Poulenc - Sonata For Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone: TH TH

Poulenc - Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone
Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone was composed by Francis Poulenc at
the year 1922. Poulenc was a French composer almost as famous for his personal life as
his music, including his Gloria and piano works. During his early age, her mother, an
amateur pianist, was the one that taught him how to play the piano and from then on,
his interest in music grew larger and larger. During his early years as a composer, he was
heavily influenced by the great composers such as Debussy, Satie, and Stravinsky
During the year 1920, Poulenc, along with Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honegger,
Georges Auric, Louis Durey, and Germaine Tailleferre formed a group named Les Six.
They are a group of composers whose music represents a strong reaction against the
heavy German Romanticism of Wagner and Strauss, they where also formed shortly
after the first world war which was between the Central powers (Germany, Austria-
hungarian, and turkey) and the Allied powers (French, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, Japan,
and USA). Most of the composers in the Les Six had a big part in the World War which
includes Poulenc whose compositions demonstrates the most resistance among the
other members.
The piece Sonata for Horn, Trumpet, and Trombone was the last sonata in the
set of wind sonatas he composed which includes the Sonata for Two Clarinets (1918)
and the Sonata for Clarinet and Bassoon (1922). The set was part of his revolt
considered to be a revolt against late Romantic era and early 20 th century and it showed
in this set how he departed from the Romantic and early 20th century influences.
The piece delivers a variety of tone colors, rhythms, and dissonance and it was
written well especially how Poulenc used the “added note technique.” The added note
technique is a method of adding notes that are not in the key to the piece. If the
technique was done without expertise it would sound unpleasant but the way Poulenc
did it was so graceful that the dissonance felt like an extra toppings to the piece that
made it more good for the ears
The piece was performed at the year 1923 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in
Paris. The concert was also in collaboration with Satie and was organized by Jean
Weiner. The piece was dedicated to his longtime friend Raymonde Linossier who was a
French lawyer. Poulenc’s family and the Linossiers where very close ever since Francis
and Raymonde were kids. Poulenc at some point even thought of proposing to
Raymonde due to his sexuality issue but was rejected due to her being in love with
someone already also Poulenc choose not to continue it since he is afraid that it may
ruin their friendship.
The Sonata is very well received today by a lot of listeners and musicians
especially brass players since it is one of the known chamber trio pieces for the said
instruments. A lot of players all over the world have played this piece and tons of
performances are posted online. The piece is also only 8 minutes long so for casual
listeners or non-musician listeners, it won’t be too boring unlike other sonatas the
ranges from 10 minutes and so on.
I personally enjoyed listening to this piece especially the andante part since I felt
like it was a lullaby the first time I heard it, and as a trombone player I feel that this
piece would be fun to play someday since the distribution of parts were well done and
the trombone part is good too.
Performance Reaction
Francis Poulenc - Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone by the WDR Symphony Orchestra
The performance I choose was from the players of the WDR Symphony
Orchestra who is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne. The players in the
performance were Přemysl Vojta the solo hornist, Martin Griebl the solo trumpet, and
Jeffrey Kant the solo trombonist.
The piece has three movements, the allegro, andante, and lastly the rondo. The
allegro begins with a very cheerful and playful melody with the trumpet and horn
leading the melody. During the first part, it can be heard that both the trumpet and the
horn has almost the same rhythmic pattern and its almost like they are like children
playing. I also liked the idea of the changing time signature since it gives more a playful
sound to it. The performers did well at the allegro part, and I think they played the way
it was supposed to be played and how Poulenc envisioned it to be played. The andante
part performance which I really enjoyed the most out of the three movements was also
played well, it really gives the feeling of a lullaby and seeing the score, I believe that the
performers did well and followed every dynamic that was written on it Lastly the Rondo
part, the first few measures sound very triumphant with a music of dance. I loved how
the performers move a lot in these parts since it show the excitement of the piece. They
did well in this part also.
Overall, I feel that the performers did well, and have done justice to the piece,
hearing the movements gave me lots of feelings. In the allegro movement I can compare
it to a sunny weather that turned to a little bit rainy then return to sunny but then with
a rainbow since the allegro can be separated in to three parts, the first part which is
sunny, the second which was the rainy, then the last part which returned to a sunny
weather feeling but this time with a rainbow to it. The andante part, as I said in previous
statements sounded like a warm lullaby for a baby to sleep on. I personally felt how
warm the music was and how it made me very comfortable. If it was a color, I could say
that it’s blue but a lighter shade since it doesn’t really convey a sad feeling. Lastly the
rondo part feels very energetic like winning and having a party after if that makes sense
at all. The combination of the three instruments worked well and even though they
have separate parts they are united.
If I were to choose where I would want to see this being performed, I think the
best place would be in an auditorium or a concert hall that is well built for musicians to
play. I would love to hear each of the individual notes of this piece combined to create
a well created music.

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