A Trio Abril programme

Around Poulenc

Season 2026/2027

Trio, duos & solo piano

Poulenc in trio, duos and solo piano, alongside composers he admired and a saxophone sonata written in his spirit.

About the programme

Francis Poulenc is at the heart of this programme. His lightness of touch and imaginative music lend themselves well to the saxophone, although he never wrote for the instrument. Through arrangements of his chamber music, Trio Abril explores how his music sounds in this setting.

The full trio alternates with different duos and solo piano. Pianist Frank van de Laar provides a connecting thread and also performs Poulenc’s original piano works. These changing combinations illuminate different sides of the composer.

Poulenc’s music is also placed in historical perspective through two contemporaries he admired: Sergei Prokofiev and Manuel de Falla. Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and a specially arranged version of El Amor Brujo explore these musical affinities.

Wijnand van Klaveren’s Sonate à la manière de Poulenc for alto saxophone and piano has a special place in the programme. Van Klaveren steps into Poulenc’s shoes to write the saxophone sonata that Poulenc himself never composed.

Repertoire

Francis Poulenc
Novelette No. 3 & two Improvisations
Piano solo.
Francis Poulenc
Sonata for two clarinets
Version for soprano and alto saxophones.
Francis Poulenc
Sonata for oboe and piano
Version for soprano saxophone and piano.
Elégie · Scherzo · Déploration
Sergei Prokofiev
Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet
Version for two saxophones and piano: Trio Rodin.
Manuel de Falla
El Amor Brujo
Version for two saxophones and piano: Carlos Gimenez.
Wijnand van Klaveren
Sonate à la manière de Poulenc
Alto saxophone and piano.
Allegro · Interlude · Rondeau à la Française
Francis Poulenc
Trio
Originally for oboe, bassoon and piano; version for two saxophones and piano.
Presto · Andante · Rondo