Chansons madécasses | |
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Song cycle by Maurice Ravel | |
English | Madagascan Songs |
Text | poems Chansons madécasses by Évariste de Parny |
Language | French |
Dedication | Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge |
Performed | 8 May 1926 |
Movements | three |
Scoring |
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Chansons madécasses (Madagascan Songs) is a set of three exotic art songs by Maurice Ravel written in 1925 and 1926 to words from the poetry collection of the same name by Évariste de Parny. [1]
Scored for mezzo-soprano or baritone, flute, cello and piano, and dedicated to the American musician and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, [2] the set is usually performed complete as a true song cycle although this was not the composer's designation. The songs are:
Jane Bathori sang the premiere on 8 May 1926, in Rome, accompanied by flutist Louis Fleury, cellist Hans Kindler, and pianist Alfredo Casella. [3] The first edition print was made by Luc-Albert Moreau. The first known record was that by Madeleine Grey, a highly regarded singer, in 1932. More recent recordings include:
In 2011, the British composer James Francis Brown wrote a work in three movements for the same instrumentation called Songs of Nature and Farewell, which is a setting of three little-known poems by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. [4] In 2015 the British composer Judith Weir wrote a work in three movements for the same instrumentation called Nuits d'Afrique; it was commissioned by Wigmore Hall for the soprano Ailish Tynan. [5] Both works are intended as a companion to Ravel's Chansons madécasses.