Francis Poulenc FanSite

One of the members of Les Six and a composer in his own right, Frenchman Francis Poulence was a skilled pianist with a long track record of excellent work. Dabbling in art song, chamber music and opera (among other things), Poulenc was one of the first openly gay composers, and passionately dedicated his work to the people he loved.

And, amazingly enough, he wasn’t formally taught at the Conservatoire of Paris like many of his contemporaries. For the first 21 years of his life he was self taught, and didn’t receive any professional training until 1921.

The Conservatoire has a long history of churning out pros, its former student including Claude Debussy, Jacques-Louis Monod, Jean Langlais and Theodore Dubois, all accomplished musicians. That Poulenc composed as successfully as he did without their training makes his accomplishments doubly impressive. Perhaps because of this he had a reputation for breaking traditions and experimenting (successfully) with his compositions.