Francis Poulenc – Clarinet Sonata

 Poulenc wrote very comfortably for the piano.  The following are a few pieces of advice that might be helpful.  Please see the following section concerning editions for more important information.

I. Allegro tristamente

• Measure 51:  If you’re using the edition marked “Revised edition, 2000” on the cover, the D# marked in this measure is incorrect.  It belongs on the E above.
• Measures 78-85:  Although it is possible to play the eighth-note chords with the left hand and not have any awkwardness or rhythmic delay, some pianists prefer to take this with the right hand.  We believe it is more convenient to use the right hand due to its location after playing the accented, treble-clef quarter notes.
• Measures 86-91:  The changing pattern in the right-hand should make you reassess the above suggestion.  We still recommend the right hand taking the eighth notes believing that the pedal sustains the treble-clef just as it would the bass clef if the left-hand is used.
• Measures 92-101:  The left hand will probably be used to take the eighth notes here as the right hand is becoming more active (although it is especially convenient to take the eighth notes with the right hand in measures 96 and 99).  The left hand must take the eighths at measures 92-93 and 100-101.

II. Romanza

• Measure 34:  One less jump in the left hand is required if the right hand takes the F# on beat three.
• Measure 60:  Take the lower Bb on beat two in the left hand.  This will allow the sixty-fourth note melody to better lead into this second beat.

III. Allegro con fuoco

• Measure 3:  The ledger-line G’s on the fourth beat can be taken with the right hand thumb.  This creates a natural accent on the first of these allowing it to serve its dual function as the treble-clef quarter note.  The second eighth is then played with an effortless rebound of the right-hand thumb.
• Measure 4:  The slight crossing needed on the second beat of this measure works best with the left hand travelling under the right.
• Measures 108-109:  See the comments for measures three and four above.
• Measure 116:  A suggested fingering is 3/2/1 for the first right-hand chord and 5/4/1 for the change on beat three.

 
The editions primarily in use at the moment are newly edited printings from Chester music.  The one currently distributed displays “Revised edition, 2006” on the cover.  Working pianists may also encounter a slightly earlier printing displaying “Revised edition, 2000” on its cover.  Both are displayed here and are, as you can see, identical in design.  It is slightly ironic that this earlier printing dedicates a paragraph in the introduction to accidentals (“…accidentals plausibly intended by Poulenc…accidentals almost certainly omitted from the manuscript in error…cautionary accidentals…redundant accidentals)[2. Introduction of Poulenc Clarinet Sonata, Chester Music 2000] and then misprints an accidental in the first movement.  (See the tactile tips above if you missed it.)

Letters, Letters, and More Letters…As you probably already read in the introductory paragraph, Poulenc almost failed to complete his Clarinet Sonata before his death.  It was finished in the late summer of 1962 and he died of a heart attack on January 30, 1963.  He had a good start on the slow movement as early as August 10, 1959 when he wrote R. Douglas Gibson at Chester to tell him that the “Andante” of the clarinet sonata was complete, but he had to “plunge into” (this is nearly an exact translation) his Gloria for the Boston Symphony.  Mr. Gibson probably wasn’t thrilled when he received more communication on October 25th of the same year saying that work on the Gloria put the Clarinet Sonata on hold and, if it does not get completed, he could publish the middle movement as a separate “Andantino tristamente.”  In that same letter, Poulenc expresses hope that he will complete the work and that it should be as good as the flute sonata.  Poor Mr. Gibson received more communication on April 2, 1960 saying, “I didn’t forget the clarinet sonata, but I’m actually orchestrating the Gloria, so get off my back.”  (Last five words are not verbatim).  And there was more on April 13th: “The sonata is not yet complete, but it will be one day, hopefully.”  It wasn’t until January 18, 1963 when the publisher received the letter he wanted to receive!  Poulenc wrote that the work was complete and it would arrive within eight days.  Somewhere along the way he took the “tristamente” that he suggested for the second movement and attached it to the first (Allegro tristamente…gotta think about that one a bit!).  He knew the score wasn’t the most attractive thing to behold and suggested that they assign a very talented engraver to the task of inferring some of the doubtful notes.  But no complaints were to be heard about the score…Poulenc died twelve days after penning that letter. [3. All original text from the letters can be read in this book on page 509]

Benny and Lenny: Poulenc was going to premiere his Clarinet Sonata with Benny Goodman.  On April 10, 1963, Leonard Bernstein took the place of Poulenc and gave a posthumous premiere of the work with Goodman at Carnegie Hall as park of a “Composers’ Showcase Memorial Concert.”  (You already know this if you’ve read our information on the Bernstein Clarinet Sonata.)

Why Penmanship Matters!  Not only did the publisher struggle with the manuscript, as Poulenc had the premonition they might, but as recently as 2006, errors were still being rectified.  In 1973, Thea King and Georgina Dobrée, two British clarinetists (the latter a champion of the basset horn), made a number of revisions to the edition in use at the time.  It wasn’t until 2000 that Millan Sachania (also British) used the 1973 revisions and the original manuscript and created an edition with further revisions.  As you know from our “Editions” section above, he made a few more adjustments in 2006.

 

 
Poulenc mentioned his Clarinet Sonata to Pierre Bernac (what collaborative pianist doesn’t see that blue book in their dreams every now and then)  a few times in correspondence.  He wrote that he believed Bernac would like the clarinet and the oboe sonatas and that there was a nice equilibrium between the instruments.

Poulenc died shortly after completing his clarinet sonata.  Brahms wrote his clarinet sonatas in 1894 and died just three years later.  Mozart’s A Major Clarinet Concerto was written in 1791 which was…you guessed it…the year of his death.  Lesson being, if you get the sudden urge that your life will not be complete unless you hurry up and write a piece for clarinet, well, I guess there’s not a whole lot you can do about it!