Les Chemins De L'amour by Francis Poulenc String Quartet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1827740

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including opera, symphonic and theatre music, choral, song, chamber music (often for unusual combinations), and solo piano. He was a member of “Les Six”, an informal group of French composers (plus the Swiss Arthur Honegger) who, despite differing musical styles, were friends and supporters of each other. Over a period of 36 years they produced six musical collaborations in which at least three of them contributed.

Poulenc had a great gift for melody, and for much of his life (and even somewhat today) was considered primarily a composer of light music. His later works, including opera and religious music, have gained favor in recent years and have contributed to a reassessment of Poulenc as a more serious composer.

“Les chemins de l’amour” (The Ways of Love) belongs to his lighter side. This charming vocal waltz (Valse chantée) was written for celebrated soprano Yvonne Printemps to lyrics by Jean Anouilh, as part of incidental music to his play Léocadia. Her recording of it is available online. The piece is in the cabaret tradition, with natural sounding melodies that could almost pass for folk song, cleverly harmonized. It makes a delightful number for string quartet.

CYPRESS PUBLISHING is pleased to be the imprint for arrangements for string ensemble by Stephen Levintow. He is a free lance professional violist and violinist specializing in chamber music, who began making string quartet and trio arrangements for wedding, party and corporate events, to expand the repertory or to improve on existing versions. Selections include unusual pieces by both familiar and lesser-known composers, plus standard classical and popular favorites.

The goal is to produce high-quality, musically satisfying arrangements faithful to the composer’s original material, yet sight-readable in most cases by working professionals or intermediate to advanced students. The full range of normal string technique is employed, while avoiding unnecessary technical complexity. Melodic material is distributed throughout the four voices where appropriate, to maintain listener and performer interest. All parts and scores are set in Sibelius© software format, with careful attention to legibility and page turns.