Francis Poulenc - Sonata for Flute and Piano

Composer: Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (7 January 1899 -- 30 January 1963)
Performers: Michel Debost (flute), Jacques Février (piano)
Year of recording: 1973

Sonata for flute & piano, FP 164, written in 1956-1957.

00:00 - I. Allegretto malincolico
04:54 - II. Cantilena (Assez lent)
09:11 - III. Presto giocoso

The French affection for the flute is brilliantly demonstrated in Francis Poulenc's virtuosic Sonata for Flute and Piano. Each of the work's three movements is fluent and graceful in different ways.

The first movement, Allegro malincolico, sounds sweetly sad rather than melancholy.
The second movement is a dreamy cantilena for flute in an indeterminate key, while...
the third, a chirpy Presto giocoso, puts Romantic ideas to rest with a skittish tune full of relaxed good humor.

The whole is typical of the suave yet piquant style of Poulenc's instrumental music, and the honors (and difficulties!) are shared by both flutist and pianist.

The sonata is dedicated: "à la mémoire de Madame Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge", an American patron of chamber music.