Quatre chansons pour enfants (FP. 75):
I. La tragique histoire du petit René 00:00
II. Nous voulons une petite soeur 01:12
III. Le petit garçon trop bien portant 05:34
IV. Monsieur Sans-Souci 07:09
Poulenc, Francis (1899-1963) -composer
Felicity Lott -soprano
Pascal Rogé -piano
Playlist "The art of French song: Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Satie...": • The art of French song...
It is in these charming songs that Poulenc most clearly displays his love of children and his ability to enter a childlike world. The texts are by Jean Nohain, who wrote under the pen names Jeane Legrand or Jaboune. The songs are whimsical and successful in capturing a child's point of view.
This set of chansons represents Poulenc's equivalent to Robert Schumann's Album for the Young. They are designed more to be performed for children than by them. La tragique histoire du petit René (The Tragic Tale of Little René). This has a jolly, though ironic, march rhythm. The poem is sure to delight children, because it's about something gross. Told by another kid who spies on his neighbors with binoculars, Little René's problem was that he was always picking his nose. Nothing his parents could do succeeded in stopping him. The grisly solution to the problem, told in the poem's last couplet, shows that this is a song designed to give kids a fright and perhaps so they won't follow René's bad example. Nous voulons une petite soeur (We Want a Baby Sister). This very funny song concerns Madame Eustache's 17 daughters. She asks them, as Christmas approaches, what they want. The answer is always: "We want a baby sister." This has obviously been going on for some time and keeps going on until the last verse, when she asks her daughters (now there are 19 of them!) what they want. Too bad they've gotten greedy. "We want two baby twin sisters!" Mama Eustache answers, "That's fine, but it can't be done. This year you get nothing, nothing, nothing." The music is both sprightly and lyrical, with a main musical line somewhat resembling Prokofiev's nonchalant strolling theme for Romeo from his ballet Romeo and Juliet. Le petit garçon trop bien portant (The Little Boy Who Was Too Healthy). The music of the song is robust and active, very much like the young boy who complains to his doctor that he is just too healthy. He never gets sick. What's wrong with that? When any of the other kids get an ailment, the parents and all the relatives fuss over and spoil them. "I beg you, Doctor, this one time make me sick, just for an hour!" Monsieur Sans-Souci (Il fait tout lui-même). [Mister Care-Free (He does everything himself)] might be the sprightliest song ever written about a very old man. Already more than 100 years old, at least in this child's eye view, Mr. Care-Free is not rich. He has no servants, he does everything himself, does whatever he can for neighbors. Nothing tempts him, he has no envy, he only likes to make people happy. St. Peter already has him down to get in without difficulty and will give him a seat "next to the Good Lord himself."
Source: www.allmusic.com/composition/q...
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22 июл 2024
