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A French Song CompanionEditions
Review
I am ashamed to confess that I have always been somewhat daunted by the German “lied”, (not having the language, the proceedings smack of Basil Fawlty, I fear) and find its French cousin, the “melodie” a more accessible and rewarding field. You can perhaps appreciate my enthusiasm therefore, at the prospect of rambling through the byways of French song. The term “ melodie”, I learn, comes about thanks to an Irishman, Thomas Moore, who in 1808 issued the first of his “ Irish Melodies”, a collection of lyric and patriotic poems including “The Last Rose of Summer”. It so happened that Berlioz fell in love with an Irish actress Harriet Smithson and set a number of these verses (in French translation of course) to music for piano and voice, to considerable acclaim under the title “Melodies” and the name stuck. Graham Johnson, one of the most distinguished accompanists of our time (his Wigmore Hall recitals under the title “The Songmakers’ Almanac” are world renowned) gives us a history of the subject in a lucid introduction and then proceeds alphabetically through those whose expertise has contributed to this fascinating field. Most of the great names are included from Mozart (1756-1791) to Boulez (1925- ). The list includes some like Mozart and Wagner who contributed only a few songs, to the great masters of the genre such as Berlioz, Débussy and Ravel, and yet others, Hahn or Duparc, remembered principally for their compositions in this form. The roster of foreign masters include, in the 20th Century, the American Samuel Barber, the Spaniard Mompou and the frankly francophobe Brit Benjamin Britten whose setting of Rimbaud’s “Les Illuminations” marks one of the high spots of the song cycle. Translations are provided by Richard Stokes and it is fascinating to see how and where a composer has adapted a poem, adding or deleting words or even stanzas, and changing titles to suit his cause. This is a most engaging work of reference, and not just for the musicologist. By association with Pauline Viardot one encounters the world of Rossini, Liszt and Myerbeer, in the company of Satie one meets Picasso, Jeanne Lanvin and Man Ray, and Ned Rorem, diarist as well as songwriter, offers a unique glimpse of the Parisian musical world of the 1950’s and 60’s. I found this a simply wonderful book and it has already involved me in giddy extravagances, when on a recent trip to Paris, I left the stock at the Virgin Megastore at the Louvre severely depleted [And he told us it was “business”!]. - review by Stewart Grimshaw |
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John Sandoe [Books] Ltd |
Most of my colleagues, if they venture at all into the realms of music [Can he really never have heard my shop floor duets with Karen?– Ed.], seem only to travel by musical motorways - the Bachs, the Mozarts and the Beethovens [Let’s talk in 200 years. – Karen], eschewing the B and C roads (and even from time to time the odd cul-de-sac), the Salieris, the Spohrs and Szulcs to mention only a few “S’s” I have roamed in my peregrinations.
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