Gabriel Fauré and L'organisation Du Mouvement
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Gabriel Fauré and l’organisation du mouvement: Poetic prosody and rhythmic continuity in the songs (1861–1921) Volume 1 Darquise Bilodeau Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD (Music) in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University May 2016 Abstract The songs of Gabriel Fauré form a significant part of the recitalist’s repertoire and have been the subject of in-depth musical analysis, particularly from the middle of the twentieth century to this day. However, relatively little has been written about the relationship between poetic and musical rhythm in Fauré’s romances and mélodies. This is especially important in light of Fauré’s very personal compositional style in the songs, namely forward motion based on the musical pulse. This thesis investigates the origins of this motion from the angle of French poetics, drawing upon the work of Henri Meschonnic and Gérard Dessons as they consider l’organisation du mouvement (the organisation of motion) in poetry. In applying a similar approach to consider the way in which Fauré creates, controls and sustains musical motion and intensity in his songs, this thesis sheds new light on the role of French speech rhythms and versification in the mélodie. Through analysis of text, musical excerpts and discussion of select sound recordings, this thesis highlights the means by which Fauré achieves expressive prosody in his songs as his settings reflect the changing poetic practice of the second half of the nineteenth century into the early twentieth century through the Romantic, Parnassian and Symbolist poetic styles. Whilst forward motion on the pulse remains central to his concept of musical motion, analysis reveals that Fauré responds to poetic innovations by moving away from vocal lyricism to an expressive recitation of the poetic text using a limited ii number of processes; chief among them is the near neutralisation of musical metre and accentuation in order to prioritise the durational stresses in French language. By integrating speech rhythms and poetic prosody into his songs, Fauré attests to his lifelong aim of accurately expressing the poet’s voice and mind into musical recitation. However, Fauré’s musical organisation du mouvement bears important implications for the performance of his mélodies and of French song in general, since metre and regular accentuation are replaced by irregular note values and the reduced tessitura of a declamation- based mélodie. More specifically, Fauré achieves a complete transformation of the genre: through his understanding of poetic processes and stylistic transformations, he contributes to changing the role of the singer from that of a vocalist to a récitant, that is, one who recites. iii Table of Contents Volume 1 Abstract ii Table of Contents iv List of Supplementary Materials: x Tables x Examples xvi Acknowledgements xxiii Note on translations xxiv Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1: Poetry and music: l’organisation du mouvement 2 1.2: Fauré: past and present research 9 1.3: Rhythm and French versification 13 1.4: Scope of the thesis 16 Chapter 2: Contextualising Rhythm in French Verse and in 18 Fauré’s Prosodic-musical Style 2.1: From the quantitative to the qualitative French line of verse 19 2.2: The French line of verse and its rhythms 24 2.3: Main features of Fauré’s rhythmic-prosodic style 33 2.3.1: Fauré’s techniques involving the ongoing pulse 37 iv 2.3.2: Fauré’s techniques involving metre 38 2.3.3: Fauré’s techniques involving harmony 42 2.4: Methodology 43 Chapter 3: Fauré’s Songs on Romantic and Parnassian Poetry 48 (1861–1887) 3.1: A survey of the Romantic and Parnassian poetic movements 49 3.2: The romance and the lied 54 3.2.1: The romance 54 3.2.2: The romance and society 56 3.2.3: L’aimer toujours et puis mourir: a typical romance 57 3.2.4: The romance, the lied and the mélodie 59 3.3: Musical characteristics of Fauré’s songs on Romantic and 62 Parnassian texts 3.3.1: Early song settings in context 63 3.3.2: Poetic and musical stresses in Fauré’s songs 68 3.3.3: Neutralised musical metre and bar-line boundaries 75 3.3.4: Note-value lengthening techniques 81 3.4: Rhythmic patterns in Fauré’s songs 86 3.5: Techniques employed by Fauré for generating, altering and 100 sustaining motion 3.6: Forward motion on the pulse in Fauré’s songs 109 3.7: Fauré’s techniques for shaping forward motion 116 v 3.7.1: The use of tied notes in the early songs 116 3.7.2: Mid-bar long note values 120 3.7.3: Triplet use in the early songs 122 3.7.4: Combining techniques for ongoing motion 128 3.8: Hemiolas and rhythmic patterns 130 3.9: Harmony and accompaniment 134 3.10: Chapter Conclusion 141 Chapter 4: Fauré’s Songs (1887–1894) on Poetry by Verlaine 143 4.1: Overview of Paul Verlaine’s poetic style 146 4.1.1: Rhythmic elements in Verlaine’s verse 147 4.1.2: Sonority and musicality 153 4.1.3: Verlaine’s transitional role from Parnassianism to 157 Symbolism 4.2: Fauré’s transitional songs to the Verlaine settings 159 4.3: Stylistic development in Fauré’s mélodies during the Verlaine 165 years 4.3.1: Changes in Fauré’s management of rhythm in the Verlaine 166 settings 4.3.2: Rhythmic patterns in the Verlaine settings 171 4.3.3: The melodic line in the Verlaine settings 178 4.3.4: The role of harmony in the Verlaine settings 180 4.4: Analysis of selected Fauré songs on texts by Verlaine 186 vi 4.4.1: Clair de lune: Rhythms of repetition and of textual 187 ambiguity 4.4.2: ‛Une Sainte en son auréole’ (La Bonne Chanson): Rhythm 200 in aural and visual correspondences 4.4.3: ‛La lune blanche luit dans les bois’ (La Bonne Chanson): 211 Rhythm and stillness 4.4.4: ‛J’allais par des chemins perfides’ (La Bonne Chanson): 217 Rhythm, harmony and ambiguity 4.4.5: En sourdine: Words, rhythm and pacing 225 4.5: Chapter Conclusion 232 Chapter 5: Fauré’s Songs on Symbolist Poetry (1894–1921) 234 5.1: Origins of French Symbolism 238 5.1.1: Main characteristics of Symbolism 241 5.2: Changing techniques of versification 246 5.3: Fauré’s stylistic transition from Verlaine to the Symbolists 256 (1894–1906) 5.4: Rhythm in Fauré’s late songs and cycles 262 5.4.1: The Symbolist poetic line and changes in Fauré’s musical 263 phrase 5.4.2: Rhythmic patterns in word and line-of-verse stresses 272 5.5: Melody and rhythm in Fauré’s settings of Symbolist poetry 278 5.5.1: Origins of melodic changes in Fauré’s late-style songs 279 vii 5.5.2: Fauré’s melodic adaptation of Symbolist poetic style 280 5.5.3: Pitch and melodic repetition for declamation 281 5.5.4: Restricted vocal range and controlled tessitura 292 5.5.5: Melodic changes and forward motion on the pulse 304 5.6: Rhythm, harmony and accompaniment 306 5.6.1: The structuring role of harmony and accompaniment 307 5.6.2: Harmony and forward motion on the pulse 314 5.6.3: Accompaniment patterns and harmony 317 5.7: Chapter Conclusion 321 Chapter 6: Conclusion 324 6.1: Analytical findings 325 6.2: Theoretical implications 330 6.3: Performance implications 332 6.4: Future research 334 Appendices Appendix A: International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for French 337 Appendix B: French and General Poetry Terminology 338 Bibliography 342 List of musical scores 342 Books and articles 344 Discography 355 viii Volume 2 Appendix C: Translations and complete scores of selected songs 1. ‛Une Sainte en son auréole’ (La Bonne Chanson) 8 2. ‛N’est-ce pas?’ (La Bonne Chanson) 14 3. Prison 4. Clair de lune 17 5. ‛La lune blanche luit dans les bois’ (La Bonne Chanson) 23 6. ‛J’allais par des chemins perfides’ (La Bonne Chanson) 28 7. En sourdine 33 8. Le parfum impérissable 39 9. Le don silencieux 43 10. ‛Cygne sur l’eau’ (Mirages) 48 11. ‛Exaucement’ (Le Jardin clos) 54 ix List of Supplementary Materials Tables and Examples TABLES Chapter 2 2.1: ‛Une Sainte en son auréole’ (La Bonne Chanson, 1870), P. Verlaine, first stanza, rhythmic groups, alliteration and word repetition 2.2: ‛Je me suis embarqué’ (L’horizon chimérique, 1920), J. de la Ville de Mirmont, third stanza, rhythmic processes 2.3: ‛Puisque mai tout en fleurs’ (Les chants du crépuscule, 1836), V. Hugo, last two lines, rhythmic groups 2.4: ‛Il pleure dans mon coeur’ (Romances sans paroles: Ariettes oubliées, 1874), P. Verlaine, third stanza, sonorities, repeated words and rhythmic process 2.5: Le secret (1882), A. Silvestre, first stanza (excerpt), rhythmic groups and recurring sonorities Chapter 3 3.1: ‛Dans les ruines d’une abbaye’ (Chansons des rues et des bois, 1850), V. Hugo, third stanza, recurring sounds and rhythmic processes 3.2: ‛Lydia’ (Poèmes antiques, 1865), Leconte de Lisle, third stanza, rhyme scheme, rhythmic divisions and processes 3.3: ‛Ma belle amie est morte’ (La Comédie de la mort, 1838), T. Gautier, x fourth stanza (excerpt), recurring sounds and alliteration 3.4: ‛Puisque j’ai mis ma lèvre’ (Les chants du crépuscule, 1835), V. Hugo, first stanza (excerpt), rhythmic processes 3.5: ‛Puisque j’ai mis ma lèvre’ (Les chants du crépuscule, 1835), V. Hugo, second stanza (excerpt), rhythmic process 3.6: ‛Puisque mai tout en fleurs’ (Les chants du crépuscule, 1835), V.