Chansons madécasses
The Chansons madécasses (Madagascan Songs) is a collection of three art songs by Maurice Ravel written between 1925 and 1926 for voice (mezzo-soprano or baritone), flute, cello and piano with words from the poetry collection Chansons madécasses by Évariste de Parny.[1] The song cycle consists of the three titles "Nahandove", "Aoua", and "Il est doux".
Chansons madécasses | |
---|---|
Song cycle by Maurice Ravel | |
The composer, c. 1925 | |
English | Madagascan Songs |
Text | poems Chansons madécasses by Évariste de Parny |
Language | French |
Dedication | Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge |
Performed | 8 May 1926 |
Movements | three |
Scoring |
|
They are dedicated to the American musician and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge.[2]
Premiere and notable recordings
The premiere took place on 8 May 1926, in Rome with the voice of Jane Bathori, Alfredo Casella on the piano, Louis Fleury on the flute and Hans Kindler on the cello.[3] The first edition print was accompanied by Luc-Albert Moreau prints. The first known record is that of Madeleine Grey, a highly regarded singer, in 1932.
See also
In 2011, the British composer James Francis Brown wrote a work in three movements for the same instrumentation called Songs of Nature and Farewell, which is a setting of three little-known poems by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The work is intended as a companion to Ravel's Chansons madécasses.[4]
References
- Arbie Orenstein (1975). "Ravel's Musical Language". Ravel: Man and Musician. Courier Corporation. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-486-26633-6.
- Maurice Ravel; Arbie Orenstein (1 August 2003). "Correspondence". A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews. Courier Corporation. p. 267. ISBN 978-0-486-43078-2.
- Deborah Mawer (24 August 2000). The Cambridge Companion to Ravel. Cambridge Companions to Music. Cambridge University Press. pp. 264–. ISBN 978-0-521-64856-1.
- Songs of Nature and Farewell (no date) Available at: http://www.musichaven.co.uk/Songs-of-Nature-and-Farewell.html (Accessed: 13 October 2015)