Nineteenth-Century French Song

Nowhere in the art song repertoire does one find a more felicitous union of words and music than in the two hundred or so melodies of Faure, Chausson, Duparc, and Debussy. These four composers brought to the maginifcent poetry of their contemporaries, Verlaine, Gautier, Baudelaire, Mallarme, Leconte de Lisle, and others, the delicacy, sensitivity, and volutousness that characterize French music from 1865 to 1914. Song by song, this comprehensive study addresses each composer's complete works for solo voice and piano. When necessary, errors in popular published editions are pointed out and corrected. For each song, the full French text is given, followed by Barbara Meister's translationNin many cases, the first English version ever published. These exquisite renderings (not intended to substitute for the French lyrics in performance) vividly convey the sense and mood of the originals. Here the singer will find guidance on interpretation and pronunciation; the accompanist will profit from harmonic analyses intended to further genuine partnership with the vocalist; and the listener will gain a fuller satisfaction from learning how various works fit in their historical and aesthetic context, and in the lives of the poets and composers.