Poulenc

Poulenc was born in Paris in 1899 and member of the French group "Les Six". He composed music for solo piano, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet and orchestral music. His father Emile Poulenc was a second-generation director of the Poulenc, and later Rhune-Poulenc, chemical corporation. His mother, an amateur pianist, taught him to play. He was introduced to Ricardo Vioes in 1914, a champion of the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and became his pupil shortly afterwards. He was a capable pianist, and the keyboard dominated his early compositions.