French ‘mélodie’ or art song is
the general term for songs for solo voice with piano accompaniment, by
composers like Fauré, Debussy and Duparc, who established the intrinsic quality
of French Mélodie as distinctive from German Lied.
Although the musical scene
in Paris has always been essentially cosmopolitan, with artistic invasions from
many countries, French music has preserved certain national characteristics in
style and content, which are easily recognized, though not easily defined.
From 1850 to 1900, French music
and culture was defending itself against the disruptions of war and political
upheaval. French Song reached its zenith during the period known as ‘La Belle
Époque’. The lyricism of the composers Berlioz and Gounod, brought new colour
and character to French music, with a flavour of orientalism.
By the time Paris
hosted the World Exhibition in 1889, most artists and poets were also looking
to the East for imagery and inspiration. The exotic sound of Javanese gamelan,
the colourful costumes of Annamite dancers amazed and inspired, and the Eiffel
Tower became the symbol of France’s renaissance. The world now looked to Paris
for the arts and innovation.
The Société Nationale de Musique
had been founded in February 1871, by Camille Saint-Saëns and Romaine Bussine,
a singing professor at the Conservatoire, with the support of Duparc and Alexis
de Castillon. They were joined by other musicians like Franck, Fauré, and
Massenet to “found a musical society that should give hearings to the works of
living French composers exclusively”.
The aims of the society were “to aid the
production and the popularisation of all serious musical works, whether
published or unpublished, of French composers; to encourage and bring to light
all musical endeavour on condition that there is evidence of high, artistic
aspiration on the part of the author.” The society anticipated public taste and
produced the public recognition of its great composers.
The development of French ‘mélodie’ is also strongly
linked with the ‘Parnassiens’. A group of French poets, who took their name
from a review ‘Le Parnasse Contemporain’ founded by two young poets Catulle
Mendès and Xavier de Ricart. Between 1866 and 1876, the group included Gautier,
de Lisle, Verlaine, Coppée and Mallarmé. They disliked the romantic
rhapsodising of de Musset and Victor Hugo, and were drawn more to the Latin and
Hellenic classicism of du Bellay and André Chénier. They believed in the
refinement of words, phrases, rhythms and stanzas, the perfection of form.
In their devotion to the perfection of form, they
considered a poet to be a craftsman rather than an artist. This view was not
appreciated by all their members. A breakaway group formed, lead by the
symbolist poets Verlaine and Mallarmé.
They indulged their passion for ancient Greece and colourful
orientalism, with evocative imagery, nostalgic philosophy and impressionism.
At the beginning of the C20th, a
new generation would also sweep them aside. The Anti-romantic movement lead by
Satie and ‘Les Six’ brought fresh ideas and forms to French art songs. The
harmonic innovations of Ravel and Satie directly challenged the accepted
conventions of setting texts to music. Simplicity and clarity brought an
understated sophistication to songs, that would have a direct impact on the
listener. Experimenting with perceptions of time and declamation with a subtle
irony, they would herald a new era in song composition across Europe.
© H Kean
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