Poulenc, a highly accomplished pianist, usually composed at the piano and wrote many pieces for the instrument throughout his career. In Henri Hell's view, Poulenc's piano writing can be divided into the percussive and the gentler style reminiscent of the harpsichord. Hell considers that the finest of Poulenc's music for piano is in the accompaniments to the songs, a view shared by Poulenc himself. The vast majority of the piano works are, in the view of the writer Keith W Daniel, "what might be called 'miniatures'". Looking back at his piano music in the 1950s, the composer viewed it critically: "I tolerate the "Mouvements perpétuels", my old "Suite en ut" C, and the "Trois pieces". I like very much my two collections of Improvisations, an Intermezzo in A flat, and certain Nocturnes. I condemn "Napoli" and the "Soirées de Nazelles" without reprieve."