Francis Poulenc

Élégie pour cor et piano

Élégie pour cor et piano – Elegy for horn and piano – FP 168 is a short, one-movement work by the French composer Francis Poulenc, written in memory of the horn player Dennis Brain, who died in 1957.

Background and premiere#

Poulenc had a profound admiration for the British horn player Dennis Brain. When the latter died in a car crash in 1957, aged 36, Poulenc composed the Élégie as a tribute. The Élégie was premiered by the BBC in a broadcast on 17 February 1958, played by Brain’s former Philharmonia colleague Neill Sanders, with the composer at the piano.

Structure#

The work typically takes between nine and ten minutes in performance. The horn’s final theme is a new 12-tone sequence ending on the leading-note of the C major harmony on which it is supported. Towards the end of the piece the piano has cadences reminiscent of the chimes of Big Ben, a reference to Brain’s nationality.

Recordings#

Recordings listed by WorldCat in August 2021 include one by the composer, with the horn player Lucien Thévet and by these horn and piano partnerships: *Hervé Joulain; Alexandre Tharaud *Nicholas Korth and Julian Mitchell *Ab Koster; Éric Le Sage *Neil Page; Martin Qvist Hansen *Richard Watkins; Ian Brown *Richard Watkins; Julius Drake

Composer: Francis Poulenc