''Chanson à boire'',
[This work should not be confused with ''Chanson à boire'', the second of the eight '' Chansons gaillardes'', FP 42, a work by the same composer on a different text.] (
Drinking song
A drinking song is a song that is sung before or during Alcoholic beverage, alcohol consumption. Most drinking songs are Folk music, folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyri ...
),
FP 31, is a
choral work by Francis Poulenc, composed in 1922 on an anonymous text of the 17th century for a four-part
men's chorus a cappella
Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
. It was published first by Rouart-Lerolle,
Rouart-Lerolle
/ref> but today by Salabert.
History
''Chanson à boire'' is Poulenc's first choral work, commissioned by a student choir, the Glee Club of Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in the United States. Upon completion, Poulenc sent them the score. In an interview with Claude Rostand dated 1954, he said:
Twenty-eight years separate the composition of the work and its first performance in The Hague. Poulenc states: "I was ready to do a lot of retouching. What was not my amazement (...) of not having one note to change!."
Structure
The work is written for an unaccompanied four-part men's chorus. The total performance time is approximately four minutes.
Selected recordings
* ''Poulenc - Secular Choral Music'', ''Norddeutscher Figuralchor'', (cond.), label ''MDG Gold'', MDG9471595 ;
* ''Chansons française'', Harry Christophers (cond.), label ''Technics'', 1993
Notes
Bibliography
*1978:
*1995:
References
External links
* ''Chanson à boire'', FP 31 (Poulenc, Francis) on IMSLP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanson a boire
1922 compositions
Choral compositions by Francis Poulenc