‘Liberty, I Write Your Name’ 1944–1952
This chapter looks into Francis Poulenc's performance of the Figure humaine after the liberation of France from the Second World War. It talks about Poulenc's Les Mamelles in which the BBC Director of Music, Victor Hely-Hutchinson, expressed gratitude for the chance to peruse the score and agreed enthusiastically to recordand perform it. It also recounts Poulenc's visit to London in 1945, where he gave recitals with Pierre Bernac at the Wigmore Hall and the National Gallery. The chapter looks into the event of Poulenc joining Benjamin Britten in a performance of the Two-Piano Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Basil Cameron. It also describes the triumphant premier of Poulenc's concert called Un Soir de neige, which happened at the same time as Olivier Messiaen's Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence divine.