Francis Poulenc: A Bio-Bibliography

(Hardback)

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Francis Poulenc: A Bio-Bibliography is a thorough presentation of the works of this often performed and critically appreciated 20th-century composer. George R. Keck traces events in Poulenc's life and offers a list of works and performances with the primary focus on those facts and influences which contributed to the development of the composer's distinctive musical style. Included in the text is a substantial discography as well as annotated entries by and about the composer which cover every phase of his career and affirm Poulenc's place in 20th-century music. The highly selective annotated bibliography comprises the major portion of the text. Since Keck's documentation of the development of Poulenc's style covers only representative works, he includes a list of all of Poulenc's compositions, arranged both alphabetically and chronologically, in the two appendixes. A complete index of names, places, and titles concludes the book.

Reviews

Poulenc's music is widely performed and extremely popular, and Keck's biobibliography, the first of its kind, should therefore be enthusiastically welcomed. Although the annotated bibliography is selective rather than comprehensive, this selectivity works to advantage in the case of Poulenc: so much has been written about him that it was deemed most prudent to guide researchers directly to the most informative sources. Other, less substantial references are cited briefly in the list of works and, in this way, a compromise between comprehensiveness and selectivity is successfully achieved. In an introductory biographical sketch, Keck (Ouachita University) presents a succinct, yet provocative, commentary on Poulenc as man and composer; by consulting this introduction, one can easily obtain insight into those areas concerning Poulenc's life and work that require additional study. Recommended for all academic libraries.-Choice
"Poulenc's music is widely performed and extremely popular, and Keck's biobibliography, the first of its kind, should therefore be enthusiastically welcomed. Although the annotated bibliography is selective rather than comprehensive, this selectivity works to advantage in the case of Poulenc: so much has been written about him that it was deemed most prudent to guide researchers directly to the most informative sources. Other, less substantial references are cited briefly in the list of works and, in this way, a compromise between comprehensiveness and selectivity is successfully achieved. In an introductory biographical sketch, Keck (Ouachita University) presents a succinct, yet provocative, commentary on Poulenc as man and composer; by consulting this introduction, one can easily obtain insight into those areas concerning Poulenc's life and work that require additional study. Recommended for all academic libraries."-Choice

Author Bio

GEORGE R. KECK is Professor of Music at Ouachita Baptist University. He is co-editor of Feel the Spirit: Studies in Nineteenth-Century Afro-American Music (Greenwood Press, 1988).