Trois Novelettes

Trois Novelettes
Piano music by Francis Poulenc
Key	C major B-flat minor E minor
Catalogue	FP 47 (1,2) FP 173 (3)
Composed	1927 (1) 1928 (2) 1959 (3)

Trois Novelettes (Three Novelettes ) are three short pieces for piano composed by Francis Poulenc.

The first two novelettes, in C major and B-flat minor, FP 47, written in 1927 and 1928 respectively, were originally published together. The third, in E minor, FP 173, was written in 1959. These novelettes demonstrate multi-layered piano writing.^{[ citation needed ]}

• Novelette in C major (1927) is dedicated to Virginie Liénard, a family friend, also the dedicatee of Poulenc's piano suite Soirées de Nazelles (1930–36). The piece features a neo-classical song-like melody interrupted by a central contrasting section.
• Novelette in B-flat minor (1928) is similar in ways to a scherzo. It is dedicated to Poulenc's friend and critic Louis Laloy.
• Novelette in E minor (1959) is based on Manuel de Falla's ⁷
  ₈ theme from El amor brujo (1916), simplified by Poulenc into ³
  ₈ time, and without a contrasting section. It employs fluid arpeggio figures. This piece is dedicated to Poulenc's close friend R. Douglas Gibson.
• Manuel de Falla: Reference is found in Pantomima, Andantino Tranquilo.

Poulenc premiered his first two novelettes at a concert in Paris on 10 June 1928.

References

• Sachania, M. & Potter, C. Francis Poulenc: Three Novelettes for Piano, Chester Music, revised edition (1999).

• Schmidt, Carl B. (1995). The Music of Francis Poulenc (1899–1963): A Catalogue. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN   978-0-19-816336-7.