Concerto for organ, strings and timpani (Poulenc)
The Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor, FP93 is an organ concerto by the French composer Francis Poulenc .
Emergence
The organ concert was written in 1938 at the request of Poulenc's patron Princess Edmond de Polignac . The work with its unusual line-up pays homage to Johann Sebastian Bach by the composer . In the 20th century it was no longer customary to write a solo concert for organ, as this genre flourished in the Baroque era , with works by Antonio, among others Vivaldi and Georg Friedrich Handel . As in his harpsichord concerto , Poulenc uses a form from the Baroque for moderately modern music in a broad G minor. In contrast to most of the works by the old masters, the composer prescribes an organ with a very large work in order to achieve gigantic sound effects. The unusual mention of the timpani as a solo instrument is due to Poulenc's ingenuity and experimentation.
To the music
The Poulencs Organ Concerto consists of one large movement, which is divided into seven smaller sections.
The Andante at the beginning opens the concert with a theme of the solo organ, which Tutti has to act with full work. The threatening-sounding answer from the orchestra is accompanied by soft bangs. After another solo on the organ, now in piano , the orchestra introduces a lyrical theme "très doux et intense", before the menacing flow of the beginning returns with diminished seventh chords, accompanied by loud bangs. This is where the Allegro giocoso begins with a moving theme in G minor and typical G-F sharp-Fe-E flat chromaticism, which first sounds in the orchestra and is answered by the organ with falling scales. This thought can be described as the main theme of the concert and recurs several times in the following, for example at number 8 in the dominant key of D minor. The short Allegro section turns into a deliberate subito andante moderato , which is first played solo by the organ before the orchestra picks up the lyrical mood (number 14) and continues in an almost flawless A major in a warm and moving manner. This is the longest section of the concert; the subject is carried out and processed here in an imaginative way. Towards the end, the action accelerates with lashing chords from organ and timpani, which sometimes slide into dissonants and prepare the transition to tempo allegro, molto agitato . Here the Allegro theme of the second section is taken up again and pushed forward with fast runs of the strings. This part culminates in a large organ solo, in which the timpani joins with powerful beats. The following Lento consists initially of plaintive string figures on the underground of the more gently registered organ. Again, however, powerful organ and timpani chords lead to the next Allegro , which again takes up the main theme. The organ plays the slightly different theme on the striking staccato accompaniment of the strings. The final Largo part of the concert begins with the quotation of the beginning of the concert, before the organ processes this idea piano: first solo, then accompanied by the strings. A calm character pervades the last part almost to the end. Here the solo organ , which is now clearly registered with reed whistles ("Tutti + octaves aigues"), throws in a last Mordent g-f sharp-g, citing the beginning, which leads to the concluding tutti-g of the entire orchestra in triple forte.
effect
The organ concert premiered on June 21, 1939 with Maurice Duruflé on the organ in Paris . The innovative concerto is one of the most frequently performed works by Poulenc and in the canon of important organ concerts. That is why it is performed frequently around the world.