"Les Chemins de l'Amour" ("The Ways of Love") is a 1940 ''valse chantée'', or sung waltz, by

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

to lyrics by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...

. It was written for soprano voice as part of Poulenc's

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

for Anouilh's new play ''

Léocadia ''Léocadia'' (''Time Remembered'') is a play by Jean Anouilh that premiered at the Théâtre de la Michodière in Paris on 2 December 1940. It is one of Anouilh's ''Pièces roses'', together with ''Humulus le muet'' (1932), ''Le Bal des voleurs'' ...

'' and exists with two accompaniments: piano only (catalogue FP 106-Ia) and chamber ensemble (cat. FP 106-Ib). The rest of the incidental music is lost.

Genesis

Composed in October 1940, the song is dedicated to the comedian and singer Yvonne Printemps, who sang it at the premiere of the play ''

'' on 1 December 1940. The song was somewhat successful, and Printemps recorded it. Max Eschig published the score in 1945.

Discography

* Yvonne Printemps and Marcel Cariven (conducting). * and

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C� ...

(conducting). Grand Prix du disque. *

Felicity Lott Dame Felicity Ann Emwhyla Lott, (born 8 May 1947) is an English soprano. Education Lott was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. From her earliest years she was musical, having started studying piano at age 5. She also played violin and bega ...

(soprano) and Graham Johnson (piano) - Hyperion. *

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

(soprano) and Dalton Baldwin (piano) - Philips. *

Véronique Gens Véronique Gens (born 19 April 1966) is a French operatic soprano. She has spent much of her career recording and performing Baroque music, Baroque music. Gens was born in Orléans, France, and studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, winning fir ...

(soprano) and Roger Vignoles (piano) - Erato. *

Patricia Petibon Patricia Petibon (born 27 February 1970) is a French soprano. Life Born in Montargis, Petibon's parents were both teachers. She initially studied the visual arts, including painting and subsequently changed her academic focus and earned a bac ...

(soprano), Christian-Pierre La Marca (cello),

Amandine Savary Amandine Savary is a French pianist born in February 1984 in Bayeux, Calvados. Biography Amandine Savary began with her piano studies at the conservatory in Caen where she graduated with honours. In 2003 she joined the Royal Academy of Music o ...

(piano) - Sony. * Sophie Karthäuser (soprano), Eugène Asti (piano) - Harmonia Mundi *

Mischa Maisky Mischa Maisky (, , ; born 10 January 1948) is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist. Biography Mischa Maisky was born in 1948 in Riga and is the younger brother of organist, harpsichordist and musicologist Valery Maisky (1942–1981). He was taught by ...

(cello), Daria Havora (piano) - Deutsche Grammophon

References

External links

Yvonne Printemps - "Les chemins de l'amour" by Poulenc
on YouTube
''Léocadia'', FP 106 (Poulenc, Francis)
on IMSLP

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chemins de l'amour, Les Songs with music by Francis Poulenc 1940 compositions French songs Mélodies Works by Jean Anouilh