The composer

Francis Poulenc was born into a musical, and wealthy, Parisian family. Though mentored at an early age by the pianist Ricardo Viñes and the composer Erik Satie, he did not receive any formal music education. In 1920, he became part of a group of composers named ‘Les Six’ who, over the following three decades, collaborated on various projects. In the 1930s, the death of a close friend in a car crash and a visit to the religious sanctuary at Rocamadour led to his largely light-hearted style becoming inflected with a more serious, religious tone.