a comparative analysis of louis durey and francis poulenc's settings ...

29
V. Le Bestiaire—Song-by-Song Commentary and Analysis
This comparative analysis of Durey and Poulenc’s settings of Le Bestiaire will
include the six common pieces that the composers composed.
Both Durey and Poulenc eventually scored their “Bestiaires” in two versions, for
piano and voice and for voice and instrumental ensemble. Durey wrote for baritone, two
flutes, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quintet and doubling celesta. This version,
however, was not completed until around 1958. Poulenc originally scored his
instrumental Bestiary for baritone, flute, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet—he later
condensed it into a piano and voice arrangement.
An obvious difference between the two settings is that Durey aimed for the
completeness of setting all 26 animal poems to music, while Poulenc chose twelve, and
eventually only six, poems to set. It is possible that Durey’s “completeness” was to his
detriment; Poulenc’s settings were better received and, in the long run, more popular. 59
Poulenc and Durey were both surprised to discover that they composed to the
same poem set. Interestingly, both Poulenc and Durey’s cycles were performed in
Durey’s apartment sometime in 1919. 60 The men maintained an amiable relationship; the
two exchanged letters even through the late 1950s, fondly recalling memories together—
particularly those involving “Le Bestiaire.”
Durey composed his Bestiary from March to July 1919. Although he did not set
music to the four Orpheus poems, he dedicated his focus to the whole of the 26 animal
poems: “It was not as easy as it looked at first glance, because, though some of them
59 Marc Wood, Homme de Tête, 44.
60 Johnson, Songs by Louis Durey, 12.