Ode à la France (Orchestré par M.F. Gaillaird)
Debussy, Claude
19,00 €
Claude Debussy
Ode à la France L. 149/141
Cantata for soprano, choir, and orchestra
(1916-17, completed by Marius-François Gaillard, 1927-28)
(b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 22 August 1862 – d. Paris, 25 March 1918)
Preface
Claude Debussy is not commonly associated with cantatas or choral music, nor will many relate the title Ode à la France to the French composer, one of the most outstanding of the early twentieth century. This is not surprising, because none of Debussy’s choral works belong to the standard repertory, although he wrote several cantatas and songs involving soloists and/or choir, and because the Ode was one of Debussy‘s last works, an unfinished cantata for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra.
Several circumstances account for Debussy‘s leaving his composition incompleted. Throughout his life, Debussy was plagued by financial difficulties. By consequence, Debussy saw himself obliged to take on many engagements for compositions and concert performances as a pianist and conductor, which made the years 1915-18 very busy. Furthermore, his high workload was not supported by good health. On the contrary, Debussy had been diagnosed with cancer in 1909, and had to undergo a major operation in December 1915. Moreover, the First World War troubled his peace of mind, although Debussy had never been much of a political or a nationalistic composer. As his friend, the poet Louis Laloy, observed, Debussy ‘was a faithful Frenchman, but it took the war to realize this‘ (‘Debussy était bon français, mais
[…] il lui avait fallu la guerre pour s‘en apercevoir‘).
In contrast to the nationalism suggested by the title Ode à la France, Debussy‘s pre-war compositions had always been ‘French‘ without being policitally nationalistic. The revival of early (Renaissance and Baroque) music and literature that gained impetus throughout Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, also affected France, including Debussy, and increased his awareness of working in a distinctly French tradition. In 1904, for example, Debussy composed music on literary texts by two famous French poets, duke Charles of Orléans (1394-1465) and Tristan L’Hermite (1601-1655); the result was published as Trois chansons de France (Lesure catalogue 115/ old number 102).
The musical revival in France focused primarily, though not exclusively, on music by French composers, such as Rameau and Couperin. In June 1903, Debussy heard a performance of Rameau‘s pastoral ballet La Guirlande at the Schola Cantorum, which instilled in Debussy a lifelong enthousiasm for Rameau…
Read full preface / Komplettes Vorwort lesen > HERE
| Score No. | 948 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Choir/Voice & Orchestra |
| Pages | 68 |
