' (''Madagascan Songs'') is a set of three exotic
art song
An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...
s by
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
written in
1925
Events January
* January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...
and
1926
In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...
to words from the poetry collection of the same name by
Évariste de Parny
Évariste Desiré de Forges, vicomte de Parny (6 February 17535 December 1814) was a French Rococo poet.
Biography
De Parny was born in Saint-Paul on the Isle of Bourbon (now Réunion); he came from an aristocratic family from the region of ...
.
Structure
Scored for
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...
or
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
,
flute
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
,
cello
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
, and dedicated to the American musician and philanthropist
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (October 30, 1864 – November 4, 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music.
Biography
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wealthy wholesale ...
, the set is usually performed complete as a true
song cycle
A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online''
The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...
although this was not the composer's designation. The songs are:
*"Nahandove" (incipit: "Nahandove, ô belle Nahandove")
*"Aoua!" (incipit: "Aoua! méfiez-vous des blancs"
w! Beware of white people
*"Il est doux" (incipit: "Il est doux de se coucher durant la chaleur"
t is sweet to lie down during the heat
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
Alfredo Casella (25 July 18835 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor.
Life and career
Casella was born in Turin, the son of Maria (née Bordino) and Carlo Casella. His family included many musicians: his grandfather, a f ...
. 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
Dame Janet Abbott Baker (born 21 August 1933) is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.Blyth, Alan, "Baker, Dame Janet (Abbott)" in Sadie, Stanley, ed.; John Tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). ''New Grove Dictionar ...
(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
Smith Square Hall (formerly St John's Smith Square) is a concert hall in the centre of Smith Square, City of Westminster, Westminster, London. Its name was changed by its current operator, Sinfonia Smith Square, in 2024.
Originally a church, ...
*
Jan DeGaetani
Jan (Janice) DeGaetani (July 10, 1933 – September 15, 1989) was an American mezzo-soprano known for her performances of contemporary classical vocal compositions.
DeGaetani was born in Massillon, Ohio. Educated at The Juilliard School with ...
(mezzo-soprano),
Paul Dunkel (flute), Donald Anderson (cello),
Gilbert Kalish
Gilbert Kalish (born July 2, 1935) is an American pianist.
He was born in New York and studied with Leonard Shure, Julius Hereford and Isabelle Vengerova. He was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a pioneering new music gr ...
(piano),
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch ...
1978
*
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade (born 1 June 1945) is a semi-retired American classical singer. Best known for her work in opera, she was also a recitalist and concert artist, and she recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She is especially associa ...
(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), (flute),
Jérôme Pernoo (cello),
Alain Altinoglu (piano) –
Naïve Records
Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music.
Founding and expansion
It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...
V5304 – recorded June 2011 in the
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
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...
. 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
The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
for the soprano
Ailish Tynan.
''Nuits d'Afrique''
published by Chester Music (2015) Both works are intended as a companion to Ravel's ''Chansons madécasses''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chansons Madecasses
Song cycles by Maurice Ravel
1926 songs
Art songs
Music with dedications
Chamber music by Maurice Ravel
Songs with instrumental ensemble