Francis poulenc composer biography

Birth of Francis Poulenc on 7 January. His father, Emile Poulenc, born in , is an industrialist from the Aveyron region who, with his two brothers, runs a chemical factory. His mother, Jenny Royer, is from a family of artisans whose Parisian roots date back several generations.

Jenny sits the young Francis down at the piano and makes him practice Mozart, Schubert and Chopin as well as fashionable romances, ‘loveable bad music’.

‘Oncle Papoum’ (Marcel Royer, Jenny’s brother), who frequently attends the Opéra-Comique, light comedies and avant-garde concerts, reveals Petrushka and The Rite of Spring to the young Francis.

This is a veritable revelation, and, throughout his whole life, Stravinsky will remain a master whom he admires immensely.

As his father insists that he do general and studies and not devote himself exclusively to music, Francis Poulenc does not attend the Conservatoire; meets Ricardo Viñes, Catalan professor introduced by Geneviève Sienkiewicz.

Vi