ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: CHAMBER MUSIC IN FRANCE FEATURING FLUTE AND SOPRANO, 1850-1950, AND A STUDY OF THE INTERACTIONS AMONG THE LEADING FLUTISTS, SOPRANOS, COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND LITERARY FIGURES OF THE TIME Susan Nanette Hayes, Doctor of Musical Arts 2006 Dissertation directed by: Professor William L. Montgomery School of Music This dissertation, together with the accompanying recital recordings, constitute an examination of chamber music for flute, soprano, and piano and for flute, soprano, and chamber ensemble written by French composers between 1850 and 1950. This examination includes an annotated bibliography of the music, a written document studying the interactions of the leading flutists, sopranos, composers, artists, and literary figures of the time, and two recitals of representative works from the repertoire of about 120 minutes, which were recorded during performances at University of Maryland in March of 2004. The text examines the various types of chamber works written during this period for flute and soprano, with and without additional accompaniment. The amount of repertoire written for flute and voice during this period by composers of a single nationality is exceptional in the history of music. The annotated bibliography lists about 100 pieces in the genre, a truly substantial repertoire. As a performer, I was intrigued by the possibility that several generations of highly gifted, individualistic performers may have inspired these composers to produce this tremendous outpouring of repertoire. With the proximity of so many great singers and flutists in Paris at the time, it can hardly be coincidental that so many composers, both the most well-known and some who are quite obscure today, produced so many exceptional works for these combinations of instruments with voice. Indeed, I contend that the composers were influenced both by specific musicians and by their contemporaries and colleagues in literature and the visual arts, who inspired them to give so much attention to the development of what would have been regarded as a small form. Part of my historical research has been to search for the intersections between performer, poet, and composer and to determine some of the ways in which they affected one another. A second purpose of my study is to develop an annotated bibliography of these works, thus providing extensive, useful information regarding first performances, instrumentation, vocal range, flute range, keys, time signatures, dedications, timings of the works, publisher, availability, and the relative merit of the works themselves. Many of the compositions for soprano and flute are, admittedly, of dubious musical value, but some are masterworks of the chamber music repertoire, and few are actively performed today. In addition, a large number of the pieces listed in the bibliography are out of print. Because so many of the composers no longer have a significant prominence, their works today lay generally unperformed and undiscovered. The annotated bibliography also serves as a reference guide for today's performers of this repertoire. A final purpose of this study is the performance and preservation through audio recordings of a number of works associated with this project. The recordings will serve as a means of documenting some of this remarkable music. CHAMBER MUSIC IN FRANCE FEATURING FLUTE AND SOPRANO, 1850-1950, AND A STUDY OF THE INTERACTIONS AMONG THE LEADING FLUTISTS, SOPRANOS, COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND LITERARY FIGURES OF THE TIME By Susan Nanette Hayes Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2006 Advisory Committee: Dr. William L. Montgomery, Chair Professor Carmen Balthrop Professor Mark Hill Professor Donald Sutherland Professor Edward Walters © Copyright by Susan Nanette Hayes 2006 DEDICATION To my father ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this degree, and in particular this dissertation, would not have been possible without the help of many people. I would like to thank Lyndy Simons, my friend and collaborator of twenty-five years, for first introducing me to this repertoire in her kitchen back in Illinois. Had I never met this talented singer, I never would have discovered the cadenzas in the Estelle Liebling book. It is with joy and nostalgia that I think on those days and how far we have come as performers and artists. I know we will continue performing this repertoire together for years to come. I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. William Montgomery, for his tireless efforts throughout the entire degree program. His guidance, support, and determination helped me to become the best performer that I can be and to bring this degree to fruition. I would like to thank the members of my committee for their care in reading this document and attending the performances. I also appreciate the excitement that my committee has shown for these works and their encouragement in the performance of this music. I would like to thank Bruce Nixon for his care and concern in editing this manuscript. For his deep knowledge and all-seeing eye, I am truly grateful. I must also acknowledge the lifelong support of my mother and father. It was my father who bought our first piano and my mother who recognized my talents. They have both been unstinting in their encouragement. Both my life and my sense of identity have been shaped by my decision to become a musician. I am grateful that they always supported me in every way as I pursued my hopes, dreams, and desires in music. iii Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the love, patience, and support of my husband, Kirk Wilke. He has never complained or begrudged me the time that it has taken to finish this degree. Through it all, he has been my cheerleader, my conscience, and my guide. I will always be grateful. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 1 Historical Overview — Social and Artistic Change 5 Musical Education and Composition 10 The Influence of Wagner 12 Exoticism 13 The Paris Opéra 15 New Directions in French music following the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) 19 The Salons 21 The Sociétés 23 The Mélodie 24 Poets and Writers, 1850-1950 25 The Flute, 1850-1950 27 The Sopranos, 1850-1950 29 Prominent Musicians, 1850-1950 30 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 32 Romanticism — The Early Works for Flute and Soprano 33 Romanticism — Political and Social Life 38 Romanticism — Artistic and Cultural Life 41 Post-Romanticism 43 Lyricism 45 Religion 48 Nationalism 49 New Teaching Methods for Flute at the Conservatoire 56 Impressionism 58 La Belle Époque 63 The Avant-Garde 69 The Dreyfus Affair 75 World War I 78 The Period Between the Two World Wars 84 World War II 93 Post-World War II 97 CHAPTER 3: MUSIC EDUCATION IN FRANCE 103 The Conservatoire 104 French Composers and their Teachers 106 The Prix de Rome and the Music for Flute and Voice 111 v Reform at the Conservatoire 113 The École Niedermeyer 115 The Schola Cantorum 117 Other Composers of Music for Flute and Voice 122 CHAPTER 4: WAGNER 127 Wagner and Nationalism 128 Wagner in Paris 130 Pro-Wagner Factions in France 134 Debussy and the Anti-Wagner Factions 136 Fauré and the Development of French Mélodie 140 Satie and the Development of a French Style 141 World War I, Cocteau, and Les six 143 CHAPTER 5: EXOTICISM: THE INFLUENCE OF LE JAPONISME AND L'ORIENTALISM 148 The Near East 149 Folk Idioms 152 Le Japonisme 153 CHAPTER 6: THE SALONS AND THE INTERACTION BETWEEN MUSICIANS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS 156 An Introduction to the French Salon 157 Composers of Flute and Voice Music and the Salons 160 Parisian Salons at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century 165 Other Gatherings of Artists at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century 171 Maurice Ravel and Les apaches 172 Les six and their Collaborators 175 Triton 179 La jeune france 182 CHAPTER 7: THE CONCERT SOCIÉTÉS 186 Société des concerts du Conservatoire 191 Société de Sainte-Cécile 197 Société des jeunes élèves du Conservatoire and the Concerts populaires de musique classique 197 Société nationale de musique 199 Société musicale indépendente 202 Other Sociétés 203 CHAPTER 8: THE RISE OF FRENCH MÉLODIE 207 A History of Mélodie: The Romance 208 vi The Beginnings of Mélodie 212 Mélodies for Flute and Voice 216 CHAPTER 9: THE WRITERS 221 The Parnassians 222 Naturalism 224 The Decadent Movement 225 Symbolism 226 Symbolism in Music 228 Dada and the Surrealist Movement 231 World War II 233 The Collaboration of Writers and Musicians 235 The Music for Flute and Voice and Its Poets 238 Ravel and the Music for Flute and Voice 242 Les six and the Music for Flute and Voice 245 CHAPTER 10: THE RISE OF THE GREAT FRENCH FLUTISTS 247 The Boehm Flute in France 248 Flute Teaching at the Conservatoire 251 Jean-Louis Tulou (1786-1856) 252 Louis Dorus (1813-1896) 253 Joseph-Henri Altès (1826-1895) 257 Claude-Paul Taffanel (1844-1908) 258 Taffanel's Teaching Methods and His Students 262 Successors to Claude-Paul Taffanel 264 Music for Flute by French Composers 265 French Flutists Premiere Works by French Composers 269 Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941) 272 René Le Roy (1898-1985) 275 Georges Barrère (1876-1944) 277 Louis Fleury (1878-1926) 282 Marcel Moyse (1889-1984) 284 French Flutists Premiere Works for Flute and Voice 291 CHAPTER 11: THE RISE OF THE GREAT SOPRANOS 293 Sopranos and the Creation of Operatic Roles 295 Great Sopranos in the Years Prior to 1850 297 The Coloratura Soprano 299