born Jan. 7, 1899, Paris, Fr.
died Jan. 30, 1963, Paris
French composer.
In his teens he studied piano with Ricardo Viñes (1875–1943). Influenced by Erik Satie , Poulenc and five other like-minded young composers became known as Les Six . Poulenc wrote piano compositions, orchestral music, and chamber music, but he is best known for his vocal music, including many admired songs, the operas The Breasts of Tiresias (1944), Dialogues of the Carmelites (1956), and La voix humaine (1958), and such sacred choral works as Mass in G Major (1937), the Stabat Mater (1950), and the Gloria (1959), reflecting his devout Catholicism.