| 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 (1926-05-08) |
| Movements | three |
| Scoring |
|
Chansons madécasses (Madagascan Songs) is a set of three exotic art songs by Maurice Ravel written in 1925 and 1926 to words from the poetry collection of the same name by Évariste de Parny.
Structure
Scored for mezzo-soprano or baritone, flute, cello and piano, and dedicated to the American musician and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, the set is usually performed complete as a true song cycle although this was not the composer's designation. The songs are:
- "Nahandove" (incipit: "Nahandove, ô belle Nahandove")
- "Aoua!" (incipit: "Aoua! méfiez-vous des blancs" )
- "Il est doux" (incipit: "Il est doux de se coucher durant la chaleur" )
Premiere and recordings
Jane Bathori sang the premiere on 8 May 1926, in Rome, accompanied by flutist Louis Fleury, cellist Hans Kindler, and pianist Alfredo Casella. The first edition print was made by Luc-Albert Moreau. The first known record was that by Madeleine Grey, a highly regarded singer, in 1932. Recordings include:
- Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Richard Adeney (flute), Terence Weil (cello), Lamar Crowson (piano) – L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 298 – released 1967
- Felicity Palmer (soprano), Judith Pearse (flute), Christopher van Kampen (cello), Clifford Benson (piano) – Argo ZRG 834 – recorded May 24–25 and July 9, 1975, in St John's, Smith Square
- Jan DeGaetani (mezzo-soprano), Paul Dunkel (flute), Donald Anderson (cello), Gilbert Kalish (piano), Nonesuch Records 1978
- Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano), Doriot Anthony Dwyer (flute), Jules Eskind (cello), Martin Katz (piano) – CBS Masterworks 36665 – recorded November 10, 1979, in CBS 30th Street Studio
- Nora Gubisch (mezzo-soprano), Magali Mosnier [de] (flute), Jérôme Pernoo (cello), Alain Altinoglu (piano) – Naïve Records V5304 – recorded June 2011 in the Salle Colonne [fr]
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. In 2015 the British composer Judith Weir wrote a work in three movements for the same instrumentation called Nuits d'Afrique; it was commissioned by Wigmore Hall for the soprano Ailish Tynan. Both works are intended as a companion to Ravel's Chansons madécasses.
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. 264ff. ISBN 978-0-521-64856-1.
- Maurice Ravel: Chansons madécasses / Sites auriculaires / Sonata for Violin and Cello at Discogs (list of releases)
- Songs of Nature and Farewell (no date) Available at: http://www.musichaven.co.uk/Songs-of-Nature-and-Farewell.html Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed: 13 October 2015)
- Nuits d'Afrique published by Chester Music (2015)
External links
- Chansons madécasses: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
| Maurice Ravel | |
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| Orchestral | |
| Concertante | |
| Chamber | |
| Solo piano | |
| Vocal | |
| Related | |
