''La chanson d'Ève'', Op. 95, is 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 ...

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

, of ten

mélodie A ''mélodie'' () is a form of French art song, arising in the mid-19th century. It is comparable to the German ''Lied''. A ''chanson'', by contrast, is a folk or popular French song. The literal meaning of the word in the French language is "melod ...

s for voice and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. Composed during 1906–10, it is based on the collection of poetry of the same name by

Charles van Lerberghe Charles van Lerberghe (21 October 1861 – 26 October 1907) was a Belgian author who wrote in French and was particularly identified with the symbolist movement. The growing atheism and anticlerical stance evident in his later work made it popula ...

.Orledge (1979), p. 309 It is Fauré's longest song cycle.Orledge (1979), p. 137

Composition

Fauré was introduced to van Lerberghe's poems by

Octave Maus Octave Maus (12 June 1856 – 26 November 1919) was a Belgian art critic, writer and lawyer. Maus worked with fellow writer/lawyer Edmond Picard, and they together with Victor Arnould and Eugène Robert founded the weekly '' L'Art moderne'' ...

.Nectoux (2004), p. 303 The songs were composed over the period June 1906 to January 1910. "Crépuscule" came first, in June 1906; its origin was as a re-setting of the music of "Mélisande's Song". The latter, an 1898 setting for voice of "La chanson de Mélisande" from Act 3 of Fauré's Pelléas et Mélisande, was his only setting of a text in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Fauré only conceived the idea of a song cycle after "Crépuscule" had been published as an independent song. The composition of "Paradis" and "Prima verba" followed in September, while Faure was visiting

Stresa Stresa is a town and ''comune'' of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Simpl ...

and

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. "Roses ardentes" and "L'aube blanche" came in June 1908, and the rest was composed from July 1909. Over these years, Fauré was also working on his

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

Pénélope ''Pénélope'' is an opera in three acts by the French composer Gabriel Fauré. The libretto, by René Fauchois is based on Homer's ''Odyssey''. It was first performed at the Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo on 4 March 1913. The piece is dedicated to ...

''.

Settings

Fauré's settings, selected from three of the four sections of van Lerberghe's collection, are as follows: #"Paradis" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Prima verba" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Roses ardentes" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Comme Dieu rayonne" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"L'aube blanche" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Eau vivante" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Veilles-tu, ma senteur de soleil?" (from ''La tentation'') #"Dans un parfum de roses blanches" (from ''Premières paroles'') #"Crépuscule" (from ''Crépuscule'') #"O mort, poussière d'étoiles" (from ''Crépuscule'')

Premieres

The first songs to be

premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

d were "Paradis", "Prima verba" and "Crépuscule", on 18 March 1908 at the

Bechstein Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

, sung by Jeanne Raunay. The pianist was Fauré. On 26 May 1909 at the

Salle Érard Salle Érard The salle Érard is a music venue located in Paris, 13 rue du Mail in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the hôtel particulier which belonged, from the 18th century, to the family of piano, harp and harpsichord manufact ...

, Raunay and Fauré premiered "Roses ardentes", "Comme Dieu rayonne", "L'aube blanche" and "Eau vivante", as well as performing the three earlier songs. Raunay and Fauré premiered the complete cycle on 20 – April 1910 at the first concert of the newly formed

Société musicale indépendante The French société musicale indépendante (SMI) was founded in 1910 in particular by Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel, Charles Koechlin and Florent Schmitt. When the SMI was founded, the Société nationale de musique was the main Parisian compan ...

. This occasion also saw the premieres of

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

's '' D'un cahier d'esquisses'' and

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's '' Ma mère l'oye''. Ravel wrote to Fauré the next day that he had been extremely moved by Fauré's cycle.Johnson (2009), p. 321 The complete song cycle was published by Heugel in 1911, dedicated to Jeanne Raunay.

References

Sources

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External links

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French texts
an

at The Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Chanson Deve, La Song cycles by Gabriel Fauré 1910 compositions Mélodies Classical song cycles in French