Poulenc: Les soirées de Nazelles, FP 84

Introduction

Les Soirées de Nazelles, FP 84, is a set of variations for piano written by the French composer Francis Poulenc. During the evenings, the composer used to sit at the piano and improvise "portraits" of his friends, all based on a given theme. The work was begun in 1930, and completed at Noizay on October 1, 1936. At the beginning of the score, it reads:

The variations that form the center of this work were improvised at Nazelles during long country evenings wherein the composer played "portraits" for friends gathered around his piano.
We hope that these variations, each one somewhere between a first draft and a finished work, will have the power to evoke this game in the spirit of a Touraine region living room– with a window open to the night.

The composition is dedicated "to the memory of my aunt LIÉNARD, in memory of Nazelles". The score was published by Éditions Durand Salabert-Eschig.

Structure

Les Soirées de Nazelles are composed of eight variations and a cadence, framed by a prelude (Preamble) and a finale. It takes about 20 minutes to perform. A complete recording by Tom Pascale lists the titles, tempo markings and durations as follows: