Massenet, Jules

Jules Massenet – Scènes alsaciennes (Souvenirs)

(Montaud, Saint-Étienne, 12 May 1842 – Paris, 13 August 1912)
Suite for orchestra No.7

Dimanche matin (Allegretto moderato) p.1
Au cabaret (Allegro) p.24
Sous les tilleuls (Adagio sostenuto) p.62
Dimanche soir (Allegro moderato) p.75

Instrumentation: orchestra
Composed: 1881
Premiered: Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, 19 March 1882, Concerts Colonne
Published: Georges Hartmann, Paris, 1882

As well as operatic music, Jules Massenet most widely known as the composer of Manon, Werther and Thaïs, wrote seven suites for orchestra which (unjustly) are nowadays not often performed. One of the better known of these is Scènes alsaciennes (Suite n. 7). In this piece, Massenet offers an unfettered outpouring of the nostalgia he feels for the now lost Alsace, a region he had discovered whilst serving in the Garde Nationale during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. French defeat led to the painful loss of Alsace and Lorraine, causing the population to desire revanche, of a cultural kind too; this prompted the French to create a series of products representing the spirit of their nation, in contrast, first and foremost, to the German repertoire….

Read full preface (Deutsch nicht vorhanden) > HERE