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Trois Chansons (Ravel)

January 06, 2024

Trois Chansons, M 69, is a composition by Maurice Ravel for a cappella choir, set to his own texts. Ravel began the composition in December 1914 in response to the outbreak of World War I, in which he hoped to be enlisted to fight for France. While he waited for months, he wrote text and music of the three songs in the tradition of 16th-century French chansons. He completed the work in 1915, and it was published by Éditions Durand in 1916. The songs were premiered in 1917, performed by a choral ensemble conducted by Louis Aubert. They remained his only composition for a cappella choir.

Trois Chansons
Choral music by Maurice Ravel
The composer in 1913
EnglishThree songs
CatalogueM 69
Textpoems by Ravel
Composed1914 (1914)–15
Dedication
Performed11 October 1917 (1917-10-11)
Published1916 (1916)
Scoringa cappella choir

History edit

Ravel composed the Trois Chansons in response to World War I,[1][2] beginning the work in December 1914, when he was in Paris waiting to be drafted.[1][3][4] He was determined to fight for his country. In November, he took daily driving lessons, aiming to join a supply department, and passed the test in December. He then began to write the first of three songs, which was published as the central one, adding the other two by February 1915.[5] He wrote in a letter to a friend, Cyprian Godebski:

Since the day before yesterday this sounding of alarms, these weeping women, and, above all, this terrible enthusiasm of the young people and of all the friends who have had to go and of whom I have no news. I cannot bear it any longer. The nightmare is too horrible. I think that at any moment I shall go mad or lose my mind. I have never worked so hard, with such insane, heroic rage…Just think…of the horror of this conflict. It never stops for an instant. What good will it all do?[6]

Ravel reacted to the war with texts and music reminiscent of traditional French chansons of the 16th century.[7] He wrote the texts himself in the spirit of popular rhymes.[5][8] He dedicated the three songs to three people who might help him with the enlisting, "Nicolette" to Tristan Klingsor, who was connected to the military,[5] "Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis" to Paul Painlevé, a mathematician and socialist politician who was to become minister of war in 1917,[4] and "Ronde" to Sophie Clemenceau, née Szepz, the wife of Paul Clemenceau.[5][9]

It took eight months until Ravel was enlisted in March 1915, with help from Painlevé.[4] The Chansons were published by Éditions Durand in 1916, and were premiered on 11 October 1917, performed by a choral ensemble assembled by Jane Bathori, conducted by Louis Aubert, at Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier.[1] The work is catalogued as No. 69 in the list of compositions by Maurice Ravel established by musicologist Marcel Marnat. The Chansons are Ravel's only composition for a cappella choir.[2] Ravel made an arrangement, M 69a, for medium voice and piano.

Texts and music edit

A common theme in all three songs is loss,[10] handled not without humour and irony.[5] In "Nicolette", a young girl picking flowers on a meadow escapes a wolf and a page, but loses her innocence to an older gentleman offering silver.[11] In "Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis" (Three beautiful birds of Paradise), a girl whose beloved is in the war understands from the gifts of blue, white and red birds (the national colours of France) that he died. In "Ronde", young people lose respect for the warnings of the older men and women.[12]

The texts recall the atmosphere of Renaissance music,[13] and are supported by equally archaic music with plagal cadences and ancient turns of phrasing,[13] with the music closely following the words.[5] The music alludes to Renaissance chanson and madrigal.[14]

Nicolette edit

The first song is set in A minor. The theme is followed by three variations – that of the wolf, that of the page, graceful and aerial, and that of the rich Barbon.[15] In the three verses, the motif is presented alternately by all voices, the tempo varying from one verse to another,[13] both bouncing and fearful.[16] By combining the same melody with different accompaniment, Ravel achieves a form which is both strophic and theme with variations.[17]

Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis edit

The second song (Three beautiful birds of Paradise) is set in F minor. The song is the only one of the three clearly referring to the war,[3] the colours of the birds being the colours of the flag of France, and the refrain "Mon ami, z'il est á la guerre".[2] The first verses are presented by the "heavenly" voice of the soprano, continued by the tenor.[3] The song was described as "of the three pieces, the most refined, undoubtedly" and as an "exquisite ballad full of tenderness".[15]

Ravel gave it a form of a free rondo, in a form described as ABABA.A, while the traditional form might be ABACA, deviating from it by no contrasting C section but a repeat of A as a coda. The theme of longing is expressed by a languid melody with sparse accompaniment, in modal harmonies.[18]

Ronde edit

The third song is in A major, with a Lydian D-sharp.[13][19] The text is full of word-play in the tradition of 16th-century chansons,[5] and has been described as "a virtuosic display of tongue-twisting verbal dexterity",[2] and compared to that of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.[2] "In his display of erudite demonic science, Ravel has mixed all traditions: ancient, medieval and even oriental"[20] and the polyphony is becoming more and more virtuosic.[20] This song shows features of Basque folk music. [5] The form is strictly strophic, with three contrasting sections in each stanza.[14]

Reception and legacy edit

The chansons were reviewed immediately and favourably.[21] Later, Henri Collet wrote, "on these three dissimilar songs, Maurice Ravel composed an adorable musical triptych in which he shows himself the progressive continuator of Janequin and Costeley. "Nicolette" is the first time "allegro moderato"; the "Three beautiful birds of Paradise" constitute the moving andante, and the Ronde forms a dazzling finale of verve."[19]

At the composer's death, the work was counted among those of maturity, revealing "an art that was more and more master of its means".[22]

Recordings edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Jackson 2014, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Hyperion 2002.
  3. ^ a b c Marnat 1986, p. 430.
  4. ^ a b c Boccard 2017, p. 42.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nichols 2011, p. 179.
  6. ^ Jackson 2014, p. 3.
  7. ^ Villa Musica 2004.
  8. ^ Marnat 1986, p. 428.
  9. ^ "Paul Clemenceau". geni_family_tree.
  10. ^ Jackson 2014, p. 8.
  11. ^ Jackson 2014, pp. 8–9.
  12. ^ Jackson 2014, p. 9.
  13. ^ a b c d Ackere 1957, p. 55.
  14. ^ a b Jackson 2014, p. 19.
  15. ^ a b Jankélévitch 1956, p. 30.
  16. ^ Pittion 1960, p. 308.
  17. ^ Jackson 2014, p. 17.
  18. ^ Jackson 2014, p. 18.
  19. ^ a b Collet 1920, p. 2.
  20. ^ a b Marnat 1986, p. 433.
  21. ^ Marnold 1917, p. 701.
  22. ^ Brussel 1937, p. 2.
  23. ^ Trois chansons / Cl. Debussy. Trois chansons / M. Ravel. National Library of Australia
  24. ^ Remembering Conductor Eric Ericson WQXR
  25. ^ French Music Of The 20th Century, Poulenc/Milhaud/Messiaen kkbox.com
  26. ^ Trois chansons / Maurice Ravel & Accentus & Laurence Equilbey BBC
  27. ^ Franske Stemninger music.yandex.ru
  28. ^ BBC Singers [sound recording : a 70th anniversary celebration] searchworks.stanford.edu
  29. ^ Ravel / Chansons Chandos Records
  30. ^ Französische Chormusik ve-foerderverein.com
  31. ^ Higginson 2006.
  32. ^ Debut-CD des Ensembles Arsys Bourgogne / Selbstbewusst und vital SWR

Cited sources edit

Monographs edit

General publications edit

  • Pittion, Paul (1960). La Musique et son histoire; tome II — de Beethoven à nos jours (in French). Paris: Éditions Ouvrières.

Dissertations edit

  • Boccard, Aurélien Bastien (2017). Maurice Ravel and Paul Wittgenstein / Le concerto pour la main gauche in Response to World War I (PDF). mospace.umsystem.edu/ (Thesis). p. 139.
  • Jackson, Aaron Ronald (2014). Maurice Ravel: Trois Chansons and World War I (PDF). libres.uncg.edu (Thesis). p. 62.

Articles edit

  • Collet, Henri (20 February 1920). "La musique chez soi". Comœdia (in French). Vol. year 14, no. 2622. p. 2.
  • Marnold, Jean (16 August 1917). "Musique". Revue de la quinzaine – Mercure de France (in French). Vol. 122, no. 460. p. 701. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  • Brussel, Robert (29 December 1937). "La mort de Maurice Ravel". Le Figaro (in French). Vol. 112, no. 363. Retrieved 18 February 2019.

Online sources edit

  • Higginson, Gary (2006). "French Choral Music". musicweb-international.com.
  • "Trois Chansons". Hyperion Records. 2002.
  • "Maurice Ravel / "Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis"". kammermusikfuehrer.de (in German). 2004.

External links edit

January 06, 2024
trois, chansons, ravel, trois, chansons, composition, maurice, ravel, cappella, choir, texts, ravel, began, composition, december, 1914, response, outbreak, world, which, hoped, enlisted, fight, france, while, waited, months, wrote, text, music, three, songs, . Trois Chansons M 69 is a composition by Maurice Ravel for a cappella choir set to his own texts Ravel began the composition in December 1914 in response to the outbreak of World War I in which he hoped to be enlisted to fight for France While he waited for months he wrote text and music of the three songs in the tradition of 16th century French chansons He completed the work in 1915 and it was published by Editions Durand in 1916 The songs were premiered in 1917 performed by a choral ensemble conducted by Louis Aubert They remained his only composition for a cappella choir Trois ChansonsChoral music by Maurice RavelThe composer in 1913EnglishThree songsCatalogueM 69Textpoems by RavelComposed1914 1914 15DedicationTristan Klingsor Paul Painleve Sophie ClemenceauPerformed11 October 1917 1917 10 11 Published1916 1916 Scoringa cappella choir Contents 1 History 2 Texts and music 2 1 Nicolette 2 2 Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis 2 3 Ronde 3 Reception and legacy 4 Recordings 5 References 6 Cited sources 6 1 Monographs 6 2 General publications 6 3 Dissertations 6 4 Articles 6 5 Online sources 7 External linksHistory editRavel composed the Trois Chansons in response to World War I 1 2 beginning the work in December 1914 when he was in Paris waiting to be drafted 1 3 4 He was determined to fight for his country In November he took daily driving lessons aiming to join a supply department and passed the test in December He then began to write the first of three songs which was published as the central one adding the other two by February 1915 5 He wrote in a letter to a friend Cyprian Godebski Since the day before yesterday this sounding of alarms these weeping women and above all this terrible enthusiasm of the young people and of all the friends who have had to go and of whom I have no news I cannot bear it any longer The nightmare is too horrible I think that at any moment I shall go mad or lose my mind I have never worked so hard with such insane heroic rage Just think of the horror of this conflict It never stops for an instant What good will it all do 6 Ravel reacted to the war with texts and music reminiscent of traditional French chansons of the 16th century 7 He wrote the texts himself in the spirit of popular rhymes 5 8 He dedicated the three songs to three people who might help him with the enlisting Nicolette to Tristan Klingsor who was connected to the military 5 Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis to Paul Painleve a mathematician and socialist politician who was to become minister of war in 1917 4 and Ronde to Sophie Clemenceau nee Szepz the wife of Paul Clemenceau 5 9 It took eight months until Ravel was enlisted in March 1915 with help from Painleve 4 The Chansons were published by Editions Durand in 1916 and were premiered on 11 October 1917 performed by a choral ensemble assembled by Jane Bathori conducted by Louis Aubert at Theatre du Vieux Colombier 1 The work is catalogued as No 69 in the list of compositions by Maurice Ravel established by musicologist Marcel Marnat The Chansons are Ravel s only composition for a cappella choir 2 Ravel made an arrangement M 69a for medium voice and piano Texts and music editA common theme in all three songs is loss 10 handled not without humour and irony 5 In Nicolette a young girl picking flowers on a meadow escapes a wolf and a page but loses her innocence to an older gentleman offering silver 11 In Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis Three beautiful birds of Paradise a girl whose beloved is in the war understands from the gifts of blue white and red birds the national colours of France that he died In Ronde young people lose respect for the warnings of the older men and women 12 The texts recall the atmosphere of Renaissance music 13 and are supported by equally archaic music with plagal cadences and ancient turns of phrasing 13 with the music closely following the words 5 The music alludes to Renaissance chanson and madrigal 14 Nicolette edit The first song is set in A minor The theme is followed by three variations that of the wolf that of the page graceful and aerial and that of the rich Barbon 15 In the three verses the motif is presented alternately by all voices the tempo varying from one verse to another 13 both bouncing and fearful 16 By combining the same melody with different accompaniment Ravel achieves a form which is both strophic and theme with variations 17 Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis edit The second song Three beautiful birds of Paradise is set in F minor The song is the only one of the three clearly referring to the war 3 the colours of the birds being the colours of the flag of France and the refrain Mon ami z il est a la guerre 2 The first verses are presented by the heavenly voice of the soprano continued by the tenor 3 The song was described as of the three pieces the most refined undoubtedly and as an exquisite ballad full of tenderness 15 Ravel gave it a form of a free rondo in a form described as ABABA A while the traditional form might be ABACA deviating from it by no contrasting C section but a repeat of A as a coda The theme of longing is expressed by a languid melody with sparse accompaniment in modal harmonies 18 Ronde edit The third song is in A major with a Lydian D sharp 13 19 The text is full of word play in the tradition of 16th century chansons 5 and has been described as a virtuosic display of tongue twisting verbal dexterity 2 and compared to that of Stephen Sondheim s Into the Woods 2 In his display of erudite demonic science Ravel has mixed all traditions ancient medieval and even oriental 20 and the polyphony is becoming more and more virtuosic 20 This song shows features of Basque folk music 5 The form is strictly strophic with three contrasting sections in each stanza 14 Reception and legacy editThe chansons were reviewed immediately and favourably 21 Later Henri Collet wrote on these three dissimilar songs Maurice Ravel composed an adorable musical triptych in which he shows himself the progressive continuator of Janequin and Costeley Nicolette is the first time allegro moderato the Three beautiful birds of Paradise constitute the moving andante and the Ronde forms a dazzling finale of verve 19 At the composer s death the work was counted among those of maturity revealing an art that was more and more master of its means 22 Recordings editEnsemble Vocal Philippe Caillard with works by Debussy Poulenc Milhaud Florent Schmitt Hindemith LP Erato Records 1964 23 Rundfunkchor Stockholm conducted by Eric Ericson with works by Debussy Poulenc Badings LP EMI 1971 24 Modern Madrigal Singers Les Chansons De Poulenc Milhaud Debussy Ravel LP Desto DC 6483 25 Cambridge Singers conducted by John Rutter with works by Britten Debussy and Poulenc Hyperion Records CSCD509 2 Accentus choir conducted by Laurence Equilbey Chœurs profanes with works by Poulenc CD Disques Pierre Verany PV794042 1994 Grand prix de l academie du disque lyrique 26 Kammerkoret Con Spirito Helge Birkeland Franske Stemninger avec œuvres de Josquin des Pres Janequin Debussy Poulenc Milhaud Messiaen Schmitt CD Bergen Digital Studio BD7024CD 1994 27 BBC Singers directed by Simon Joly with works by Bach Roland de Lassus Mendelssohn Delius CD BBC Music Magazine BBC MM125 1994 28 Maurice Ravel Chansons with Inva Mula Valerie Millot Claire Brua Gerard Theruel Laurent Naouri with Histoires naturelles Chansons madecasses etc 2 CDs Naxos Records 8 554176 77 2003 29 SWR Vokalensemble conducted by Rupert Huber Musique chorale francaise with works by Debussy Messiaen Jolivet Chausson CD Hanssler Classic 93 055 2003 30 EuropaChorAkademie Musique Chorale Francaise with works by Absil Poulenc Debussy Hindemith CD Capriccio C67151 2006 31 Ensemble Arsys Bourgogne conducted by Mihaly Zeke Naissance de Venus with works by Debussy Poulenc Messiaen CD Paraty 2018 32 References edit a b c Jackson 2014 p 1 a b c d e f Hyperion 2002 a b c Marnat 1986 p 430 a b c Boccard 2017 p 42 a b c d e f g h Nichols 2011 p 179 Jackson 2014 p 3 Villa Musica 2004 Marnat 1986 p 428 Paul Clemenceau geni family tree Jackson 2014 p 8 Jackson 2014 pp 8 9 Jackson 2014 p 9 a b c d Ackere 1957 p 55 a b Jackson 2014 p 19 a b Jankelevitch 1956 p 30 Pittion 1960 p 308 Jackson 2014 p 17 Jackson 2014 p 18 a b Collet 1920 p 2 a b Marnat 1986 p 433 Marnold 1917 p 701 Brussel 1937 p 2 Trois chansons Cl Debussy Trois chansons M Ravel National Library of Australia Remembering Conductor Eric Ericson WQXR French Music Of The 20th Century Poulenc Milhaud Messiaen kkbox com Trois chansons Maurice Ravel amp Accentus amp Laurence Equilbey BBC Franske Stemninger music yandex ru BBC Singers sound recording a 70th anniversary celebration searchworks stanford edu Ravel Chansons Chandos Records Franzosische Chormusik ve foerderverein com Higginson 2006 Debut CD des Ensembles Arsys Bourgogne Selbstbewusst und vital SWRCited sources editMonographs edit Ackere Jules Van 1957 Maurice Ravel in Dutch Brussels Elsevier p 216 Jankelevitch Vladimir 1956 Ravel Solfeges in French Paris Editions du Seuil ISBN 2 02 023490 4 Marnat Marcel 1986 Maurice Ravel Les indispensables de la musique in French Paris Fayard ISBN 978 2 21 359625 9 Nichols Roger 2011 Ravel Master Musicians London Dent ISBN 978 0 46 003146 2 General publications edit Pittion Paul 1960 La Musique et son histoire tome II de Beethoven a nos jours in French Paris Editions Ouvrieres Dissertations edit Boccard Aurelien Bastien 2017 Maurice Ravel and Paul Wittgenstein Le concerto pour la main gauche in Response to World War I PDF mospace umsystem edu Thesis p 139 Jackson Aaron Ronald 2014 Maurice Ravel Trois Chansons and World War I PDF libres uncg edu Thesis p 62 Articles edit Collet Henri 20 February 1920 La musique chez soi Comœdia in French Vol year 14 no 2622 p 2 Marnold Jean 16 August 1917 Musique Revue de la quinzaine Mercure de France in French Vol 122 no 460 p 701 Retrieved 18 February 2019 Brussel Robert 29 December 1937 La mort de Maurice Ravel Le Figaro in French Vol 112 no 363 Retrieved 18 February 2019 Online sources edit Higginson Gary 2006 French Choral Music musicweb international com Trois Chansons Hyperion Records 2002 Maurice Ravel Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis kammermusikfuehrer de in German 2004 External links edit3 Chansons Ravel Maurice Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Free scores by Trois Chansons Maurice Ravel in the Choral Public Domain Library ChoralWiki Literature by and about Trois Chansons Ravel in the German National Library catalogue Portals nbsp Classical music nbsp France Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trois Chansons Ravel amp oldid 1187998226, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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