This disc comprises five short chamber works by French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963). Poulenc had, and apparently still has, a mixed reputation, with his music being derided by his contemporaries for being regressive and lacking in seriousness, and with some pretty barbed reviews from current critics. And for sure, the works collected here lie at the lighter end of musical spectrum, with much silliness and humour, but they are also peppered with more sombre moments, and can move breezily from one to the other in a way that can be quite jarring.

I picked this up in the latter half of last year, and have played it at least once a week since then. I enjoy how jolly it all is, and also find the more heartfelt moments quite moving. There's also something about the tone of these pieces which, for whatever reason, reminds me of being in Paris, which is always nice. The highlight for me is the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.

Discogs link ¦ Wikipedia link

The spotify link below is for a five-disc collection of piano and chamber music, which includes the 'Chamber Music' set on the last disc - this begins at track 105. I also really like the third disc in this set, which runs from track 54 to track 90, and contains many short solo piano works, which are on the whole more serious. The other discs are worth a listen also.






No numeric rating in the poll I'm afraid, since I would not understand the results!