Product DescriptionThe two sonatas, one by romantic Russian composer Rachmaninov and the other by French Poulenc compliment one another in style. The first writes in long phrases, sung with profound melancholy, the other is unsentimental in style with rapidly shifting characters and forward motion. Both works express a certain darkness lurking behind each of the composer's lives. Rachmaninov was suffering from depression and writer's block, Poulenc was living in Nazi-occupied Paris. This juxtaposition is reflective of the 20th century and a story about two different kinds of resilience found through musical expression.