French song from Berlioz to Duparc : the origin and development of the melodie / revised by Rita Benton and Frits Noske ; translated by Rita Benton.
| Author/creator | Noske, Frits |
| Other author | Benton, Rita, editor, translator. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | Second edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Dover Publications, ©1970. |
| Description | xiv, 454 pages : illustrations, music, portraits ; 22 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Uniform title | Mélodie française de Berlioz à Duparc. English |
| Series | American Musicological Society Music Library Association. Reprint series American Musicological Society-Music Library Association reprint series. ^A646631 |
| Contents | The origins of the mélodie. The romance ; The decline of the romance ; The Romantic romance ; The word "mélodie" designating a vocal piece ; Schubert and the German Lied ; The mélodie after Schubert -- Some observations concerning the literary aspects of the mélodie. Historical sketch of the theory of prosody. The burden of syllabic quantity imposed on song ; Theories of Scoppa and Castil-Blaze, the "square" phrase ; Imperfect prosody at mid-century, sterility of musical rhythm ; Restoration of prosody, purism toward 1900 -- Four Romantic poets, relation of their poetic expression to music. Théophile Gautier ; Alfred de Musset ; Alphonse de Lamartine ; Victor Hugo ; Poetic qualities of musical interest ; Neglected poets -- The mélodie during the Romantic era. Hector Berlioz ; Giacomo Meyerbeer ; Franz Liszt ; Richard Wagner ; Félicien David ; Henri Reber -- The "bourgeois" mélodie. Charles Gounod ; Victor Massé ; Ernest Reyer ; Georges Bizet ; Léo Delibes ; Jules Massenet -- Toward the apogee of French song. The mélodie influenced by instrumental music. Camille Saint Saëns ; Édouard Lalo ; César Franck ; Alexis de Castillon -- The first great masters. Gabriel Fauré's first collection ; Henri Duparc -- Postscript to the second edition -- Appendix I: Hippolyte Monpou and his romanticism -- Appendix II: Elegie: an unknown melodie of Franz Liszt -- Appendix III: Orientalism in the melodie -- Appendix IV: "L'aurore" / by Gabriel Faure -- Appendix V: Prose rendering of poetic quotations -- Appendix VI: Song catalogue. |
| Abstract | "French song of the 19th century has been too long ignored by musicologists and performers alike. In this study Frits Noske shows the neglect to be undeserved in the case of the mélodie, a genre which at its best attained the high quality of the German Lied, yet remained essentially independent and wholly French in character. Professor Noske, recently appointed Director of the Institute to Musicology of the University of Amsterdam, is the first musicologist to trace fully the origins and early development of the mélodie. He discusses the forms from which the mélodie evolved, intermediary compositions by Niedermeyer and Monpou, the effect of Thomas Moore's Irish Melodies, Berlioz' contribution to the emerging form, the influence of German song (especially that of Schubert), the special problems of French language prosody, the changing role of the accompaniment, and other similar topics. Because of the close relationship between poetic text and musical setting, there is a chapter on musical aspects of favorite poets of early mélodie composers: Gautier, de Musset, Lamartine, and Hugo. The mélodies of Berlioz, Liszt, Gounod, Bizet, Delibes, Massenet, Saint-Saëns, Lalo, Franck, Fauré, Duparc and seven others are described and analyzed as to structure, style, prosody, and melo-harmonic features. The author's sensitives evaluation of the songs, coupled with over 250 musical examples, will provide singers with ample evidence of the quality of many mélodies. Some of them certainly deserve reintroduction to the concert stage. This first English edition, corrected and revised, also takes advantage of new findings published since the appearance of the original French edition, and includes a new author's preface and postscript, as well as additional illustrations. The reorganized and amplified song catalogue in Appendix VI should be extremely helpful to singers seeking editions of the songs. Dr. Rita Benton of the University of Iowa, also an authority on French music, revised the text with the author and made the translation."--Back cover. |
| Local note | Little-86481 --305130011038P |
| General note | "Song catalogue": pages 327-408. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliography (pages 432-446) and index. |
| Language | Translation of first edition (1954): La mélodie française de Berlioz à Duparc. |
| LCCN | 68011177 |
| ISBN | 0486221040 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780486221045 (paperback) |
| Stock number | 6.00 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML2827.N6 M43 1970 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |