SSATB Choir, Piano
SKU: CA.927600
Composed by Gabriel
Faure. Arranged by Denis
Rouger. Carus digital:
Extra digital products.
Full Score. Op. 6,2.
Duration 3 minutes.
Published by Carus Verlag
(CA.927600).
ISBN
9790007296117. French.
Text: Gautier,
Theophile.
A
prevailing melancholy
mood is characteristic of
Theophile Gautier's
(1811-1872) poetry; a
melancholy mood which
inspired composers such
as Hector Berlioz and
Gabriel Faure to compose
settings. Tristesse
(Sadness) is taken from
the 1838 collection La
Comedie de la Mort (The
Comedy of Death). With
over 50 poems this is
regarded as Gautier's
major Romantic work.
Although the narrator in
the poem is conscious of
the joy and zest for life
of spring coming into
bloom around him, he
cannot share this: Helas!
j'ai dans le coeur une
tristesse affreuse.
(Alas, in my heart I bear
a terrible grief.).
Faure's setting portrays
this effect less as a
dramatic sigh than a
melancholic unworldliness
with peaceful piano
accompaniment in the
minor key. This
art song was originally
composed not for chamber
choir, but for solo voice
and piano. Denis Rouger
has carefully adapted it
to suit the requirements
and expressive
possibilities offered by
a larger ensemble,
without losing any of the
qualities of the original
in the process. Each part
in the choir has a
melodic line drawn from
the harmonic and rhythmic
framework. In the
process, the variety and
refinement of the choral
language combines with an
enormous flexibility in
form and expression, as
French melodies or German
art song demand from a
soloist and
pianist.The songs
have been recorded by the
figure humaine chamber
choir on the CD ... Wo
die Zitronen bluhn (Carus
83.514).
