. 777; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 214. 100. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, 23 January [1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-2, p. 780. 101. Letter to Pierre Bernac [January 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 784, quoted in n. 1. 102. Letter to Henri Hell [27 January 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 784, quoted in n. 1. 103. Letter to Brigitte Manceaux, Monday [1 February 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-7, p. 783. 104. Letter to Henri Hell, Sunday [14 February 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-9, p. 785; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 216. 105. Letter to Marie-Blanche de Polignac, Wednesday 17 [March 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-11, p. 787. 106. Letter to Brigitte Manceaux, 30 March [1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-15, p. 791. 107. Letter to Jacques Leguerney, 26 May [1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-17, p. 793. 108. See letter to Darius Milhaud [August 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-23, p. 801; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 219. 109. Letter to Brigitte Manceaux, 30 March [1954], op. cit., n. 106. 110. Poulenc had met Raymond Destouches in the 1930s and had had deep feelings for him. Over the years this developed into a quasi-paternal attachment. 111. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Wednesday [28 July 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-21, pp. 796-7; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 220. 112. Work copy of Dialogues des Carmélites, a first dedication of Francis Poulenc to Dr Paul Delmas-Marsalet, Arrens, July 1954, quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 1020. 113. Extracts from the unpublished journal of Dr Maurice Delmas-Marsalet, quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 798, n. 8. 114. Letter from Georges Auric to Francis Poulenc, Wednesday, 28 July 54, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-22, p. 799. 115. Letter from Georges Auric to Francis Poulenc [August 1954], quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 801, n. 1. 116. Letter from Father Griffin to Francis Poulenc [July 1954], quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), pp. 795-6. 117. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Wednesday [28 July 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-21, p. 796; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 220. 118. Letter from Georges Auric to Francis Poulenc, Wednesday 28 July 1954, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-22, p. 799. 119. Letter to Darius Milhaud [August 1954], op. cit., n. 108. 120. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Tuesday [August 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-25, pp. 802-3; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 221-2. 121. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Claude Gendre, 26 July 1984. 122. Letter from Emmet Lavery to Gertrud von le Fort 1 October 1954, Deutsches Literaturarchiv of Marbach, 74. 7449/10. 123. Letter to Simone Girard, Wednesday [October 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-32, p. 808; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 224. 124. Letter to Denise Bourdet [4 October 1954], quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 809, n. 2. 318 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 125. Letter to Simone Girard, Wednesday [October 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-32, p. 808; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 223-4. 126. Letter to Simone and Pierre Girard, Friday [October 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-33, p. 809; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 224. 127. Letter from Pierre Bernac to Francis Poulenc, 4 November [1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-34, p. 810; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 225-6. 128. Letter to Simone Girard, Saturday [18 December 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-36, p. 811; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 226-7. 129. Letter to Benjamin Britten [December 1954], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-41, p. 814; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 228. 130. Letter to Christiane Manificat, 24 January [1955], quoted in [Catalogue de l'exposition] Georges Bernanos, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris, 1978,623, p. 167. 131. Letter to Denise Bourdet, 24 March 1955, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-1, p. 816. 132. Letter to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, 2 July [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-7, p. 821; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 230. 133. Letter to Milhaud, 5 April [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-2, p. 817. 134. Unpublished letter from Albert Béguin to Francis Poulenc, 29 March 1955, BnF Mus. 135. The names of Gertrud von le Fort and of Father Bruckberger are misspelt as above in the final contract. These misspellings have been perpetuated in many programmes. I am grateful to Madame Rosine Seringe for kindly allowing me to consult the final contract. 136. Wallmann, Margarita ( 1976), Les Balcons du Ciel, Paris: Robert Laffont, p. 151. 137. Letter to Milhaud, 5 April [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-2, p. 817. 138. Letter to Benjamin Britten, 5 May 1955, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-4, p. 818. 139. Letter to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, 2 July [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-7, p. 822; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 230. 140. Letter from Albert Béguin to Francis Poulenc, 5 July 1955, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-8, p. 823. 141. Raymond Destouches, See above, note 110. 142. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Friday [19 August 1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-11, pp. 825-6; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 232. 143. Letter to Pierre Bernac [September, 1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-13, p. 828; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 234. 144. Unpublished letter to the Reverend Mother Prioress of the Carmel of Compiègne, 27 September 1955, kindly provided by Sister Alix-Anne, Archivist of the Carmel of Compiègne. 145. Letter to Darius Milhaud, Friday 28 [October 1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-15, p. 831. 146. Letter to Simone Girard, 31 October [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-16, p. 831; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 236. 147. Letter to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, 24 December [1955], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-17, p. 832; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 237. DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES 319 148. Pierre Bernac, Letter to X ..., 17 July 1954, quoted by Myriam Chimènes in "Du Gendarme incompris aux Dialogues des Carmélites', L'Avant-Scène Opéra, no. 52, Paris, May, 1983, p. 31. 149. Letter to Hervé Dugardin, Sunday 30 March 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 890. 150. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Friday 17 August [1956], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 56-15, p. 847; trans. Correspondence (éd. Buckland), p. 242. 151. Letter to Hervé Dugardin [30 June 1956], quoted in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 848, n. 9. 152. Letter to Bernac, Friday 17 August [1956], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 56-15, p. 847; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 242. 153. Letter to Simone Girard, Wednesday [December 1956], quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 854, n. 1. 154. Letter to Maurice Jacquemont, Friday [7 December 1956], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-24, p. 855. 155. Spicy anecdotes on the preparation of the opera at La Scala of Milan and on the intense atmosphere of the rehearsals are found in Margarita Wallmann's book, Les Balcons du Ciel. See note 136. 156. Letter to Bernac, Thursday [January 1957], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 57-3, pp. 858-9. 157. Quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 860, n. 1. 158. Letter from Sister Emmanuel Marie de Saint-Joseph, Prioress of the Carmel of Compiègne, 25 January 1957, reproduced in 'Dialogues des Carmelites de Poulenc', L'Avant-scène Opéra, no. 52, Paris, May 1983, p. 37. 159. Letter to Maurice Jacquemont, 25 November [1956], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-23, p. 854. 160. Letter to Georges Hirsch, no date, quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 850, n. 3. [Translator's note: The very popular Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris was known for the sumptuousness of its lavish stage productions.] 161. Unpublished letter from Albert Béguin to Francis Poulenc, 8 August 1956, BnF Mus. 162. Letter of Maurice Jacquemont to Francis Poulenc, 12 December 1956, quoted in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), p. 856, n. 1. 163. Letter to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, 1 May [1957], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 57-18, p. 869; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 145. 164. Letter to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, 9 June [1957], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 57-20, p. 871; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 246. 165. Duval, Denise (1983), 'Des Folies-Bergères aux Dialogues', interviewed by Alain Duault in L'Avant-scène Opéra, no. 52, Paris, p. 103. 166. Denise Duval (Blanche), Denise Scharley (Madame de Croissy), Régine Crespin (Madame Lidoine), Rita Gorr (Mother Marie), Liliane Berton (Constance) Xavier Depraz (Marquis de la Force), Jean Giraudeau (Le Chevalier). 167. Letter to Maurice Jacquemont [September 1957], Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 57-28, pp. 879-82. 168. Letter from Béguin to Francis Poulenc, 5 July 1955, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 55-8, p. 823. 169. Letter from Daniel Pézeril to Francis Poulenc quoted in Hell, Henri (1978), Francis Poulenc, Paris: Fayard, p. 257. 170. Cahiers de I'Heme (1961), devoted to Georges Bernanos, Paris: Editions de 1'Heme, p. 160. 344 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. Letter from Poulenc to Hervé Dugardin, 30 March 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 890. 2. Pincherle, Marc (1959), 'Francis Poulenc a donné de nouveaux accents à La Voix humaine de Jean Cocteau' in Les Nouvelles littéraires, 12 February, p. 5. 3. Letter to Pierre Bernac, [March 1958], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-4, p. 887; trans. Correspondence (éd. Buckland), p. 250. The 'Richard' to whom Poulenc refers is Richard Chanlaire, a painter and lifelong friend of Poulenc's. 4. Ibid. The sole protagonist in La Voix humaine is referred to simply as 'She'. 5. Ibid. 6. Letter to Hervé Dugardin, 30 March 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, pp. 889-90. 7. Ibid., p. 890. 8. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Easter 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 892; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 252. 9. Letter to Hervé Dugardin, 30 March 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 890. Poulenc wrote similarly to Pierre Bernac in a letter dated Easter 1958: 'I can think of nothing but La Voix humaine. The sole protagonist is more or less myself- not that Louis is ditching me (he is an angel) but military life is taking him away from me this autumn.' Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 892; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 252. POULENC, COCTEAU AND LA VOIX HUMAINE 345 10. Telegram to Hervé Dugardin [2 June 1958], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 895. 11. See Waleckx, Denis, 'In search of a libretto', Chapter 10, this volume. 12. Particularly since it was followed by La Dame de Monte-Carlo, a work which also introduces a single female protagonist. Despite its modest dimensions (7 mins), this monologue for soprano and orchestra can readily be included in Poulenc's stage works. 13. It is well known that in 1930, Balanchine proposed a slightly different story-line for Aubade, introducing the character of Actéon. This scenario was taken up by numerous subsequent choreographers, including Serge Lifar. While Poulenc at first briefly tolerated this new version, he very soon rejected it as 'contrary to his musical conception'. He was to have great difficulty reinstating the original scenario for the November 1952 revival of the ballet, and his efforts only met with public rejection. That Poulenc persisted in wanting his original concept to be respected is fair proof of the fact that he considered Aubade to be an essentially 'female' ballet and was intent upon it remaining so. 14. Duval, Denise (1993), '"Denise Duval Pamie", Denise Duval, l'amie', interview with Renaud Machart in Le Monde de la musique, no. 162, January, p. 48. 15. Janine Reiss was Denise Duval's singing teacher. 16. Duval, Denise (1983), 'Une œuvre que j'ai vue naître' in L'Avant-Scène Opéra, no. 52, May, p. 134. The singer was also responsible for the later omission of the scene with the dog, indicated in the Ricordi edition for piano and voice as an optional cut. According to Duval this scene destroyed the emotional tension: 'I could hear the audience beginning to cough and to fidget.' See Berenguer, Bruno (1992), Denise Duval/Francis Poulenc, une rencontre privilégiée entre un compositeur et son interprète, mémoire de DEA, direction Danièle Pistone, Université de Paris IV, p. 29. 17. Moi et mes amis, p. 52. 18. Poulenc (1958), interviewed by Francine Bloch, recorded 15 December (40 mins). Paris: Phonothèque nationale, tape no. 216. 19. La Voix humaine was first performed to great acclaim by Berthe Bovy at the Comédie Française in 1930. 20. Raymond Radiguet (1903-23) was a poet and novelist, a protégé and intimate friend of Cocteau. Radiguet entered the Parisian literary milieu at the age of fifteen, working as a journalist and contributing poems and articles to avant-garde reviews. He died of typhoid at the age of twenty. See Raymond Radiguet: Oeuvres complètes (1993), edited by Chloé Radiguet and Julien Cendres, Paris: Editions Stock. 21. Duval 1983, p. 134. 22. Cocteau, Jean (1983), preface to La Voix humaine, a play in one act, Paris: Editions Stock, pp. 7-9. 23. Ibid. 24. Letter to Louis Aragon, 1 February [1959], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 59-2, p. 907; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 258. 25. Cocteau (1983), Décor de 'La Voix humaine', pièce en un acte, Paris: Editions Stock, p. 16. 26. See Buckland, Sidney (1994), La Voix humaine: The Work, booklet included in CD La Voix humaine, Jane Rhodes (soprano), IN A: Mémoire Vive, collection directed by Renaud Machart. Ref: 262019 WM 334,1994INA. 346 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 27. Bloch, Francine ( 1958), Interview with Francis Poulenc. See n. 18. 28. Sadoul, Robert (1958), Radio interview with Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau, broadcast in Actualités de Midi, recorded July 1958. Paris: INA. 29. See note 16. 30. Rostand, Claude (1959), in L'Heure de Culture Française; la vie intellectuelle, radio programme recorded on 11 March and broadcast on 12 March 1959. Paris: INA. 31. Poulenc, Francis ( 1958), Nouvelles Musicales, radio programme broadcast on 19 May 1958. Paris: INA. 32. Poulenc, Francis (1959), 'Notes pour Y interprétation musicale' in La Voix humaine, tragédie lyrique en un acte, text by Jean Cocteau, score for voice and piano, Paris: Editions Ricordi. 33. Prêtre, Georges (1972), radio programme Une saison d'Opéra, recorded 11 July, broadcast 5 September 1972, duration: 33'25", Paris: INA. 34. In a letter to Hervé Dugardin, March 1958, Poulenc wrote: The sequence with the dog is unbelievable with a sudden surge of tenderness that breaks your heart on "Poor creature; He loves you; He thinks perhaps that I have done you harm."' See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 889. 35. See note 16. 36. Poulenc, Francis ( 1958), Nouvelles Musicales, radio programme broadcast on 19 May 1958. Paris: INA. 37. Ibid. 38. Poulenc, Francis (1959), 'Notes pour l'interprétation musicale' in La Voix humaine, tragédie lyrique en un acte, text by Jean Cocteau, score for voice and piano, Paris: Editions Ricordi. 39. Sadoul, Robert (1958), Radio interview with Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau. See n. 28. 40. Lacombe, Henri (1992), 'La Voix humaine' in Dictionnaire des œuvres de l'Art Vocal, Paris: Editions Bordas, vol. 3, p. 2205. 41. Poulenc, Francis (1959), 'Notes pour l'interprétation musicale', op. cit., note 38. 42. Poulenc, Francis (1959), La Voix humaine, tragédie lyrique en un acte', text by Jean Cocteau; orchestral score, Paris: Editions Ricordi, p. 117. 43. Letter to Hervé Dugardin, 30 March 1958, Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-7, p. 889. 44. Ibid. 45. From no. 64, accompanying the phone calls of the heroine. 46. Poulenc, Francis (1959), 'Notes pour l'interprétation musicale', op. cit., note 38. 47. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Easter 1958, in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 891 ; trans. Correspondence (éd. Buckland), p. 252. 48. Letter to Louis Aragon, 1 February [1959], Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 59-2, p. 907; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 258. 49. Letter to Pierre Bernac, Easter 1958, Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 892; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 252. 50. Duval, Denise (1983), 'Une œuvre que j'ai vue naître' in L'Avant-Scène Opéra, no. 52, May, p. 134. 51. Sadoul, Robert (1958), radio interview with Francis Poulenc and Jean Cocteau. See n. 28. 52. Duval, Denise (1983). POULENC, COCTEAU AND LA VOIX HUMAINE 347 53. * When we arrived in Cannes to work on La Voix humaine, [Cocteau] was staying with Francine Weisweiller, and had not heard the musical score: Poulenc had only just finished it. He played it for him once or twice and then [Cocteau] divided the score into four. There were some 98 or 100 pages ... In no time he knew it by heart.' In Radioscopie de Denise Duval, programme by Jacques Chancel, recorded 1 December 1969, broadcast 1 December 1969 and repeated on 20 August 1970. Duration 55'40". Paris: INA. 54. Ibid. 55. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-20, pp. 902-5, including drawings; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 254-6. 56. Cocteau, Jean (1959), La Voix humaine, tragédie lyrique en un acte. Score for piano and voice, Paris: Ricordi. 57. See unpublished letters from Poulenc to Georges Hirsch [August 1959] and 22 August [1959], nos 26 and 28, in Bibliothèque de l'Opéra, Paris. See also Waleckx, Denis (1996), pp. 354-5. 58. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes): to Louis Aragon, letter 59-2, p. 907; to Paul Collaer, letter 58-12, p. 895; to Rose Dercourt-Plaut, letter 59-1, p. 906; trans, of 59-2 and 59-1, Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 257-8. 360 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. For discussion of the Britten-Milhaud dimension, see Donald Mitchell and Philip Reed (1994), The French Connection: Britten-Milhaud-Poulenc', in the programme book for the Aldeburgh October Britten Festival, pp. 8-17, hereafter DMPR (1994), and David Drew, 'Britten and His Fellow Composers', in Philip Reed (ed.) (1995), On Britten and Mahler: Essays in Honour of Donald Mitchell on His Seventieth Birthday (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press/The Britten-Pears Library), pp. 153-5. 2. Carl B. Schmidt notes that 'English productions [of Les Biches] under Diaghilev referred to this ballet by the title House Party': see Schmidt, p. 100, n. 3. The extract from Britten's diary was first published in DMPR (1994), p. 8. 3. See also Donald Mitchell, 'Schoenberg in Lowestoft: A Chronology Compiled from Britten's Pocket Diaries (1928-1939)', in Chris Banks, Arthur Searle and Malcolm Turner (eds) (1993), Sundry Sorts of Music Books (London: The British Library), p. 361. That part of Britten's diary entry containing the reference to Poulenc was first published in DMPR (1994), p. 8. 4. See Peter Dickinson, The Music of Lennox Berkeley (London: Thames Publishing, 1988), pp. 79-80. 5. For an account of these concerts and their cultural significance, see Tony Mayer, 'Subtle Values of the Spirit: Les Concerts de Musique Française de Londres', in the programme book for the Aldeburgh October Britten Festival, 1994, pp. 49-52. 6. Britten described the concert in a letter to Peter Pears, 25 September 1942: 'I was at the Wigstein playing the Celeste last night. Quite nicely, but it's a peskey little instrument - 1 nearly pushed it over trying to make a noise on it! I found counting the bars a trial tho' - Dennis Brain helped me, & we got on alright, except one spot when I had (in the Durey) to do the same thing for about 12 bars & forgot to count them. However, when Reginald Goodall started looking angry, I decided to stop! ' (Donald Mitchell and Philip Reed (eds) (1991), Letters from a Life: The Selected Letters and Diaries of Benjamin Britten 1913-1976, vol. 2 (London: Faber and Faber), p. 1080). Tony Mayer recalls that Britten had been 'pleased to accept the job - for a fee of three guineas! ' POULENC, BRITTEN, ALDEBURGH 361 7. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), p. 579, n. 5. 8. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 45-1, p. 578; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland),p. 147. 9. Both these scores are in the collection of the Britten-Pears Library, Aldeburgh: GB-ALb 2-9202936 and 2-9202935. Poulenc also gave Britten at this time a copy of the piano score of his one-act ballet Les Animaux modèles {GB-ALb 2-9203158), once again generously inscribed: Tour Benjamin Britten, musicien modèle, avec l'espoir de devenir son ami[.] Très fidèlement Francis Poulenc Londres, janvier 1945'. 10. See Mitchell and Reed (eds), op. cit., note 6, pp. 1236-7. A letter from Poulenc to Victor Hely-Hutchinson, Director of Music at the BBC [1 December 1944], suggests that the composer knew at least a month in advance that he would be in London in January: see Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 44-18, p. 576. 11. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 104, cited in Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 369. 12. See Mitchell and Reed (eds), op. cit., note 6, pp. 1242-3. 13. See Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 45-4, p. 586, nn. 1 and 3. 14. Mitchell and Reed (eds), op. cit., note 6, p. 1249. 15. DMPR(1994),pp.9-10. 16. See also Poulenc's letter to Bernac [28 July 1954] in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-21, pp. 796-8; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 220. 17. Tony Mayer had introduced a programme of 'Musique concrète' at the Aldeburgh Festival on 14 June 1954. 18. DMPR(1994),p. 10. 19. Poulenc was suffering from severe depression due to the breakdown of his relationship with Lucien Roubert, compounded by copyright problems concerning his opera Dialogues des Carmélites. See Claude Gendre, Chapter 11, this volume and letters 54-19 to 54-41 in Correspondance (ed. Chimènes); letters 250 to 259 in Correspondence (ed. Buckland). 20. DMPR(1994),p. 10. 21. As he had done in 1945. Britten customarily took the second part in piano duets or two-piano works with whomever he was partnering. 22. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-41, p. 814; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 228. 23. Musical Times (March 1955), p. 153. 24. For a discussion of the Balinese aspects of Poulenc's Concerto for two pianos and their influence on Britten's own synthesis of gamelan, see Mervyn Cooke (1998), Britten and the Far East (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press/The Britten-Pears Library), pp. 15-17. 25. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 54-41, p. 818; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 228-9. 26. Dated Evian, 4 July 1956: Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-10, p. 842; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), pp. 240-41. Poulenc wrote to Simone Girard from Aldeburgh on 24 June: 'Britten and Pears are sensational. They do everything here, and marvellously well. They played Mozart for four hands adorably! ! ! The weather is good for England but one is freezing cold all the same. ' Ibid. (ed. Chimènes), letter 56-8, p. 839; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 240. 362 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 27. DMPR(1994),p. 12. 28. The 1953 commercial recording, conducted by André Cluytens, with Denise Duval. It seems likely that Poulenc had given this to Britten during the Aldeburgh Festival. 29. In their appreciation of Poulenc published in the 1964 Aldeburgh Festival Programme Book, Britten and Pears recalled one episode from this 1956 visit to Suffolk: 'No one who saw it will ever forget his agony in a boat on Thorpeness Meare, and it was really his horror of the sea which finally stopped him from coming back to Aldeburgh ...' 30. The author of the translation is not identified in the programme for the performance. 31. DMPR (1994), pp. 12-13. 32. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 57-24, p. 876; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 248. 33. Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 58-8, p. 891 ; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 251. 34. Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 58-13, p. 895; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 253. 35. DMPR (1994), p. 14. 36. J. & W. Chester, Poulenc's London publishers. 37. DMPR (1994), p. 14. 38. Anthony Gishford (ed.), Tribute to Benjamin Britten on His Fiftieth Birthday (London: Faber and Faber, 1963), p. 13. See also Correspondance (ed. Chimènes), letter 62-23, p. 1004; trans. Correspondence (ed. Buckland), p. 296. 39. In a letter to the composer William Alwyn, May 1971, Pears was to write: '[Tel jour telle nuit] has always been a favorite [sic] of Ben and myself and we have done it quite a lot.' The quotations from the diaries, letters and other writings of Benjamin Britten are © copyright the Trustees of the Britten-Pears Foundation and may not be further reproduced without the written permission of the Trustees. The quotation from the letter of Peter Pears is © copyright the Executors of the late Sir Peter Pears and may not be further reproduced without written permission. 380 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE Notes 1. This programme, broadcast in the autumn of 1947, was the first in the series 'A bâtons rompus'. 2. Vuillermoz, Emile (1938), 'La parabole du semeur' in Excelsior, May. 3. The first programme in this series dates from 20 January 1946. Presented as instructive talks, these broadcasts gave rise to an edition in three volumes entitled Plaisir de la musique, by Roland-Manuel with the collaboration of Nadia Tagrine: vol. 1 : Les éléments de la musique (Paris: Seuil, 1947); vol. 2: La musiquejusqu 'à Beethoven (Paris: Seuil, 1950); vol. 3: De Beethoven à nos jours (1951, Paris: Seuil). 4. Poulenc, Francis (1954), Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, Paris: Juîîiard; Poulenc, Francis (1963), Moi et mes amis, confidences recueillies par Stéphane Audel, Paris-Geneva: La Palatine. 5. See also Kayas, Lucie (1999), Francis Poulenc: 'A bâtons rompus ', Arles: Actes Sud. 6. Les Temps modernes was a literary, philosophical and political review founded by Sartre in October 1945, in collaboration with R. Aron, M. Merleau-Ponty, S. de Beauvoir, and M. Leiris. It reflected the views of the non-communist Left at that time. 7. See Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 45-12, n. 1, p. 595 and letter to Henry Barraud, 45-17, pp. 599-600. 8. Jolivet, André (1937), 'Expressions lyrique du machinisme dans la musique', Radio Paris, 20 February. The typescript can be found in the André Jolivet Archives, Paris. 9. See Milhaud, Darius ( 1952), Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, Paris: Julliard. 10. Rés. Vmc. ms. 125, 126 (1-5) and 131. See Appendix, p. 383. 11. See Vidal, Pierre (1988), introduction to Francis Poulenc par lui-même, recording of a talk given by Poulenc at the Club des Trois Centres on 10 January 1962; set of two cassettes issued privately by Les Amis de Francis Poulenc, Paris, 1988: 'Poulenc was an anxious man who did not like to subject himself to the question-and-answer game widely practised by some of his colleagues. He preferred to speak alone, with a plan in mind, while pretending to improvise.' 12. For a detailed study of the historical context of these programmes, see Bousser-Eck, Edith-Hélène (1997), La radiodiffusion française sous la IVe République. Monopole et service public (août 1944-décembre 1953). Doctoral thesis in history, directed by Jean-Jacques Becker, Université de Paris X Nanterre. 13. A bâtons rompus, 'Folklore du XXe siècle', probably 1948. 14. A bâtons rompus, 'La délicieuse mauvaise musique', probably April 1948. 15. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 18. 16. A bâtons rompus, 'La délicieuse mauvaise musique', April 1948. 17. A bâtons rompus, 'Maurice Chevalier', autumn 1947. 18. Paul César Helleu (1859-1927), French painter and engraver, renowned particularly for his svelte, elongated portraits of women typifying 'La Belle Epoque'. 19. A bâtons rompus, 'Louis Ganne', 26 March 1949. 20. Moi et mes amis, p. 188. 21. A bâtons rompus, 'Igor Stravinsky', January 1949. FRANCIS POULENC - DISC JOCKEY 381 22. Ibid. Poulenc refers to his lunch at Stravinsky's home in Hollywood in December 1948. The opera which Stravinsky was working on was The Rake's Progress. 23. Moi et mes amis, p. 87. 24. In 1937 Poulenc and Pierre Bernac recorded songs by Satie, Le Chapelier, Daphénéo, La Statue de bronze (Gram DA 4893). In 1950, Poulenc recorded piano pieces by Satie for Columbia (MC 4399): Gymnopédies, Gnossiennes, Sarabande 2, Descriptions automatiques, Avant-Dernières Pensées; then for la Boîte à Musique. 25. A bâtons rompus, 'Erik Satie', broadcast on 19 March 1948. Poulenc expresses this view almost identically in his interviews with Stéphane Audel, pp. 87-8. 26. A bâtons rompus, 'Espagne', autumn 1948. 27. Ibid. 28. Ibid. 29. Moi et mes amis, 'Manuel de Falla', pp. 122-3. 30. A bâtons rompus, 'Espagne', autumn 1948. 31. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, pp. 23-4. 32. Ibid. 33. A bâtons rompus, 'Claude Debussy', 12 February 1949. 34. Ibid. 35. Ravel's citation as Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in an official announcement of 15 January 1920 had unleashed Satie's fury. Despite Ravel's refusal of the honour Satie jibed in Le Coq in January 1921: 'Ravel refuses the Légion d'honneur, but all of his music accepts it.' Allying themselves with Satie in public protest was a group of young composers including Poulenc, Milhaud and Sauguet with, at their head, Georges Auric. The following year, Auric signed a definitive article entitled: 'Taking leave of Ravel'. Quoted in Mamat, Marcel (1986), Maurice Ravel, Paris: Fayard, p. 487. 36. A bâtons rompus, 'Maurice Ravel', 28 December 1947. 37. Ibid. 38. Moi et mes amis, 'Maurice Ravel', pp. 178-9. 39. Ibid. 40. Ibid, p. 180. 41. A bâtons rompus, 'Ravel orchestrateur', 1949. 42. Entretiens avec Claude Rostand, p. 121. 43. A bâtons rompus, 'Bêla Bartók and Alban Berg', recorded 19 February 1949. 44. Ibid. 45. See particularly his concert presentation of Bartók's Second Quartet (manuscript, Paris: André Joli vet Archives). 46. A bâtons rompus, 'Bêla Bartók and Alban Berg', 1949. 47. A bâtons rompus, 'Wanda Landowska', recorded 22 January 1949. 48. See Journal de mes mélodies (éd. Machart), p. 29 and n. 100. 49. A bâtons rompus, 'Francis Poulenc', May 1948. 50. A bâtons rompus, 'Francis Poulenc', recorded on 29 January 1949. Poulenc's Concerto for two pianos had been recorded by RCA-Victor in 1948, with A. Whittemore and J. Lowe, and the New York Philharmonic conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos. 51. A vitriolic series of record reviews well known to French listeners. 52. A bâtons rompus, 'Francis Poulenc', recorded on 29 January 1949. 382 FRANCIS POULENC: MUSIC, ART AND LITERATURE 53. A bâtons rompus, 'Wanda Landowska', recorded 22 January 1949. 54. See for example the paragraph concerning Stéphane Audel in Poulenc's letter to Pierre Bernac, 6 January 1953 in Correspondance (éd. Chimènes), letter 53-1, p. 745. 55. A bâtons rompus, 'L'Influence de la foire', broadcast 24 April 1948. 56. Ibid., * Weber', broadcast 22 May 1948. 57. Examples of Poulenc's style of delivery as a child can be found in his holiday diary, * Journal de Vacances (1911-1912)', first published privately by Les Amis de Francis Poulenc, Paris, and reprinted in Kayas, Lucie (ed.) (1999), Francis Poulenc: 'A bâtons rompus ', Arles: Actes Sud.