Soirées de Nazelles

Les Soirées de Nazelles, FP 84, is a set of variations for piano written by the French composer Francis Poulenc. During the evenings, the composer used to sit at the piano and improvise "portraits" of his friends, all based on a given theme. The work was begun in 1930, and completed at Noizay on October 1, 1936.[1] At the beginning of the score, it reads:

The variations that form the center of this work were improvised at Nazelles during long country evenings wherein the composer played "portraits" for friends gathered around his piano.
We hope that these variations, each one somewhere between a first draft and a finished work, will have the power to evoke this game in the spirit of a Touraine region living room– with a window open to the night.[2]

Soirées de Nazelles
Variations by Francis Poulenc
CatalogueFP 84
Composed1936 (1936)
Dedication"to the memory of my aunt LIÉNARD, in memory of Nazelles"
Scoringpiano

The composition is dedicated "to the memory of my aunt LIÉNARD, in memory of Nazelles".[3] The score was published by Éditions Durand Salabert-Eschig.[1]

Structure.

Les Soirées de Nazelles are composed of eight variations and a cadence, framed by a prelude (Preamble) and a finale. It takes about 20 minutes to perform. A complete recording by Tom Pascale lists the titles, tempo markings and durations as follows:[1]

VariationTitleTempoDuration
PreambleExtrêmement animé et décidé3'37
ILe comble de la distinctionVif et gai1'16
IILe cœur sur la mainModéré2'41
IIILa désinvolture et la discrétionPresto1'23
IVLa suite dans les idéesTrès large et pompeux1'59
VLe charme enjôleurTrès allant2'24
VILe contentement de soiTrès vite et sec1'10
VIILe goût du malheurLent et mélancolique3'14
VIIIL'alerte vieillesseTrès rapide et bien sec1'17
CadenceTrès large et très librement1'38
FinalFollement vite, mais très prècis3'39

References
  1. Partition Éditions Durand Paris, France
  2. Piano Society Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. à la mémoire de ma tante LIÉNARD, en souvenir de Nazelles
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