The Concert champêtre is a concerto for harpsichord and orchestra by Francis Poulenc. Origin Etymology Concerto (pl. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ... Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (January 7, 1899 - January 30, 1963) was a French composer. ...

It was written in 1927-28 for the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska who said she "adored" playing it as it made her "insouciant and gay!" (Ivry 1996) Landowska was responsible for the composition of several other new pieces of music for the instrument, notably Manuel de Falla's harpsichord concerto and his El retablo de Maese Pedro (at the premiere of which, at the salon of Winnaretta Singer, Poulenc and Landowska met for the first time). Wanda Landowska (July 5, 1879 – August 16, 1959), harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of that instrument in the early 20th century. ... Manuel de Falla y Matheu (November 23, 1876 – November 14, 1946) was a Spanish composer of classical music. ... Winnaretta Singer (8 January 1865-26 November 1943), the Princess Edmond de Polignac, was an important musical patron, lesbian, and heir to the Singer sewing machine wealth. ...

After a private performance in which Poulenc played the orchestral parts on the piano, the piece's public premiere was on May 3, 1929 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with Landowska playing the solo part and the Paris Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux. The work is scored for an orchestra of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, four French horns, two trumpets, trombone, tuba, timpani, xylophone, side drums (with and without snares) tambourine, triangle, bass drum, cymbals and strings (the usual two sections of violins, violas, cellos and double basses--Poulenc stipulates eight each of first and second violins, and four each of violas, cellos and basses). The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... Pierre Monteux (April 4, 1875 – July 1, 1964) was an orchestra conductor born in Paris, France. ... This article pertains to the musical instrument. ... This article is about the instrument. ... Modern Oboe The Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind double reed family. ... The cor anglais or English horn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... A bass clarinet, which sounds an octave lower than the more common Bb soprano clarinet. ... Bassoon Playing range of a bassoon The bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. ... The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... Trumpeter performing with the United States Air Forces in Europe Band The trumpet is the highest brass instrument in register, above the tuba, euphonium, trombone, sousaphone, and french horn. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ... The tuba is the largest of the low-brass instruments and is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. ... Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. ... Xylophone in Bali 1937 The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia (Nettl 1956, p. ... The snare drum or side drum is a tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings. ... Spanish antique tambourine The tambourine is musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a single drumhead mounted on a ring with small metal jingles. ... The triangle is an idiophonic musical instrument of the percussion family. ... A bass drum in a drum kit A bass drum is a large, heavy drum that produces a thump of low but indefinite pitch. ... This article is about the percussion instruments made of metal disks, for the string instrument played with beaters see cymbalum. ... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass. ... A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) (pronounced Cheh-loh) is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

The piece is in three movements:

1. Allegro molto - Adagio - Allegro molto
2. Andante: Mouvement de Sicilienne
3. Finale: Presto très gai

The piece alludes to music of the Baroque period, when the harpsichord was a common instrument, both in terms of its melodic and harmonic language and in its structure: the last movement is a gigue, a common finale in the Baroque suite. The siciliana or siciliano is a musical form often included as a movement within larger pieces of music starting in the Baroque period. ... Baroque music is Western classical music from the Baroque era, after the Renaissance music era and before the Classical music era proper. ... The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance in a compound metre such as 6/4, 3/8 or 12/16. ... In music, a suite is an organized set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed at a single sitting. ...

A typical performance of the Concert champêtre lasts around twenty-five minutes.

Source

• Ivry, Benjamin (1996). Francis Poulenc, 20th-Century Composers series. Phaidon Press Limited. ISBN 071483503X.