Francis Poulenc

Suite for Piano, FP 19

Completed in March 1920, Francis Poulenc's (1899-1963) Suite pour Piano, FP 19, is characteristic of his early piano style. Displaying a marked influence from Stravinsky, it deftly combines the sensitivity of Baroque harpsichord music with classical brio. Ricardo Viñes gave the first performance on April 10 at the Paris Conservatory for a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique. Present at the premiere, the English music critic Wilfrid Mellers wrote that "all three movements distil luminosity from C major scales." (6:00)