La Courte Paille

La Courte Paille (The Short Straw), FP 178, is a set of seven songs for voice and piano, composed in 1960 by Francis Poulenc on poems by Maurice Carême. The duration of the work is roughly 8 minutes.

History of the work
Composed in July–August 1960, the songs were premiered at the festival of Royaumont Abbey, in 1961, by soprano Colette Herzog and Jacques Février as the pianist.

Titles

 * 1) Le sommeil
 * 2) Quelle aventure !
 * 3) La reine de cœur
 * 4) Ba, be, bi, bo, bu
 * 5) Les anges musiciens
 * 6) Le carafon
 * 7) Lune d'avril

Origin of the poems
Le sommeil, Ba, be, bi, bo, bu and Le carafon come from the collection of Maurice Carême La Cage aux grillons (1959).

''Quelle aventure ! , La reine de cœur, Les anges musiciens and Lune d'avril come from the collection Le Voleur d'étincelles'' (1960).

Dedicatee
La Courte Paille is dedicated to the singer Denise Duval (1921–2016) in honor of her son Richard Schilling.

Discography

 * Fiançailles pour rire ; La Courte Paille - Colette Herzog (soprano) and Jacques Février (piano) - Deutsche Grammophon, 1963.
 * 3 et 6 : Les Nuits d'été ; mélodies - Régine Crespin (soprano) and John Wustman (piano) - Decca Records, 1967.
 * La Dame de Monte Carlo ; La Courte Paille - Mady Mesplé (soprano) and Gabriel Tacchino (piano) - EMI Group, 1986.
 * Mélodies - Elly Ameling (soprano) and Dalton Baldwin (piano) - EMI Group, 1991.
 * Voyage à Paris - Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano) and Martin Katz (piano) - BMG France, 1995.
 * Mélodies - Felicity Lott (soprano) and Pascal Rogé (piano) - Decca Records, 1998.