Albert Roussel - 2 Poèmes de Ronsard, Op. 26 (1924)

Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel (5 April 1869 - 23 August 1937) was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period. His early works were strongly influenced by the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, while he later turned toward neoclassicism.''
2 Poèmes de Ronsard, Op. 26 (1924)
1. Rossignol, mon mignon
2. Ciel, aer, et vens
Irene Maessen, soprano and Paul Verhey, flute
Description by Adrian Corleonis [-]
For the 400th anniversary of Pierre de Ronsard's birth, the May 1924 issue of La Revue musicale was a commemorative featuring a supplement of pieces composed in honor of one of France's greatest poets by Ravel, Honegger, Caplet, and Delage. To this occasion we also owe Dukas' single extant song, a setting of Ronsard's sonnet "Ha! Bel Acueil, que ta douce parole," and that startling anomaly, Roussel's setting of Rossignol, mon mignonne for medium voice and flute. Far from being the gimmick this suggests, the combination exactly renders the sense of Ronsard's poem, the nightingale's blithesome descant as the lover complains that his beloved stops her ears to avoid hearing his songs -- "We sigh alike: Your sweet voice attempts To tell the affection of one who loves you so, And I, sad, I lament the beauty That opened so bitter a wound in my heart." Roussel's affection for the flute, to which he confided many of his choicest thoughts, is nowhere more evident than in the fantastical melodic bursts accorded the nightingale, suggesting the caprice of birdsong without becoming an ornithological study in the Messiaen manner. Lacing with the voice, the richness of invention entrusted to the flute is almost distracting, though its slender accompaniment clearly allows the words to loom. As Norman Demuth noted, "Singers and flautists are unanimous in their delight over 'Deux Poèmes de Ronsard,' not only because their own individual lines are so apt, but because the writing is so much of a piece; the balance is so good and it is real chamber music." Composed in the spring of 1924, Roussel was sufficiently pleased with Rossignol, mon mignonne -- playing around five minutes -- that he followed it a few days later with another, briefer Ronsard setting, Ciel, aer et vens, in which flute and voice deftly vary each other's lines as the singer calls upon "Sky, air and wind, plains and bare mountains, Cleaved hillocks and verdant forests, Winding shores and flowing springs, Cropped coppices and you green groves" etc., to tell his beloved "Farewell." As an anonymous commentator noted, the rhythm of the sicilienne suggests the rustic scene, while modal vocal writing evokes antiquity. Rossignol, mon mignonne was first sung by Ninon Vallin at a Paris concert on May 15, 1924; the premiere of Ciel, aer et vens was given by Claire Croiza in Paris on May 28, 1924. The flutist on these occasions is not noted. The songs are dedicated to the artists of their premieres.

[@katehunt8029]

A very intersting discovery. The flute part is really beautiful.

[@leejones5026]

Very nice and relaxing to listen to.

[@thenameisgsarci]

Oh goody, thanks for doing this one! :D

[@johnvalentine4720]

hypnotically beautiful.

[@kguy152000]

Lovely stuff

[@guilhermetinoss]

Interesting..

Good content

[@gabrielkaz5250]

1. Rossignol, mon mignon 0:01
2. Ciel, aer, et vens 4:38