Ensemble 360 Nimbus Alliance NI 6121  * * * *

Is Poulenc the cheeky musical magpie that so many imagine him to be? The composer who delved in and out of styles as if he were changing clothes, and who was at his best when his mood was one of frothy high spirits? Or should listeners to his chamber music take a steer instead from the fact that his last two sonatas, for clarinet and piano and oboe and piano, were written in memory of two fellow composers (Honegger and Prokofiev respectively)? Ensemble 360’s pianist Tim Horton is of the latter view. But the ensemble’s performances (the disc also includes the Trio for oboe, bassoon and piano, the Sextet for piano and wind, and the Flute Sonata) are breezily sharp-edged, while not neglecting the strong strain of sentiment that was in Poulenc’s character. Whether the end of the Oboe Sonata is as devastating as Horton contends is another matter altogether. See url.ie/6c45