Le Chant Intime

In this translation of the groundbreaking Le Chant Intime, internationally renowned baritone François Le Roux, in conversation with journalist Romain Raynaldy, presents a master class on French art song, with a thorough analysis of 60 selected songs that deviate from the traditionally narrow repertoire of the mélodie genre. Taking an approach that goes far beyond the typical limiting conventions, Le Roux and Raynaldy adhere to composer Francis Poulenc's principle that a song should always be "a love affair, not an arranged marriage." Neither theoretical nor purely academic, this guide instills in its readers a deep appreciation for the historical and artistic context of each piece by enriching each analysis with the full text of the lyrical poem and several musical examples, as well as fascinating details of historic premieres, concert halls, singers and poets. Paired with intensive and practical notes related to the nuances of melody and vocal delivery, each analysis provides an essential reference for performers and listeners alike. The translation is due to the expertise of musicologist and pianist Sylvia Kahan, Professor of Music at the Graduate Center and College of Staten Island, CUNY.

"Le Chant intime is the very first book, since Pierre Bernac's landmark work in 1978, to deal specifically with the topic of the interpretation of French mélodie, written by a singer. It offers an essay about the general approach to be taken when preparing a French song, and analyses of a selection of 60 selected mélodies (none of which appear in Bernac's book), from Berlioz to contemorary composers like Hersant and Lancino. More than rules, Le Chant intime tries to give paths to be taken; more than answers, questions to be addressed. The lesson of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande has served as a guiding principle: a song should be the junction of two dreams - the composer's and the poet's - not an explanation or an elicitation. Or, as Poulenc put it so wittily: a song should always be "a love affair, not an arranged marriage.""--

Dans le répertoire des chanteurs, la mélodie française occupe une place précieuse et privilégiée. Prolongement de la poésie, elle suppose une compréhension intime du texte et des intentions musicales du compositeur. On ne trouve actuellement sur le marché français aucun livre qui aide les interprètes souhaitant, en France aussi bien qu'à l'étranger, aborder ce répertoire, alors même que l'ouvrage majeur de Pierre Bernac, The Interpretation of French Song, n'existe qu'en anglais. François Le Roux, qui enseigne les subtilités de ce répertoire à de nombreux jeunes chanteurs, transmet ici, avec le concours de Romain Raynaldy, le fruit de son expérience de lecteur, d'interprète et de pédagogue. Après un panorama général qui expose les principes du rapport entre la langue et la musique, les auteurs présentent une sélection du répertoire de la mélodie française et en étudient précisément cinquante-deux, donnant pour chacune, à partir du poème original et d'extraits de la partition, des directives précises pour faire jaillir du texte poético-musical sa pleine saveur. Les cinquante-deux mélodies choisies permettent de passer en revue presque deux siècles de répertoire, de ses débuts à l'époque contemporaine ; si, après l'âge romantique (Berlioz), les chefs-d'œuvre de Debussy et Fauré constituent l'apogée du genre, l'ouvrage montre qu'une floraison remarquable leur a succédé (notamment avec le groupe des Six, Poulenc s'y distinguant particulièrement) ; les plus récentes créations sont présentes également, avec des mélodies d'Henri Dutilleux, Philippe Hersant et Thierry Lancino.

Singers, teachers, coaches, and conductors will appreciate French Lyric Diction: A Singer's Guide for its thorough account of the language as it is sung in opera and melodie. Often-overlooked topics are explored, including phrasal and emphatic stress, vocalic length, singing the French r, andtraditions in the setting of French poetry. Considerable attention is paid to the subject of liaison, with recommendations on how to make decisions about optional liaisons in singing. A comprehensive guide to orthography provides instruction on the pronunciation of all French spellings, includingmany optional secondary pronunciations, and accepted francise pronunciation for loanwords. Pronunciation dictionaries give transcriptions for over 10,000 names of composers, poets, artists, roles, performers, characters, and places, as well as everyday musical terms.

The romanticized image of the heroic male resistance fighter in World War II belies a truth that is both darker and more personal. This literary history explores, for the first time, the reality of European women’s roles in fighting Nazism. By comparing the resistance literature of French and German authors—both famous and more obscure—this innovative book links the traditional gender expectations for women and the conventions of their everyday lives with their unique forms of resistance. Theirs was an opposition grounded in the ordinary, beyond the sphere of political violence. Women were long regarded as outsiders to combat and politics, with no stake in upholding resistance myths. Women authors therefore freely rendered the personal and moral landscape of the resister’s world in a new vocabulary. They revised standard rhetoric and replaced heroism and bullets with the values of home, human relationships, and candid acknowledgement of the sorrow, fear, and uncertainty of war. A groundbreaking study for students of European history, women’s studies, peace studies, or comparative literature, this volume is also accessible to a general audience interested in the role of women in World War II.

This collection presents pieces which are among the most beautiful of this great musician's works. This is also a graded Couperin, intended to make this an ideal edition for teaching. The text scrupulously follows the original, with editorial details indicated in brackets.