"L'adieu du cavalier" (in English "The Knight's Farewell", subtitled "in Memoriam

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 ...

) is a song for voice and piano written by

Germaine Tailleferre Germaine Tailleferre (; born Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse; 19 April 18927 November 1983) was a French composer and the only female member of the group of composers known as ''Les Six''. Biography Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born at Sai ...

in 1963 on a poem of the same title by Guillaume Apollinaire. The work was published in 2003 by the French publishers Musik Fabrik. The work was commissioned by the American soprano and patron of the arts

Alice Swanson Esty Alice Theresa Hildagard Swanson Esty (November 8, 1904 – July 21, 2000) was an American actress, soprano and arts patron who commissioned works by members of Les Six and other French composers, and American composers such as Ned Rorem, Virgil ...

for Esty's memorial concert for Francis Poulenc in 1964 at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, at which she also premièred other songs by Darius Milhaud, Ned Rorem,

Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...

and others written for the occasion.Description of the Alice Esty Papers at Bates College in Maine

url accessed August 22, 2006 This short song takes about two and half minutes to perform.

References

Compositions by Germaine Tailleferre, Adieu Du Cavalier, L' Adaptations of wroks by Guillaume Apollinaire Music based on poems {{composition-stub