The Musical Times 104 (March 1963)

By the death of Francis Poulenc we lose a composer of a type that is rare today, for his talent was above all natural and spontaneous. He never sought to bring anything new to music other than the novelty of his own personality, and wrote unashamedly as he felt, paying little heed to musical fashion in so far as his own work was concerned. All through his life, he was content to use conventional harmony, but his use of it was so individual, so immediately recognisable as his own, that it gave his music freshness and validity. It was as a song-writer that he was at his best. He wrote something in the region of 150 songs; in them his melodic invention, his power of expressing subtle and intimate feeling, together with a natural ability for the musical treatment of words and prosody, are everywhere in evidence; also the fact that he was an excellent pianist enabled him to make his piano parts exceptionally interesting and effective. His favourite poets for setting to music were Apollinaire, with whom he had a special affinity, Eluard and Louise de Vilmorin. Even his best songs are too numerous to refer to individually, and it is sad to think that they are as yet so little known in this country.