Francis Poulenc’s frequent use of self-allusion is a structural component of his musical aesthetic, and a queer reading of this practice reveals the interrelation between his musical allusions and autobiographic analyses of his music. Queer discourse, invoking sexual minority, semantic slippage, performative reclamation, and historical reenactment, is a powerful critical tool for analyzing musical self-reference. Poulenc’s Ier Nocturne (1929/30) includes examples of self-allusion that can be understood more fully in this way. The nocturne evokes melodic themes from Poulenc’s earlier works, specifically Concert champêtre and Aubade, which in turn reference notions of pastoral childhood. Poulenc often uses pastoral modes in his music to safely express and reflect on his queer sexuality. Poulenc later alludes to a chromatic sequence in the coda of Ier Nocturne in Les Soirées de Nazelles and in Dialogues des carmélites, where it is the musical motive for Blanche’s spiritual transformation. Relistening to Ier Nocturne with the pastoral references and coda interpreted as spiritual awakening as in Dialogues yields a musical “coming out” narrative. This interpretation brings up issues of historical queer representation and aesthetics of concealment and personal memory. Jean Cocteau’s novel Le Livre blanc and Marcel Proust’s novel Sodome et Gamorrhe exhibit aesthetics of queer self-representation similar to Poulenc’s nocturne. Although Ier Nocturne benefits from this mode of listening, the process of engaging in queer analysis of Poulenc’s work is itself a process of self-allusion and reference and reflects Poulenc’s deferral of a totalizing interpretation.

Works: Poulenc: Ier Nocturne (201-9, 214-21), Les Soirées de Nazelles (209-11), Dialogues des carmélites (211-13)

Sources: Poulenc: Concert champêtre (203-5), Aubade (205-7), Ier Nocturne (209-13)

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Matthew Van Vleet