Symphoniker Hamburg / Chamber Concert

Francis Poulenc, the true joker of the French artistic association »Groupe des Six«, created a precious treasure of five works for the woodwinds – the sextet, a trio and a sonata each for flute, clarinet and bassoon. With the sparkling Sextuor for piano and winds, a showpiece for the »musical prose« sought by the »Six«, he thrusts the audience right into the pulsating life of his home city of Paris. The three-movement piece was completed in 1932, but thoroughly revised in 1939 for the performance with Poulenc himself at the piano. At the beginning, it sounds like the Grands Boulevards, everything is noisy, running, honking, shouting and whirling, and the woodwinds are immediately allowed to bring their entire arsenal of modern acrobatics into play. The middle movement is more idyllic, before the fast section suddenly seems to be a fairground hustle and bustle. The work concludes with a hymn-like declaration of love to the metropolis on the Seine.