![]() Bernac, Pierre: The Interpretation of French Song."The Art of French Song - Three Collections". Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature. He wrote nearly 150 mélodies of all sorts. Mélodies continue to be composed, though perhaps the last uncontestedly great composer of them was Francis Poulenc, who died in 1963. Though more famous as a composer for the organ, Louis Vierne wrote several collections of mélodies with texts from Baudelaire, Verlaine, and others. Debussy is noted for a particular gift for marrying text and music, while Ravel based a number of his on folk song, in direct contradiction to the common practice for mélodies, transfiguring both forms.Ĭontemporaries of Ravel who were noted mélodie composers include Albert Roussel, Reynaldo Hahn and André Caplet. However, they both wrote dozens of mélodies that are still closely studied and often performed. Ī contemporary of Fauré whose name has become practically synonymous with the mélodie, even though he left only a handful of them, is Henri Duparc.Ĭlaude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are today best known for their instrumental compositions. Fauré is best remembered for his settings of the poetry of Paul Verlaine, including Clair de lune and the song cycles Cinq mélodies "de Venise" and La bonne chanson. He wrote over 100 mélodies and has been called the French Schumann, though their styles and essential temperaments were very different. Though numerous other composers, such as Massenet, wrote mélodies during Gounod's lifetime, a name that cannot be omitted is that of Gabriel Fauré. His setting of Lord Byron's Maid of Athens, in English, is a perfect example of a romance that has become a mélodie. He wrote over 200 mélodies, on texts by such poets as Victor Hugo and Lamartine. Whatever Berlioz' chronological precedence, Charles Gounod is often viewed as the first distinct composer of mélodies: his compositional style evolves imperceptibly and illustratively from romance to mélodie. He was among the first to use the term to describe his own compositions, and his song cycle Les nuits d'été (1841) is still considered an example of the genre. ![]() Some of the first mélodies were those of Hector Berlioz. Further, while most composers in this genre were Romantics, at least in chronology, certain features of mélodies have led many to view them as not properly Romantic. The text of a mélodie was more likely to be taken from contemporary, serious poetry and the music was also generally of a more profound sort. ![]() These songs, while apparently quite similar to the mélodie, were then as now viewed as being of a lighter and less specific nature. Instead, it grew more directly from the earlier genre of French songs known as the romance. Though the lied had reached its peak in the early 19th century, the mélodie developed independently of that tradition. The mélodie arose just before the middle of the 19th century in France. ( March 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This section needs additional citations for verification. Numerous books have been written about the details of French pronunciation specifically for mélodie singers, often featuring IPA transcriptions of songs with further notations for French-specific features like liaison and elision. To compose or interpret mélodies, one must have a sensitive knowledge of the French language, French poetry, and French poetic diction. The mélodie is noted for its deliberate and close relationship between text and melody. īernac writes that "the art of the greatest French composers is an art of suggestion", rather than explicit statement of feelings. ![]() Pierre Bernac provides this comparison in The Interpretation of French Song:ĭebussy goes on to write that 'clarity of expression, precision and concentration of form are qualities peculiar to the French genius.' These qualities are indeed most noticeable when again compared with the German genius, excelling as it does in long, uninhibited outpourings, directly opposed to the French taste, which abhors overstatement and venerates concision and diversity. The mélodie is often defined by comparison with the lied.
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