Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

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SONG 546
Eomantio School, and his songs well illusti-ate
the extreme exaggeration to which it was prone.
Similar qualities were likewise displayed by an
incomparably greater musician, Hector Berlioz.
In him there was a depth of poetic insight and
a subtle sense of beauty, to which Monpou could
make no pretension. Of all Berlioz's works his
songs are the least tinged with exaggeration.
He wi'ote twenty-seven in all, of which perhaps
the ' Nuits d'^t^, 'op. 7, are the best. ' Sur les
lagunes ' and L'Absence ' ' are especially beautiful.
'La Captive,' op. 12, is a long piece
written for contralto voice, with a varied and
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elaborate accompaniment. Fleurs des Landes,
op. 13, consists of five romances for one or more
voices, all bearing a distinctively local colouring.
No one can study Berlioz's songs without being
struck by the fragmentary character of the
melodies, and the want of symmetry in the
rhythmic phrases. But these defects are atoned
for by the exquisite beauty of the melodic
fragments, and the rhythmic phrases are never
abruptly broken or disjointed without justification.
An explanation will always be found in
the words, which it was Berlioz's constant study
to illustrate with perfect fidelity. Nothing
could be more poetical than the opening phrase
of his song ' L'Absence. ' Berlioz's accompaniments
are highly developed, and participate
fully in the poetic intention of the words. A
proof of his skill in this respect is afforded by
the close of the 'Spectre de la Kose,' where,
after a, full, rich accompaniment throughout,
he gives to the last words merely single notes,
and thus unmistakably marks the transition
from the passionate tale of the rose to its
epitaph. Many examples of Berlioz's poetic
faculties might be adduced, but enough has
already been said to indicate his exalted position
as a song -composer. Another musician
allied to the Komantic School was Felicien
David, who, without being a song -writer, indirectly
influenced later composers' songs by
introducing the element of orientalism into
French music. This, with its strange Eastern
rhythms and tonalities, has attracted many
subsequent composers.
The French have a manifest preference for
dramatic music, and although many of their
modem opera -composers, such as A. Thomas,
Gounod, Saint -Saens, Delibes, Bizet, Reyer,
Jonoiferes, and Massenet, have written truly
lyric songs, they are seldom heard in concertrooms.
The singers and the public prefer the
songs extracted from their dramatic works with
which they are more familiar. Few composers
have regarded song-writing as an important
branch of their art, though an exception must
be made in the case of Gounod, who had a
distinct lyric talent, and who strongly influenced
his generation. Much of the present revulsion
of feeling against Gounod was engendered by
his followers, who imitated his mannerisms
VOL. IV
without possessing his gifts. It may be admitted
that he set a bad example in the
dangerous sentimentality of his sacred songs ;
but it cannot be denied that many of his other
songs are of true and enduring beauty, and
always pre-eminently vocal. Among his best
may be named 'Le Vallon,' 'Le Soir,' 'The
fountain and
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the river, ' Ring out, wild
bells,' ' Le Printemps,' ' Medj^,' and the collection
of twenty songs entitled ' Biondina, ' which
are full of the Southern spirit. Massenet
possesses much the same sensuous vein of
melody, but the form of his songs is more
concise, and his accompaniments more brilliant.
In the songs of Saint - Saens, Lalo, Bizet,
and A. Chabrier there is individuality ;
but
they, as well as Widor, Joncieres, Guiraud,
Dubois, Paladilhe, Piern^, Boisdefire, Lefebvre,
Augusta Holmes, Thom^, Chaminade, and other
lesser composers are greatly indebted to Gounod,
and generally speaking may be said to belong
to the old school.
Delibes and Godard should
also be included, but their music has a distinct
character of its own. Amongst his other works,
Leo Delibes has written many graceful, refined,
and typically French songs, full of colour ; whilst
Benjamin Godard has chiefly distinguished himself
in this lyric foi-m by the peculiar charm and
melancholy sentiment of his songs.'
A totally different school of song from that
above described now exists in France. At the
present day the old rules of form, cadence, and
harmony are discarded ; a studied simplification
of melody, restless modulation, vague tonalities,
and a preference for prose rhythms ^ prevail and
indicate a radical change of method. The causes,
direct and indirect, are varied. M. Bruneau
attributes the new seriousness of French composers
to the results of the disastrous war of
1870, and the misery and gloom which overshadowed
France. Wagner's influence again
penetrated through Opera to Song, realising
the importance of the sound of words as well
as their meaning, and equalising the importance
of the instrumental part and the voice
parts. Another incitement to change is based
on the revival of the folk-song now used by
modern song-writers, not only as a medium of
national or local colour but as a source of
inspiration.^ Musicians, no less than painters,
have their plein-air school. The love of
1 Godard has been aptly described as a musician of the autumn
or of the twilight (see French Jljus-ic in tJie isth Century, by Arthur
Hervey).
2 A. Bruneau, in Art Musigue Fran^aise, at p. 233, speaks of his
efforts to combine prose with music, and adds that Saint-Sajjna and
he himself agree in thinking that in time prose will supplant
poetry in diaina and song.
3 M. Tiersot truly remarks that * the element of the folk-song
vivifies and refreshes art. for it comes diiect from the deepest
source of inspiration In a nation.' But it is not only the spirit of
the peasant's lyric and dramatic songs that modern composera have
assimilated; they also make use of the old forms, such as the chajuiont
d danger, baUadea, and Ugendea, These are fretfuently found in
Bruneau's and his contemporaries' works ; and Charpentier, in his
opera Louise,' has used the old '
crU-de-Parig as CWment Jannequin
did centuries ago. Many composers also have thought it worth
their while to collect and arrange the folk-songs ; see for instance
Vincent d'Indy's Chansons *
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populaires recueiUies dans le Vivarais
and Bourgault-Ducoudray's beautiful volume of 'Trente mdlodiefl
populaires de la Basse-Bretagne.'
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