Trois Poèmes De Mallarmé

''Trois poèmes de Mallarmé'' is a sequence of three art songs by Maurice Ravel, based on poems by Stéphane Mallarmé for soprano, two flutes, two clarinets, piano, and string quartet. Composed in 1913, it was premiered on 14 January 1914, performed by Rose Féart and conducted by D.-E. Inghelbrecht, at the inaugural concert of the société musicale indépendante of the 1913–1914 season in the Salle Érard in Paris.

The work bears the reference M. 64, in the catalogue of works of the composer established by musicologist Marcel Marnat.

History

Maurice Ravel had a predilection for the poetry of Mallarmé. In an interview with the New York Times in the late 1920s, he said:

In 1913, the first complete edition of Mallarmé's poems was published. Ravel set three of his poems the same year, in different cities that refer to main places in his life with family and friends: ''Placet futile'' was completed in Paris, ''Surgi'' in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where his parents lived, and ''Soupir'' in Clarens, Switzerland, where he was able to meet again with Stravinsky.

The dates of composition follow the order of execution of the three poems: the manuscript of ''Soupir'' was completed on 2 April 1913, ''Placet futile'' in May, and ''Surgi...'' in August.

A "Debussy-Ravel" match

Thanks to Henri Mondor, who was one of his friends, Ravel had been able to obtain the rights for the musicalization of Mallarmé's poems. He confided him his "relief" in the face of this request, as Debussy also urged him to grant him these same rights. According to Marcel Marnat, Ravel then invited Mondor to yield to this request.

Since the '' Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'', the ''Mercure de France'' used to present Debussy as "aspiring to Mallarmé's legacy". Learning that the rights had already been granted to a composer who was readily presented as his rival, he was furious.

Debussy confided how "this Mallarmé-Ravel story isn't funny." For his part, Ravel announced to Roland-Manuel: "We will soon see a Debussy-Ravel match"..."In 1913, Debussy and Ravel didn't talk to each other", concluded Stravinsky, quite interested in such "scrambles" between composers.

In general, the two great composers - apart from a certain tacit rivalry inherent in their creative contemporaneity - had always respected each other deeply, and many supposed frictions between the two personalities were above all caused by their respective surroundings, or even by the coteries occupying the Parisian musical scene.

Introduction

In the eyes of the critics, the choice of poems was not fortuitous: Debussy and Ravel set ''Soupir'' and ''Placet futile'' to music. The comparison of the differences between the two versions of these poems has sometimes resulted in unfortunate consequences for the critics regarding their styles.

Debussy had chosen ''Éventail'' from the poem ''Autre éventail'' (by Miss Mallarmé) to finish his collection on an equally dreamy note, like a refined madrigal, subtly erotic. Ravel, for "the love of difficulty", chose to put in music one of the most hermetic sonnets of Mallarmé.

The "Trois Poèmes" are as follows :

# ''Soupir'' — dedicated to Igor Stravinsky
# ''Placet futile'' — dedicated to Florent Schmitt
# ''Surgi de la croupe et du bond'' — dedicated to Erik Satie

The performance takes about twelve minutes.

Premiere

The premiere took place on 14 January 1914, during a concert where were presented in first audition '' Le Petit Elfe Ferme-l'œil'' by Florent Schmitt for four-handed piano, the '' Quatre poèmes hindous'' by Maurice Delage and the ' by Igor Stravinsky. Ravel's poems ended this concert.

Influences and coincidences

The instrumentation is the same as for the ''Trois poésies de la lyrique japonaise'' by Stravinsky, and close to that of the ''Poèmes hindous'' by Delage. The influence of '' Pierrot Lunaire'' by Arnold Schoenberg is often mentioned: Stravinsky and Edgar Varese had witnessed the creation of this work in Berlin in 1912. Ravel, without having heard it, had gathered their testimonies and, on their enthusiastic description, would have considered writing for a chamber music ensemble.

Paul Collaer stated that "Schoenberg pointed the way for music to escape from the enormous apparatus of the great orchestra".

However, Alexis Roland-Manuel would note that

Émile Vuillermoz would also recall that Gabriel Fauré had arranged '' La bonne chanson'' with string quartet, and that the '' Chanson perpétuelle'', Op. 37 by Ernest Chausson (1898) was written for soprano, piano and string quartet.

Overview of the work

The ''Trois poèmes'' are remarkably brief: 37 bars for ''Soupir'', 28 bars for ''Placet futile'' and only 24 for ''Surgi…''

''Soupir'' opens with the "fairy-like" sonority of the natural harmonics of the string quartet, in a continuous stream of quadruple eighth notes. The voice enters quietly after this introduction. As it gently rises, the piano, then the flutes, and finally the clarinets appear. The quartet resumes after a pause, offering a natural, more elegant sound. Until the end, the voice is supported by soft sonorities on the piano, written on three staves, and discreet backings from the other instruments. The artificial harmonics of the strings return briefly in alternation with a delicate chordal arpeggio in the piano to conclude the movement.

''Placet futile'' offers rhythm games and "dialogues" of more whimsical sonorities: the measure often changes, when ''Soupir'' remained immutably four-stroke. The piano, absent during the whole first quatrain of the poem, makes an entrance almost as "spectacular" as in the future '' Tzigane'' of 1924: a rush of arpeggios accompanying the evocation of frivolous pleasures and the "lukewarm games" of the poem. The flute offers a counter-singing to the last verses of the sonnet, which prefigures the "princess's air" of '' l'Enfant et les Sortilèges''.

''Surgi…'' offers as first characteristic a change in instrumentation: the second flute takes the piccolo, and the second clarinet takes the bass clarinet. The small flute immediately flies away, on a tremolo broken from the violins, but cruelly dissonant. Overall, the accompaniment is very discreet, with a clear and icy equality of tone ( harmonics of the quartet, octaves of the piano, etc.), somewhat frightening, in accord with the words "funeral" of the poem - until the end "exhaling" in the extreme bass of the voice.

Vocally, the melody follows the text as closely as possible: neither vocals nor melisma, one note per syllable. The expansion linked to instrumental accompaniment, however, imposes a certain lyrical "breath". The performance of the song and its sharpness, or "intelligibility", are essential.

Critic

It is on this point that Charles Koechlin makes a reservation about Ravel's poems, in his ': "Avoid also words that are rare and difficult to understand at first audition".

The first tercet of ''Surgi de la croupe et du bond'':
;''Le pur vase d’aucun breuvage''
;''Que l’inexhaustible veuvage''
;''Agonise mais ne consent''

appears to be the most difficult, from this point of view. Koechlin, who was aware of this, adds in a note:

The apostrophe "Princess! ", a descendant one by Debussy, is rising by Ravel, over the same interval of a sixth. In ''Surgi'', the vocal line presents unaccompanied tritone. In this melody, the last composition, already announces the future Ravel, that of the '' Chansons madécasses''...

In'' Placet futile'' suddenly two equally remarkable "faces" of Ravel are set against each other. After the virtuoso, dazzling and vertiginous entry of the piano (figure 3 of the score), the voice is simply expressed.

;''Et que sur moi je sais ton regard clos tombé''

under a rare unison of the entire quartet, and major, very discreet chords () of the piano. Such is Maurice Ravel: the engineer of so many precision mechanics and passionate lyricist. Vladimir Jankélévitch finds there "a precious melody, baroque and rather Góngoresque, which curves the vocal line and imposes great variations, preventing it from shaking. The pianistic ornament, where the cold seventh major movement - the one noted next to it - stands out, is as rich as it is clear."

Legacy

The ''Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé'' by Christophe Looten (1997) are written for the same instrumental ensemble as those of Maurice Ravel.

Bibliography

Quoted works

*

Monographs

*
* Maurice Delage; La solitude de l'artisan
/ref>

References

External links

''3 Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé'' (Ravel, Maurice)
on ISLMP


on lieder.net

Ravel, Mallarmé ''Trois poèmes'', (music score)
on Scribd

Poèmes (3) de Stéphane Mallarmé, song cycle for voice & ensemble (or piano), M. 64
on AllMusic

Maurice Ravel - 3 Poèmes de Mallarmé
on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trois Poemes De Mallarme
Song cycles by Maurice Ravel
Chamber music by Maurice Ravel
1913 compositions
Musical settings of poems by Stéphane Mallarmé
Songs with instrumental ensemble