A 20th Century harpsichord concerto!
Concerto champêtre (Pastoral/Countryside Concerto) was composed in 1928, and first performed a year later. It was composed by Poulenc for the Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, who in 1933 would be the first person to record Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
She encouraged contemporary composers to write for the harpsichord, and it was at the première of Manuel de Falla’s El retablo de Maese Pedro that she and Poulenc first met.
You might think that a harpsichord concerto would feature a small orchestra – it’s scored for:
Woodwind: two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons
Brass: four horns, two trumpets, trombone, tuba
Percussion: timpani, side drums (with and without snares), tambourine, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, xylophone
Strings: Poulenc stipulates eight each of first and second violins, and four each of violas, cellos and basses
It has three movements – the first is Allegro molto/Adagio/Allegro molto, the second a Sicilienne, and third – a finale titled Presto très gai
It can be considered neoclassical, and you can hear the influence of Stravinsky’s music from the same era, particularly in melodic and harmonic pseudo-Baroque style. Poulenc recorded the concerto as soloist, but on piano instead of harpsichord, in 1948.
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