The ''Chansons gaillardes'' (Ribald songs) FP 42, are a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

of eight pieces composed by

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

in 1925–1926 "In euphoria and post-war"''Guide de la mélodie et du lied'', p. 497 on anonymous texts of the 17th century. The work was dedicated to Mme Fernand Allard. This cycle was premiered in concert on 2 May 1926
salle des Agriculteurs
by

Pierre Bernac Pierre Louis Bernac (né Bertin; 12 January 1899 – 17 October 1979) was a French singer, a baryton-martin, known as an interpreter of the French mélodie. He had a close artistic association with Francis Poulenc, with whom he performed i ...

, as a 26-year-old

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

virtually unknown, and Francis Poulenc, 27 years old, as the pianist. It was the memory of this first collaboration that would bring together Poulenc and Bernac several years later for many international tours, from 1934 to 1959.

Composition of the cycle

The titles of the eight pieces, of which the '' tempi'' alternate quick and slow movements, are as follow: # ''La Maîtresse volage'' – Rondement # ''Chanson à boire'' – Adagio # ''Madrigal'' – Très décidé # ''Invocation aux Parques'' – Grave # ''Couplets bachiques'' – Très animé # ''L'Offrande'' – Modéré # ''La Belle Jeunesse'' – Très animé # ''Sérénade'' – Modéré

Analysis

Just out of the surrealist experience of ''

Les Six "Les Six" () is a name given to a group of six composers, five of them French and one Swiss, who lived and worked in Montparnasse. The name, inspired by Mily Balakirev's '' The Five'', originates in two 1920 articles by critic Henri Collet in '' ...

'', Poulenc dared to bring the bawdy songs into the concert halls. On the one hand, the text of ''Les Chansons gaillardes'' comes from anonymous texts of the seventeenth century, written in a tone of celebration and alcohol: "texts rather scabrous",''Correspondance 1910-1963'', p. 266 according to Francis Poulenc himself. On the other hand, in the ''Journal de mes mélodies'', Poulenc explains about them: "I hold this collection dear where I tried to demonstrate that obscenity can accommodate music. I hate ribaldry". Most texts imply a particular play on words, a lightness in the form of code. For example, in the ''

Chanson à boire A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs or commercium songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music. In Germany, drinking songs are ...

'', the words celebrate "the kings of Egypt and Syria" because they "wanted their body to be embalmed, to last longer, dead", and conclude, ''Buvons donc selon notre envie ! ..Embaumons-nous !'' (Let's therefore drink according to our desire! ..Let us embalm!")

References

Bibliography

*1964: Francis Poulenc, ''Journal de mes mélodies'',

éditions Grasset The Grasset Editions () is a French publishing house founded in 1907 by (1881–1955). History Founder In 1913, Bernard Grasset publishes the first volume of ''À la recherche du temps perdu'', by Marcel Proust, '' Du côté de chez Swann'', ...

; Reissued in 1993, a full text prepared and annotated by

Renaud Machart Renaud Machart (born 22 March 1962) is a French journalist, music critic, radio producer and music producer. Biography Renaud Machart was born in Lannion, and first studied music under the direction of his father and then with Claudette Bohn, pr ...

, éditions Cicéro and

Éditions Durand Éditions Durand are a music publishing company of French origin, among the most important in the field of classical music, which includes three previously independent publishers: * Éditions Durand — the oldest of the three companies — estab ...

-Salabert-Eschig, Paris, 1993 ; *2011: Francis Poulenc
''J'écris ce qui me chante''
Texts and interviews presented and annotated by Nicolas Southon, 2011, , 982 p. ; *1994: Francis Poulenc, ''Correspondance 1910-1963'', Collected, selected, presented and annotated by Myriam Chimènes,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayard ...

, , 1128 p. *1994:

Brigitte François-Sappey Brigitte François-Sappey (born 21 January 1944) is a French musicologist, educator, radio producer, and lecturer. Biography Brigitte François-Sappey studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris where she won first prizes of music history, mu ...

and

Gilles Cantagrel Gilles Cantagrel (born 20 November 1937) is a French musicologist, writer, lecturer and music educator. Biography Born in Paris, Cantagrel studied physics, art history and music at the École Normale de Musique de Paris and at the Conservatoi ...

(dir.), ''Guide de la mélodie et du lied'', Fayard, , 918 p. *1926: ''Chansons gaillardes'', score published by par Heugel & Cie, (ISMN M-047-29356-5)

External links

Texts of the songs at the LiederNet Archive

Poulenc, ''Chansons gaillardes : Chanson à boire''
on YouTube
8 Chansons gaillardes, FP 42 (Poulenc, Francis)
on IMSLP

on Melodie Treasury
''Chansons gaillardes'', FP42
on Hyperion
''Chansons gaillardes''
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Chansons paillardes Compositions by Francis Poulenc 1925 compositions Choral compositions