Name: Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Hometown: Paris, France
Listen to: ‘Gloria’, ‘Cello Sonata, FP 143’, ‘Concerto for organ, timpani and strings’
Lifelong Catholic Francis Poulenc was one of the first non-straight composers open about their sexuality, and the majority of his lasting relationships were with men. A member of Les Six, Poulenc’s compositions spanned many genres, ranging from chamber works to large-scale concertos and operas. In the score of his ‘Concert Champêtre’, is inscribed “you have changed my life, you are the sunshine of my thirty years, a reason for living and working” – words directed to the painter Richard Chanlaire. Poulenc found it difficult coming to terms with his sexuality for many years, and in 1946 he had a daugher with Fréderique Lebedoff, however she was brought up with Poulenc acting as her godfather. Later in life, his faith and sexuality ran parallel to one another, and he wrote to a friend “I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality”.