Twentieth-century music isn’t always strange or difficult. These two composers wrote ear-pleasing music all their lives.
Atonality, bitonality, jagged melodies, odd time signatures – after World War I, it seemed as if music had gone wild. Composers everywhere began innovating. The listener had to be challenged, and the composer claimed freedom. Quietly enjoying ear-pleasing sounds was no longer possible.
Yet, blood is thicker than water. Some composers simply didn’t have the temperament to provoke. They preferred to critically examine innovations from a distance. The connection with the listener should never be lost. Thus, they wrote music that was clearly composed in the twentieth century, but that you immediately find beautiful.
Francis Poulenc from France and Frank Martin from Switzerland were such composers. During their lifetime, they stood in the shadow of their more radical colleagues. After the war, they were completely out of fashion. Nonetheless, they remained loyal to their style, and there has always been a dedicated audience that continued to support them. From the 1980s, there was even something of a revival: ‘beautiful’ was no longer a dirty word in the world of music, and much of this subdued repertoire was dusted off.
These concerts both date from 1999. The Poulenc concert was given in honor of his 100th birthday. There was no special occasion for the Martin concert. However, his Dutch widow, who survived him for 43 years, ensured that his music was always played.
Francis Poulenc
1. 15 Improvisations pour piano: 1, 15, 13, 12
2. Mélancolie
3. Les biches
4. Caprice in C
5. Vioolsonate
6. Tu vois le feu du soir
7. Le bestiaire
8. Airs chantés
9. Banalités
10. Rosemonde (bew. Joan Berkhemer)
Frank Martin
11. Foxtrot voor twee piano’s
12. Strijktrio
13. Sechs Monologe aus »Jedermann«
14. Strijkkwartet
