Composed from the autumn of 1952 to the spring of the following year, 1953. The work is dedicated to two American pianists, Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale. The composer had been friends with these two pianists since 1947, and Poulenc referred to them as "the boys" or "the kiddies." Since 1949, they had included Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos in their concert repertoire. It is said that when they gave their first concert in Paris in June of the same year, Poulenc appeared backstage and offered to compose a sonata for two pianos for them. The work was first premiered worldwide at Wigmore Hall in London on November 2, 1953, followed by its French premiere at Salle Gaveau in Paris on November 24. Furthermore, these two pianists would later play a significant role in popularizing Poulenc's piano works in America.

The work consists of four movements: the first movement, "Prologue (Très lent et calme)," the second movement, "Allegro molto (Très rythmé)," the third movement, "Andante lyrique (Lent)," and the fourth movement, "Épilogue (Allegro giocoso)." Henri Hell, who wrote the world's first biography of Poulenc, described this Sonata for Two Pianos as "one of the most completely Poulencian works, in which one can find Poulenc himself." Indeed, in this work, one can observe motifs appearing in the Concerto for Two Pianos and the Mass (FP 89, composed in 1937). Furthermore, motifs later used in the Sept Répons des Ténèbres (FP 181), which would be composed in 1961, already appear here. It is a work that consolidates Poulenc's experience and knowledge gained in composing for two pianos.