3 Chansons de Federico Garcia-Lorca (1947)

L’Enfant muet

Adelina à la promenade

Chanson de l’oranger sec

The life and poetry of Federico Garcia-Lorca – who was murdered for his liberal principles (and, presumably, his homosexuality) by Franco’s Falangists in 1936 – should have been a potent source of inspiration for Poulenc. He never succeeded, however, in realizing his feelings in a way he felt worthy of such an icon. “What difficulty I have in showing my passion for Lorca in music!” he wrote in the few words devoted to the Trois Chansons in the Journal de mes mélodies. “My Violin Sonata, dedicated to his memory, is, alas, very mediocre Poulenc and these three songs are of little importance in my vocal work.”

Actually, Poulenc was excited by L’Enfant muet ast the time he wrote it: “As you will see,” he wrote to Pierre Bernac, “the writing is quite new (without doubling) … and should produce something mysterious and diaphanous.” The second song he described as a “Plaza Clichy jota,” echoing Satie’s cynical dismissal of Chabrier’s España, and it is true that, though entertaining, it is not the most convincing exercise in the Spanish idiom by a French composer. Of Chanson de l’oranger sec, he said that ‘it has the fault of being “nobly” French while it should have been “gravely” Spanish.’ Whatever that means, its sarabande rhythms and its cries of anguish give the collection the weight it needs to assume a balanced shape. The French translations, incidentally, are by Félix Gattegno.