A French Song Companion [Paperback]

Graham Johnson (Author), Richard Stokes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2002

A French Song Companion is an indispensable guide to the modern repertoire and the most comprehensive book of French m�lodie in any language. Noted accompanist Graham Johnson provides repertoire guides to the work of over 150 composers--the majority of them from France but including British, American, German, Spanish, and Italian musicians who have written French vocal music. The book contains major articles on Faur�, Duparc, Debussy, Ravel, and Poulenc, as well as essays on Bizet, Chabrier, Gounod, Chausson, Hahn, and Satie, and important reassessments of such composers as Massenet, Koechlin, and Leguerney.

The book combines these articles with the complete texts in English of over 700 songs, all translated by Richard Stokes, making it also a treasury of French poetry from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries. The translations alone will prove invaluable to music lovers and performers; combined with the biographical articles, they become the ideal map for exploring this exciting and diverse repertoire.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Filling a long-standing need with great success, A French Song Companion is one of the most welcome books of the year. The translations of the French poetry (fine work by Richard Stokes) are almost as rewarding as the originals. Great care has been taken with line breaks and separation of stanzas; the acrostic of Apollinaire's "Carte postale" and the sweep of his "Bleuet" are seldom observed as they are here.

These translations, mercifully, are not of the forced-rhyming type, and the more obscure references are helpfully footnoted. Poems are grouped under composer chapters rather than (as in Philip L. Miller's The Ring of Words) by poet. Though coverage is of necessity not complete for each composer (more on Saint-Saëns and Milhaud would have been useful), there are still hundreds of poems included, even extending to the chamber music and orchestral song genres.

Stokes has reached deep into the poetry. His is the only translation of the second of Ravel's "Five Greek Songs," in which the pilgrims are "buried" beneath the church, that makes sense. Each composer chapter also has an opening essay by peerless song pianist Graham Johnson (the one on Satie is especially interesting), and he even covers non-French composers who set French texts. (He finds Leonard Bernstein to be "not the most retiring of composers.")

Johnson shares the insights of a lifetime of intimacy with these songs; his description of "en sourdine" could not be more helpful. There are a few Britishisms, and space did not permit the translation of poetic lines not set by the composer, but this book is nothing less than essential in an age when so many CD releases are without texts. Though the asking price is steep, this volume surely will never be bettered, and it is particularly well bound for years of rewarding use. --William R. Braun --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This is an exceptional book, an excellent addition to the library of anyone who has an interest in French song. Any single section--essays, song texts, historical overview, bibliography--would be invaluable in its own right, but the combination, with its meticulous cross references, creates a volume well worth its purchase price, and one that will be used frequently, whether you perform, teach, or simply listen to this exquisite repertoire."--Debra Greschner

"[a] comprehensive survey...Biographical essays on each composer, written in scholarly but engaging style, attest to fastidious research...This is a major work, a beautiful and indispensable guide to a primary genre of song literature."--Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199249660
• ISBN-13: 978-0199249664
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #584,457 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy companion to Bernac, September 20, 2002

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A French Song Companion (Paperback)

Pierre Bernac's _Interpretation of French Song_ has long been the indispensable reference volume for singers and coaches of this rich musical literature. The focus of the present volume is somewhat different, more comprehensive in its listings of composers (any composer of significance who set French texts is included, resulting in some surprising listings, Bernstein and Dinu Lipatti, for example), but less didactic in terms of pronounciation and performance. The translations by Richard Stokes are so good that one wishes even more had been included. Graham Johnson's commentaries on composers and songs are readable and full of insight. There are useful indices and suggestions for further reading. Altogether, this is a comprehensive and fascinating volume for both performing musicians and other lovers of French art song.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A French Song Companion, December 3, 2007

By 

R. A. Shore "traveller" (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A French Song Companion (Paperback)

A French Song Companion

This is a superb book! A wonderful source book for deepening one's knowledge of the French art song repertoire. Although not primarily concerned with helping performers to interpret the songs (unlike Bernac in this respect), it contains extraordinarily perceptive and insightful commentaries on the songs, grouped by composers, and should open many doors to most listeners and performers. I cannot recommend it too highly.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable for singers and accompanists, May 8, 2008

By 

C. Orde "Corinne Orde" (England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A French Song Companion (Paperback)

This book is encyclopaedic in its coverage and is an indispensable guide for anyone who is interested in French song, but particularly for singers and accompanists. There are many useful translations of poems - not just the well-known ones but obscure ones too - and honest appraisals of the work of almost every composer who has set the French language to music. The book is constructed in such a way that it is very easy to use, with separate indexes for composer, poet and title. The main part of the book consists of individual articles on each composer, arranged alphabetically from Jean ABSIL to Jean WIENER, describing their oeuvre in general and individual cycles and songs in detail. The length of entries varies in proportion to the composer's (or work's) perceived importance, but there is also a subjective element that takes into account how they rate in the authors' estimation. Thus, Debussy, Fauré and Ravel get enormous entries, as one would expect, but Honegger gets a generous three pages plus several poem translations, whereas Vierne (whose songs have the edge over Honegger's in my view) is only allowed a mere half page and no poems. The style of the writing is always entertaining, never dry, and it is quite unfair that so talented a musician as Graham Johnson should also be such an accomplished writer! Fellow mélodie singers, I guarantee that you will find this thoroughly researched and carefully produced book to be a real treasure trove and an inspiration for expanding your repertoire. It's one of the few books that I own which are permanently in use and never get put back on the shelves my bookcase.