The tuneful, energetic concerto was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to restore relations between Paris, Poulenc's hometown, and the United States after the Second World War. It was premiered by the BSO with Charles Munch conducting and the composer at the piano on 6 January 1950, but was not particularly well received. It was noted that there was "more sympathy than real enthusiasm," which the composer attributed to the notion that the audience had listened to too much Sibelius. One critic wrote in Le Figaro: "Certainly it isn’t a concerto at all but a little picture of manners, done up by a minor master." But Poulenc wrote: "I lead an austere existence in this very Puritan town."
Date of composition | 1949 |
Premiered | 1950, January 6th |
First published | 1950 |
Type | Concerto |
Tonality | C-sharp Minor |
Catalogue | FP 146 |
Approx. duration | 20 minutes |
Instruments |
Piano
Orchestra |
Links | |
Autotranslations beta |
Francis Poulenc: Concerto pour piano en do dièse mineur, FP 146 Francis Poulenc: Concerto per pianoforte in do diesis minore, FP 146 Francis Poulenc: Konzert für Klavier cis-moll, FP 146 |