Poulenc Paper

Ugh. Just completed my 10 page paper due at midnight on the state of the research on Poulenc's chamber works for strings. I spent literally all day working on it, except for an hour for rehearsal with Rachel and Robbie, and an hour for dinner. I'm hungry and brain-dead, and I'm going to reward myself with a beer. My citations are far from perfect, I suspect, but the fact that I somehow managed to write 10 full pages today about a topic that has a dearth of good sources is enough for me. Provided I give a decent presentation, I am sure I'll get a passing grade for the class. It won't be an A, but at this point in the semester I don't care anymore.

It's been very interesting and entertaining researching Poulenc. I wish I had chosen one of his major works with more sources available. But it was very useful to understanding the violin sonata and I have rarely made more informed musical decisions regarding interpretation of a piece. I mentioned the Poulenc cello sonata to Robbie today, but though he said he likes what he's listened to so far, I'm not holding my breath that he'll commit to learn it. I think he and Rachel will work on a cello sonata next semester.

Poulenc was an entertaining man and it shows in his works. I've run across several funny remarks he made in various letters, such as, "How is Paris? Is it serializing itself at top speed?"
Poulenc to Henri Sauguet (1954).

This project has also been a doorway to learning about French music as a whole, of which I'm shamefully ignorant, except for Debussy. It was nice learning the Saint Saens Piano Trio as well. Sometimes I'm not sure how to describe myself as a player. I think I'm a great listener and I support others well. I love being in ensembles. I'd prefer playing second violin to first. But I don't think I have many outstanding qualities besides working well with others. If I had to pick something, I'd love to become a player with amazing colors. Right now my vibrato and shifting and bow control are all one dimensional. I'm very much looking forward to learning the Debussy sonata.