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Post-Wagnerian Concepts in French Vocal Music and Poetry

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POST-WAGNERIAN CONCEPTS IN FRENCH VOCAL MUSIC AND POETRY: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MALLARME AND DEBUSSY. by JOSEPHINE RAYNER Submitted for the degree of D. Phil, Department of Music 1968 Tu te leves. Tu te leves lleau se deplie Tu te couches lleau sl6panouit Tu es lIeau detournee de ses abImes Tu es la terre qui prend racine Et sur laquelle tout slietablit Tu fais des bulles de silence dans le desert des bruits Tu chantes des hymnes nocturnes sur les cordes de llarc-en-ciel Tu es partout tu abolis toutes les routes Tu sacrifies le temps A lle"ternelle jeunesse de la flamme exacte Q,ui voile la nature en la reproduisant Femme tu mets au monde un corps toujours pareil Le tien Tu es la ressemblance Paul Eluard from "Facile" 1935, fr- II ABSTRACT Post-Wagnerian tendencies in French music and poetry; with special reference to Mallarme and Debu§-§Z. Fundamentally, the thesis concerns itself with late nineteenth and early twentieth century concepts of poetry and song in France, resulting from the upheaval of Wagnerianism, in which the Teutonic composer assumes the role of an allegorically significant mandrake figure. With the ubiquitous Tristan theme as the background ideal, English Aestheticism and Pre-Raphaelitism are discussed, and the paradox of mock-Mediaevalism pitted against new clean linear importances emerges, A discussion of five early post-Wagnerian songs by Chausson, Chabrier and Duparc precedes comment on Mallarme's 1poetiquel, and the approach, through magic and symbols in Yeats and overall simultanism, to Sartre's eventual existentialism. I'LlApres-Midi d1un Faune" is treated fully both from symbolic and analytical premisses and involves brief discussion on the growth and relevance of sonata form, which is ise i tself zaiPpllý'Ctýo the po; itic analysis. 14an's-i-nstinctivd--awareness-of- the'duality of things is exemplified in this poem. Six of Faurets, -' many songs are analysed and discussed both in relation to their innate musicality and technical brilliance, and also briefly in relation to Debussy's later songs, several of which share, with Faure, the poetic art of Verlaine. Maeterlinck's general aims and ideals (illustrated in "Pelleas et Melisande") are discussed with emphasis upon his almost hypnotic use of words. Through his narrative depiction of human loneliness and the need for silence we are made aware of the inevitable develop. The evolutionary processes from which indeterminacy must play its Pre-Raphaelite "Pelleas et Melisandell is related more directly to Four by ambience and is analysed technically and associatively. songs Debussy illustrate the varying stages of his creative life and his The includes sensitivity towards the sound of words. conclusion through three by artistic commentary by Debussy and announces, poems Essence. Apollinaire and Chars the Twentieth Century Josephine Rayner Submitted for the degree of D. Phil PREFACE. 1 Despite the obvious musical and possibly philosophical associations of the title, I believe the basic premiss of the entire thesis to be that of man's concern with time in art. , It may be the time-scale of his own accountable life and its happenings, or that of Man as a rational collective beingg whose existence is partly maintained and justified by the pursuit of beauty, perfection, or merely a less exalted self-satisfaction through the terms and media of art. After Wagner, man's amazingly varied and free artistic approaches to time in art move from the novels of Joyce and Mann, Schý6nbergls "Gurrelieder", and Picasso's large early experiments in colour to the post First World War period of cynicism and disillusionment; from the facility of Cocteau to Beckett's "Malone Dies" and the rise of Anti-Art, all of which, in some way or anotherl relate to*the problems of time, its passing and our use of it. Such a concept shows a strong divergence, in fact rather a complete change of spiritual moodl from my, original scheme of work. This was simply to present a wide selection of analyses and comments of French song from Chabrier and Chausson to Messiaen. Although this has in part been retained, the series of analyses I have finally presented is hardly more important to the work as a whole than is the orientating purpose of the opening chapter on Pre-Raphaelitism or the break-down of Maeterlinck's play "Pelleas et Melisande". This is to say that no one section should predominate over the othersl with the possible exception, merely because of its size, of the group of chapters on Mallarme's "L'Apres-Midi dlun Faune". What I hope is that the reader will see the overall scheme as 2 following that of a number of individual mosaics, inter-related yet adequate as independent elements, which are placed three-dimensionally in a vacuum, thus eliminating the danger of any one preconceived and associative focus occurring in our minds as a result of our instinctive selective powers. This almost visual view of the thesis imbues it with an air of freedom, almost amounting to curiosity, which I find to be of potentially great value inýa study of this kind, and which may provide for musicians a useful work through which they could relate their musical experience of the period covered to the surrounding contemporary develop- ments in other art forms. I hope toog that because of the many associated secondary ideas intentionally placed within the basic context of each chapter, the reader will be stirred to dwell on the very great importance of the concept of artistic simultanism and its extreme relevance to the understanding of twentieth century art. Such philo- sophical entanglement should not, however, lead to academic speculation or sterility without a more constructive end in view, and it is precisely this that I have tried to avoid; I trust at least a little successfully! During the days of first reading and absorbing the background to my early plan of song analysis, I was frequently disillusioned by what seemed to be worthless excursions into artistic facts which lacked a real appreciation of the value of genius and the creative artist -a view confirmed most passionately if a little extravagantly in the following quotation: 3 "To my mindq the enthusiasm of a circle spoils an artist, for I dread his becoming eventually the mere expression of his circle ...... Take counsel of no man but of the passing wind, that tells us the story of the world ...... Could there be anything more wonderful to contemplate than that a man should have remained unknown throughout the centuries, until his secret is have at last discovered by chance ...... Oh ... to this is the kind been such a mant ...... only 1 of glory worthwhile*" After such an affirmation, what more can I do than hope that my ideas or rather their expressiong will not be in the slightest degree detrimental to the contemporary and posthumous freedom and uniqueness due to genius, but that they rather may stimulate thought in future directions instead of merely restraining us to the past or even the present? I should like to conclude this preface by saying that however inadequate the thesis may be in its own right, it has been completed with affection for and sincerity towards the aesthetic and emotional climate of its subject, which, one hopes, will never be stripped of its essential mystery by destructive and opinionated, albeit well-intentioned commentary. "Nous naviguons, o mes divers Amis, moi deja sur la poupe Vous llavant fastueux qui coupe Le flot de foudres et d1hivers". CONTENTS Introduction p. 1 Presentation of ideas of line, artistic simultaneity - Wagner as a mandrake symbol - problems of formal control in song writing - Beardsley and visual distortion in Brangwyn - the all-prevalent Tristan theme. Chapter One 15 The Pre-Raphaelite Existence Aesthetic background and post-Wagnerian influences on French and English art movements, both poeticq visual and moral - emphasis on beauty, especially of a morbid or symbolic type - concepts of the occult and the foreshadowing of modern psychology - the trance-like 'religion' of the dance and Isadora Duncan - paradoxical use of rhythmic linear movement within static forms - emphasis on mock-mediaevalism. Chapter Two 30 Five Song Analyses of the French Wagnerian period Songs by Chausson, Chabrier and Duparc briefly analysed - and related freely to their aesthetic backgrounds and influences. Chapter Three 75 Mallarme's place in the literary atmosphere of his time and his attitude towards the technical and symbolic use of words Processes of obtaining verbal and impressionist effect through poetry - consolidation of ideas which ideally would result in an integrated simultanism - concept of the perfect 'moment' in artistic time - eventual coming- together of matter and existence - prelude to Sartre - use of descriptive words - fundamental idea of meta- morphosis - 'magical' and religious or at least ritualistic qualities of-Symboli. 5M - the influence of Yeats and a comparison of Mallarme' and Baudelaire. Chapter Four p. 96 Problems of ti e, form and meaning in "L'Apres-Midi d1un Faune". Overall sonata form principles are applied to the analysis and commentary of the poem - dual ideas of the past and present noticeable throughout and eventually drawn together by the implication of the dream-world in which all elements are no more important than a grape-skin caught by the air and blown away - use of symbols both sexual and religious. Chapter Five P. Possibilities of formal design and their application in tiLlApres- Midi d1un Faune". Brief survey of sonata and symphonic forms from C. P. E. Bach to the expression of a 'whole world' in Mahler, the Symbolism and emergence of and all its implications - the poem laid out in tabulated form as a 'sonata' with detailed comment on each section as to the possible poetic meanings.
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