Figure humaine
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''Figure humaine'' (''Human Figure''), FP 120, by
Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...
is a
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
for double mixed
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
of 12 voices composed in 1943 on texts by
Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
including " 'Liberté". Written during the
Nazi occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
, it was premiered in London in English by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1945. It was first performed in French in 1946 in Brussels, then in Paris on 22 May 1947. The work was published by Éditions Salabert. Cherished as the summit of the composer's work and a masterpiece by musical critics, the cantata is a hymn to ''Liberté'', victorious over tyranny.


Genesis


Meeting with Paul Éluard

The meeting of Francis Poulenc and
Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
dates from 1916 or 1917(p. 122) during the First World War, at the Parisian bookstore of his friend
Adrienne Monnier Adrienne Monnier (26 April 1892 – 19 June 1955) was a French bookseller, writer, and publisher, and an influential figure in the modernist writing scene in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Formative years Monnier was born in Paris on 26 April 18 ...
. When the composer
Georges Auric Georges Auric (; 15 February 1899 – 23 July 1983) was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault, France. He was considered one of ''Les Six'', a group of artists informally associated with Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie. Before he turned 20 he ...
met the writer around 1919, he suggested to Poulenc to set texts by Éluard to music.(p. 123) Éluard was the only surrealist writer who tolerated music,(p. 95) and the musicologist Peter Jost listed the works of Georges Auric and Francis Poulenc on his texts: six for Auric and 34 for Poulenc, augmented by three choral works including ''Figure humaine''.(p. 121) The poems of the cantata are among the most famous by Éluard. They express the "suffering of the people of France" reduced to silence and the hope of the "final triumph of freedom over tyranny".(p. 183)


Composition of the cantata

The Second World War was a pivotal period in the life of the composer. In the ''Entretiens avec
Claude Rostand Claude Rostand (3 December 1912 – 9 October 1970) was a French musicologist, musicographer and music critic. Biography While studying literature and law at the Sorbonne, Rostand studied piano, harmony, counterpoint and musical compositio ...
'', he specifies "Some privileged persons, of whom I was one, had the comfort of receiving morning letters, marvellous typed poems, below whose names we guessed the signature of Paul Éluard. This is how I received most of the poems ''Poésie et Vérité 42''.(p. 182) Poulenc rented a small two-room apartment in
Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne (, literally ''Beaulieu on Dordogne''; oc, Belluec) is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, central France. Beaulieu is a medieval city, originally dominated by its great abbey of St Pierr ...
and began composing a
violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
at the request of
Ginette Neveu Ginette Neveu (11 August 191928 October 1949) was a French classical violinist. She was killed in a plane crash at the age of 30. Early life Neveu was born on 11 August 1919 in Paris into a musical family. Her brother Jean-Paul became a class ...
but quickly abandoned this work. A hypothesis advanced by
Renaud Machart Renaud Machart (born 22 March 1962) is a French journalist, music critic, radio producer and music producer. Biography Renaud Machart was born in Lannion, and first studied music under the direction of his father and then with Claudette Bohn, pr ...
mentions the genesis of this cantata. He suggests that a play on Éluard's poem '' Liberté'' poem would have been commissioned in March 1943 by Henri Screpel, the then director of "Les Discophiles Français", in parallel with another commission for a choral work by Louis de Vocht and the choir of Sainte-Cécile of Antwerp.(p. 139) The composition of the cantata ended at the end of the summer of 1943. Poulenc's correspondence with his intimate friend Geneviève Sienkiewicz evokes the process of writing ''Figure humaine''. Retired to Beaulieu, he wrote to his friend in August 1943: "I am working on a cantata a capella on poems by Éluard. (...) I have already done the 3/4 of this cycle and I am not dissatisfied with it".Letter dated August 1943, Beaulieu, (p. 252) He evokes the sad apartment where he resides in Beaulieu with a view of the bell tower and states: "It was by contemplating it, solid and so French, that I conceived the music of ''Liberté''Letter dated August 1945, (p. 254) which closes the cantata. The publisher Paul Rouart agreed to publish the work despite the Occupation and sent it to London, which allowed it to be created by the BBC in 1945. The training required complicated its execution, but in his ''Entretiens avec Claude Rostand'' Poulenc declares his wish that this "act of faith may be expressed without the aid of the instrument, through the mere voice of the human voice".(p. 186)


Premiere

''Figure humaine'' was premiered in English by the
BBC Chorus There have been three choirs named The BBC Chorus in the history of the British Broadcasting Corporation. * 1. Today's BBC Symphony Chorus. Founded in 1928 as the BBC National Chorus, it changed its name to the BBC Chorus in 1932, before changin ...
under their director
Leslie Woodgate Hubert Leslie Woodgate (15 April 190018 May 1961) was an English choral conductor, composer, and writer of books on choral music. He was born in London, and educated at Westminster School and the Royal College of Music. During the 1920s, he was ...
on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1945, The date of 25 March 1945 is advanced by Myriam Chimenes in the edition of a part of the unpublished correspondence of Poulenc with Geneviève Sienkiewicz then in Brussels (Belgium) in French on 2 December 1946 by the ''Chœurs de la radiodiffusion flamande'' under the direction of
Paul Collaer Paul Collaer (Boom, 8 June 1891 - Brussels, 10 December 1989) was a Belgian musicologist, pianist, and conductor of Flemish background. Through concerts and radio broadcastings, he played an important role in the popularization of 20th century musi ...
. The French premiere took place at the in Paris on 22 May 1947.


Reception and legacy

According to biographer
Henri Hell Henri Hell, pseudonym for José Enrique Lasry (1916 – April 1991) was a French art, music and literary critic, as well as a musicologist. Biography As a literary critic, Henri Hell collaborated with ', '' Combat'', ''la Table Ronde'', '' l'Expr ...
, it is in the choral domain that Francis Poulenc wrote his most accomplished works,''Sept Chansons pour chœur a capella'', the ''
Messe en sol majeur ' (Mass in G major), FP 89, is a missa brevis by Francis Poulenc. He set most parts of the Latin mass to music in 1937, scored for a mixed choir a cappella. History Poulenc turned to sacred music first in 1937 when he composed the mass ''Mess ...
'', ''
Chanson à boire A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. In Germany, drinking songs are ...
'', ''
Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence ' (''Four Penitential Motets''), FP 97, are four sacred motets composed by Francis Poulenc in 1938–39. He wrote them on Latin texts for penitence, scored for four unaccompanied voices. Structure and texts The four motets are: # Timor et tre ...
'', '' Stabat Mater'', ''
Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...
'', '' Sept répons des ténèbres'' leaning more to ''
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
'' works than to accompanied ones(p. 115) and describes ''Figure humaine'' as one of the most striking works of contemporary choral music,(p. 181) "wonderfully polyphonic, rich and complex sound texture". However, the composition of the double chorus makes its execution difficult, and the work was only resumed on 27 May 1959 at
salle Gaveau The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music. Construction The plans for th ...
in Paris for the composer's 60th anniversary. The cantata is considered by some to be the absolute masterpiece of the composer.(p. 138) In a letter dated October 28, 1943 addressed to his friend the Princess of Polignac, Poulenc confides "I believe that this is what I did best. It is in any case a major work for me if it is not for French music".(p. 140)


Structure and analysis

The cantata is written for a double mixed choir and twelve real parts and is divided into eight movements: # ''De tous les printemps du monde'' # ''En chantant, les servantes s'élancent'' # ''Aussi bas que le silence'' # ''Toi ma patiente'' # ''Riant du ciel et des planètes'' # ''Le jour m'étonne et la nuit me fait peur'' # ''La menace sous le ciel rouge'' # ''Liberté''


''De tous les printemps du monde''

This first song is of a duration of 2 minutes 40. It develops a final which possesses reminiscences of '' Sécheresses''.(p. 110)


''En chantant, les servantes s'élancent''

This second song has an execution time of about 2 minutes. Of a quasi-instrumental writing, notably in the repetition of the sung notes "la, la, la", it is written in the manner of a "Scherzo" and presents a rhythm more pronounced than the other songs, more melodic and harmonic.


''Aussi bas que le silence''

This third song has a duration of 1 minute 40 seconds.


''Toi ma patiente''

This fourth song has a duration of 2 minutes. If the cantata conjugates the emotions, regret, pain, violence, sadness, it is tenderness that emerges from ''Toi ma patiente'' for the first solo chorus. There is a harmonious resemblance of this song with ''Une barque sur l'océan'' from the ''
Miroirs upRavel in 1907 ''Miroirs'' (French for "Mirrors") is a five-movement suite for solo piano written by French composer Maurice Ravel between 1904 and 1905."Miroirs". Maurice Ravel Frontispice. First performed by Ricardo Viñes in 1906, ''Miroir ...
'' by
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
.


''Riant du ciel et des planètes''

The fifth song has a run time of one minute.


''Le jour m'étonne et la nuit me fait peur''

This sixth song has a duration of 2 minutes. The tenderness that emanates from the fourth song ''Toi ma patiente'' is revealed again in this episode. The second solo choir intones a "melody of a sad and heart-rending sweetness,(p. 184) accompanied by a murmur by the other voices of the choir. Considered by
Renaud Machart Renaud Machart (born 22 March 1962) is a French journalist, music critic, radio producer and music producer. Biography Renaud Machart was born in Lannion, and first studied music under the direction of his father and then with Claudette Bohn, pr ...
as the most moving passage in the cantata, this song is a melody shedding "on a harmony of splendid simplicity".


''La menace sous le ciel rouge''

This seventh song is of a duration of 3 minutes. "Carried away and rough", this episode starts with a
fugue In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
begun by the altos choir of the first chorus, then resumed together by the two choirs until the words ''La pourriture avait du cœur''. The movement gives way to the initial tempo where the two choirs sing together, first ''
pianissimo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependin ...
'', then ''
crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer dependi ...
'' until the end of a "magnificent magnitude". A long silence introduces the eighth and last part of the cantata, ''Liberté''.


''Liberté''

This eighth and last song has an execution time of about 4 minutes. A true hymn to "freedom," or according to Henri Hell of the "litanies of Liberty", this song based on the poem by Éluard which includes 21 stanzas of four verses built on the model of the first: It is only after the last stanza that the word ''Liberté'' breaks out, as if to emphasize it better. Emotions appear in each stropes, softness, tenderness, sadness, strength and violence, moving from "one to the other with an invisible suppleness".(p. 185) The final bars are notoriously challenging, with the highest soprano in each chorus required to hit an E6 at the work's climactic conclusion.


Selected discography

* ''
Swedish Radio Choir The Swedish Radio Choir is a professional choir. It is part of Sveriges Radio, the public radio broadcasting company of Sweden. The choir consists of 32 singers and their chorus master Marc Korovitch. Peter Dijkstra is the choir's most recent chief ...
'',
Eric Ericson Eric Gustaf Ericson (26 October 1918 – 16 February 2013) was a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher. Life and career He graduated from the Royal College of Music (''Kungl. Musikhögskolan'') in Stockholm in 1943 and w ...
, Electrola/His Master's Voice (1971) – first recording * ''
The Sixteen The Sixteen are a United Kingdom-based choir and period instrument orchestra; founded by Harry Christophers, they started as an unnamed group of sixteen friends in 1977, giving their first billed concert in 1979. The group performs early Engl ...
'',
Harry Christophers Richard Henry Tudor "Harry" Christophers CBE FRSCM (born 26 December 1953) is an English conductor. Life and career Richard Henry Tudor Christophers was born in Goudhurst, Kent. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Al ...
, Virgin Classics (1993) * ''
Tenebrae Tenebrae (—Latin for "darkness") is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total ...
'',
Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the w ...
, Signum Classics (2010)


Notes


References


Sources

* * * *


Bibliography

* * * *


External links


''Figure Humaine'' Francis Poulenc, Paul Eluard. ''Figure humaine''. Conductor Stephen Layton.
on YouTube
''Figure Humaine''
on Tenebrae choir
Q&A: How to practice “Figure humaine” by Francis Poulenc
on gretchensaathoff.com
''Figure humaine''
on data.bnf.fr
Poulenc Figure Humaine Review
on BBC {{DEFAULTSORT:Figure humaine 1943 compositions Compositions by Francis Poulenc Choral compositions Cantatas Music based on poems