a comparative analysis of louis durey and francis poulenc's settings ...

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The vocal line begins in a line descending by half-steps as if to gesture downward
to the “fine” grasshopper itself. Although the accompaniment is consistent in that every
other measure is uniform, there seem to be two distinct sections in the vocal line: the first
two lines of poetry discuss the significance of the grasshopper and the last two lines
express the poet’s desires to produce substantial/significant poetic output. Pierre Bernac
suggests that the accompanist and singer take “an expressive breath after the second bar”
in order to accommodate the contrast. 71
“La Sauterelle” is a very quiet, almost muffled piece. The singer and accompanist
begin at a piano dynamic in measures one and two. The accompaniment remains at piano
in measures three and four while the singer decreases her dynamic to pianissimo. This
effectively imparts a sense of hushed intimacy to convey the seriousness of the poet’s
aspiration. In the same way, the whispered dynamic serves to convey the humility and
privacy of the poet in divulging his “lofty aspirations.”
71 Pierre Bernac, The Interpretation of French Song (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1970), 278.