The two faces of Francis Poulenc

The playful 1920s ballet Les biches

Clown and Monk. They are the two faces of Francis Poulenc. Heir to a large pharmaceutical concern, he enjoyed a carefree childhood and was privately educated. Already in 1921, Poulenc was just 22 years old, Sergei Diaghilev asked him to provide a score for a ballet. The composer came up with the title himself: Les biches (The cuties). An exuberant ballet without a story, interspersed with the necessary sexual connotations.

Poulenc as choral composer

Poulenc experienced a drastic change in 1936, when his good friend, the composer Pierre-Octave Ferroud, died horribly in a car accident. Poulenc visited the shrine of the Black Virgin of Rocamadour and began composing the Litanies à la virgin noire the same evening . From that moment on, spiritual works would play a leading role in his oeuvre, with the Gloria and the Stabat Mater as highlights. Stéphane Denève is not only the new permanent guest conductor of the RFO, he is also chief conductor of the American St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, where 'our' Hans Vonk worked until his retirement from the stage.