Is Poulenc a surrealist?

Question

his music sounds very romantic and conservative in general but modern and abnormal at certain spots. It sounds very surrealist.

I meant 'was Poulenc a ..'
sorry

Well, what I define as surrealism is sticking to convetions but disrupting the reality at certain points. I compare it to paintings because there isn't that much classical surrealist music. It has a very odd feeling.

Or it could be a bizarre combination of realist pieces.

Answer 1

It's very strange but your statement does make sense to me even before the edits. His music really is very much like a Dali painting but using a camera that zooms in on the ordinary till all you see is perhaps a clock then zooms out to a bizarre landscape then back in to a spoon or some other innocuous item. I have to say I adore his works and have willingly performed many of them.

Answer 2

I'm not sure that "surreal" is the correct word, but there is a quality to his music that is hard for me to put my finger on. My first experience with his music was performing the "Mass in G" with the local civic choir, and I was hooked. We did his 4 motets on the same program -- my favorite was "Hodie Christus Natus Est". In this last piece, the conventional harmonies coupled with odd phrase lengths and odder rhythmic treatment of the text certainly created a unique otherworldly flavor.

In general, I get the feeling of urbanity from his music -- in a good way. He composes the way a good upper-class Parisian should; smoothe, competent and suave.

Have you ever played a piano piece called "Melancholie"? A haunting piece, with a middle section that is really hard to figure out musically -- seems to bear no relationship to the surrounding material, yet it somehow works if you can bring it off.

Answer 3

It would pay handsomely if you defined what you mean by 'surrealist' in this context. At face value I have difficulty in making sense of it, but a supplementary could do wonders. If you could enlarge a little, I'll expand my reply in an edit.