Francis Poulenc FanSite

Francis Poulenc was a popular French composer with a gift for musical composition, and this gift shines through in his work even today. Among his most popular is the Francis Poulenc Clarinet Sonata, completed shortly before his death in 1962 and made for clarinets and pianos.

The song as it is may not be exactly what Poulenc envisioned, as it was published posthumously. Editors have had to guess as to what certain notes in the composition are ever since.

Premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1963 by Benny Goodman and Leonard Bernstein three months after Poulenc died, the Clarinet Sonata comes in three distinct movements that differ in pacing from typical compositions of the period. It usually takes 13 minutes to fully perform the Sonata.

The Francis Poulenc Clarinet Sonata was to be among a group of sonatas dedicated to each woodwind instrument, but this goal was cut short by Poulenc’s death.

You can hear some of Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata below: