Shall We Listen to Poulenc on a Sunday Morning? — Keigo Mukawa's All-Poulenc Recital

Tokyo Spring Festival 2026
On March 22nd, in Ueno Park where the cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom and the weather was pleasantly sunny,
a certain concert was about to be held from the morning at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall.

〈Francis Poulenc on a Sunday Morning〉

If you are a fan of Haruki Murakami, this title should ring a bell. Yes, it is an essay included in Mr. Murakami's essay collection, 〈Swing If You Have No Meaning〉.

The pianist performing an all-Poulenc recital under this same title is Keigo Mukawa!!
The tickets sold out early, and expectations were already running high.
The house lights dim and the stage brightens. Mr. Mukawa appears, carrying several scores. So, he will be playing while looking at the sheet music today.

〈Humoresque〉
The piece, begun casually, was light and joyful, with sparkling sounds resonating. However, as it is a piece dedicated to the great pianist of yesteryear, Gieseking, it is likely technically difficult and flamboyant. In an instant, I was drawn into the world of Mr. Poulenc.

After finishing the piece, Mr. Mukawa spoke to us. 🎤 "Good morning, everyone" (laughter ensues). "Good morning" is a phrase rarely heard at classical concerts. That's right, today is a Sunday morning concert!
Mr. Mukawa began to talk about how this project came to be. I really love the way Mr. Mukawa speaks—calm and quiet, yet with a sense of humor here and there 🩷

Mr. Mukawa mentioned that he initially disliked Poulenc's music. This was because he felt that Poulenc, a true Parisian, had a temperament that was cheeky, cynical, and a bit pretentious... but now he says he is "head over heels" for it 😆 He says that this essay by Mr. Murakami was the first of many events that led him to this point. In that essay, Haruki Murakami talks about an all-Poulenc recital on a Sunday morning in London that he remembers vividly. Or rather, he writes a wonderful piece about Poulenc while incorporating his extensive knowledge of the musical scene at the time... Mr. Mukawa says he loves this essay (or perhaps this entire collection) very much. Since then, over the past two or three years, he has performed a lot of Poulenc with other musicians (mainly in chamber music and concertos), and has gradually awakened to its charm. The details of this journey are explained in Mr. Mukawa's note, so if you haven't read it yet, please do! ↓

《The Hated and Beloved Francis Poulenc | Keigo Mukawa》 https://share.google/UMQi7tX9NqugUOOCy

Poulenc is said to be a composer with a dual nature, often compared to a "monk and a rascal." Mr. Mukawa also says, "My initial image of him being cheeky and cynical wasn't wrong, but at the same time, he was a person with a 'noble spirit'..." In addition to his urban and witty music, Poulenc showed many facets, including numerous religious works, serious pieces with certain messages, and deeply beautiful songs that assimilated words... The latter group of works likely reflects the bitterness and hardships he encountered in his life, the war, and the religious faith he inherited from his father...

(As for me, the first Poulenc work I encountered was the cantata 〈Figure humaine〉 based on Éluard's poems, so I felt like I was hit hard right from the start, and conversely, I didn't initially have the image of Poulenc being light and witty 😅)

Along with this change in his impression of Mr. Poulenc, the idea for this project was based on Mr. Mukawa's memories from his student days in Paris.

Mr. Mukawa is still based in Paris, but when he was a student, he often went to morning concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Seeing the audience members heading off to brunch or lunch in small groups after a relatively casual concert, he thought it was wonderful how music blended into daily life so naturally without being stiff...
He thought, "Someday I'll do a recital like this!" If it's on a Sunday morning and it's all Poulenc, that's even better!

Mr. Mukawa's post ↓

And it finally came true! Or rather, he kept his word 👏👏

(Mr. Mukawa says he wants to play a lot more of that Poulenc music—which he initially "disliked 😂" but is now "head over heels" for—and deepen his understanding of it (from his X post after the concert). I'm looking forward to it... 🩷🩷)

Now, since the subsequent talk was about the introduction and commentary of the pieces, let's proceed while looking at each piece (and playing them back in my mind). (*The parts in "" are the content Mr. Mukawa mentioned. The exact wording may not be identical.)

Suite française
A collection of elegant and sophisticated dances where "the melodies of a Renaissance musician named Claude Gervaise are seasoned with modern, quintessentially Poulenc-esque harmonies."
I first heard Mr. Mukawa play this piece when he was invited as a guest artist for the Chef Kei Kobayashi x [Fujingaho] 120th Anniversary Dinner last summer. While the difference in venue (from a salon-like setting to a concert hall) naturally changes the way one plays, I feel the range of expression is wider than it was then, and the bass notes are very effective—it's wonderful. Yes! That left-hand bass is lovely, isn't it... 🩷

Trois Novelettes
This first piece is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes. 🥹✨️
I also first heard this at a music and wine pairing dinner organized by Mr. Mukawa at a hotel in Nara. I felt like crying then, too... 🥹🥹
"The second piece is a bit of a mean-spirited one, typical of Poulenc," a humorous piece. But again, Mr. Mukawa's bass and sharp touch are so cool!!
"Up to this point, these were works from Poulenc's youth. The third piece is a work from his later years." Perhaps because of that, it is a deeply moving piece drifting with melancholy and loneliness, and the left-hand melody played by Mr. Mukawa is just too wonderful... ✨️

Les Villageoises
This was incidental music for a theatrical work. "It's a piece that even children could play, with a slightly (intentionally) silly feel 😅." It seems simple, yet it has that typical, irony-filled, clownish musical character of Poulenc. It's fun to see Mr. Mukawa play it with such bold, dead-serious expression 😁

The following two works, "Pastoral" from Les Animaux modèles and "Toccata" from Trois Pièces, were also mentioned in the aforementioned Haruki Murakami essay as pieces Horowitz liked to perform, and it was precisely this Horowitz performance that drew Mr. Murakami into Poulenc. These are surely two pieces that Mr. Mukawa could not leave out for this concept.

Pastoral
Just as the title suggests, it has a pastoral, peaceful musical character, with a touch of rustic nobility in the middle section. The ending is cool!

Toccata
A highly technical, pianistic piece!! ✨️ This was played from memory. It has some impressionistic resonance and is brilliant and beautiful. It's short, but very rewarding to listen to!! 💘

A short break here, back to talk time 🎤
"Up to this point, this is literally morning music. It is said that Poulenc only composed in the morning, and these are indeed pieces that, if listened to in that morning light, seem to promise a good day."

From here on, even though it is 'Morning Poulenc,' I would like you to listen to music with a nighttime atmosphere. First, 'Hommage à Édith Piaf'; it seems Poulenc had great respect for Piaf, and it was written as an homage to her.

As for 'Les Soirées de Nazelles,' Poulenc had a relative, an aunt?? who lived in the Loire region, and Poulenc would visit her often and frequently attend her soirées.
This piece is a musical portrait of the members of those soirées. The eight short pieces have titles, but since literal translations are hard to understand, I will explain them a little...

※ Since this is still [within Mr. Mukawa's remarks], I have inserted my own arbitrary interpretations and impressions in 〘 〙😅
[Program]

I. It says "Le comble de la distinction" (The height of distinction), but does that mean "the height of elegance and sophistication"? 〘Judging by the musical character, this seems like irony from Poulenc, but what do you think?〙

II. It says "Le cœur sur la main" (The heart on the hand), which is an idiom for "a warm-hearted person." It can also ironically mean "a pushover." Which one it is, I leave to your imagination. 〘Surprisingly, this doesn't feel like irony from Poulenc; it feels like he has a fondness for warm-hearted people, but what do you think?〙

III. "La main chaude" (The warm hand) — I'm not quite sure about this one either, but could it be about the various people coming to the soirée? 〘I personally think of it as "impertinence and modesty," people who are like opposites, meaning, as Mr. Mukawa says, there are all sorts of people at a soirée...〙

IV. "Le contentement de soi" (Self-contentment) — This is also an idiom. It refers to "a person who is fixated on their own ideas."

V. "Le goût du malheur" (The taste of misfortune) — Since both 'charme' and 'enjôleur' mean charm, it becomes the charm of charm... 〘Since this 'enjôleur' means "a person who deceives others with sweet talk," this is a beautiful piece, but it is definitely irony, or perhaps a warning!〙

VI. "L'alerte vieillesse" (The alert old age) — 〘I forgot what Mr. Mukawa said here 😰 Is it okay to take it literally??〙

VII. "Les belles chasseresses" (The beautiful huntresses) — This is thought to be about someone who acts as if they are the protagonist of a tragedy. 〘I see〙

VIII. "À la manière de..." (In the style of...) — It is a literal translation of "agile old age," but if you listen to the piece, the meaning will become self-evident. 〘'Alerte' refers to "a person who is agile for their age." It is certainly that kind of piece.〙"

After listening to Mr. Mukawa's detailed explanation, we move on to the second half of the performance.

〈Hommage à Édith Piaf〉
Since it is an homage to the chanson singer Piaf, it is more crossover than pure classical. When Mukawa plays pieces like this, he is impossibly good. The way he sways the melody, the way he releases the ends of phrases—the sophistication when someone with a solid classical foundation lets their guard down a little and plays with such flair! I can only say it is masterful. And in his case, it has such elegance! 🩷

In this piece, I imagined Mukawa as a bar pianist. A jazz bar in some out-of-the-way place? A fair-skinned young man playing skillful yet somewhat lonely piano in the corner... well, Mukawa isn't actually fair-skinned, but it's the image, the image! 😂 Cigarette smoke in the shop, meaningful or perhaps soothing gazes crossing... oh my, it's like a French film! I found myself lost in a delusional world of ennui, lonely adults, and a labyrinth... lol

〈Les Soirées de Nazelles〉
From an opening that would shock you if you didn't know it, to a haughty Poulenc-esque section, to what you might call a fantasy style, or perhaps a modern version of a Bach French-style overture?? To elegant sounds like high-quality French perfume... one after another, like a kaleidoscope, like a starry sky, various Poulencs show their faces. ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

Throughout this all-Poulenc program, what I keep thinking about is the coolness of the left-hand bass notes‼️
It must be the result of harmonies with a wide range, but this attractive resonance of the left hand is something unique that I don't often feel with other composers. Mukawa's deep bass resonance permeates through me... 💘

A sweetness, sensuality, and decadence that is almost suffocating... yet it never loses its dignity ✨️✨️

The finale of this major work, lasting over 20 minutes, was a mix of grand fanfares and exoticism, leading into the depth of authentic French music. What a fascinating world‼️
It was wonderful to hear Poulenc played by Mukawa, who said that after living in Paris for 10 years, he has come to understand the Parisian temperament of looking at the world with a slightly cynical eye... 🩷🩷

[Encore]
“I would like to end by playing the slightly ennui-filled ‘Les Chemins de l’amour’.
And I planned this event thinking that if I were in the audience, I would want to go out for lunch afterward, so please everyone, do go have lunch in Ueno Park after this! 🩷” 👏👏👏💐💐💐💐💐💐

‘Les Chemins de l’amour,’ which everyone loves, had the perfect atmosphere of Parisian esprit 💐 Mukawa looked satisfied as he responded to the applause during the curtain call, and we all felt happy too... Thank you 🩷🩷

(As far as I could tell, everyone headed off to lunch... it was a good day)

※ Mukawa held a very antique-looking score for 〈Pastoral〉, and when I asked him at the autograph session, he said it was given to him by someone like his “teacher’s teacher.” I didn't get the full details, but it must be a precious item. It feels very much like Mukawa to cherish the tactile feel of that era. ✨️✨️

※ Regarding the title [Francis Poulenc on a Sunday Morning], I don't know if it was the publisher or Mr. Murakami's side, but they have obtained the usage rights.