Canteloube

Subject: Canteloube
From: GUEST, Topsie
Date: 16 Dec 06 - 05:11 PM

I was lying awake last night, so I turned on the radio and happened on a programme about Canteloube, who arranged folksongs of the Auvergne. There wasn't as much of the original folksingers from the area as I would have liked, but I'm still glad I couldn't sleep or I wouldn't have heard it.

BBC World Service: 'Close UP'

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Dec 06 - 09:06 PM

Very interesting, thanks! Here's the blurb:

Whichever kind of music you listen to - pop, jazz, classical - there is a very good chance that you would have heard Bailero (Shepherd Song). Over the last half-a-century it's been a favourite not just with musicians from all genres but also with TV advertisers and film music arrangers.

The story of Joseph Canteloube, the man who brought Bailero - and dozens of other gorgeous French melodies - into the limelight, is less-well known. In this week's Close Up Andrew Green travels across France to discover the remarkable story of Canteloube's life and works.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: GUEST,van lingle
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 07:10 AM

Anna Moffo did a great recording of some of these songs with Leopold Stowkowski. Not sure if it made it to CD but the original was on RCA Gold Label.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: 8_Pints
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 08:09 AM

I heard it also, and am lucky enough to have Barbara Courtney-King on "Pastourelle" LP [1982] inspired by Songs of the Auvergne. Also featured are Rod Argent, Ray Cooper, Julian Lloyd Webber & the Gabrielli String Quartet. The tracks include:

Pastourelle
Mirabel Bridge
The Spinner
The Young Shepherdess
Shepherd's Song
3 Bourrees
Bailero
Come Follow Me
I am so Sad
Unhappy the Man
Lullaby
Forsaken Shepherdess

The sleeve notes conclude: "It was a magic album for us all; we were not trying to say anything especially new, but these little tunes took hold of us and told us what to do,and the songs say it all."

A truly brilliant recording!

Bob vG

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 10:04 AM

The Auvergne songs as arranged by le Bard d'Auvergne, Joseph Canteloube, are undeservedly obscure. Canteloube's romantic heart was dazzled by the songs he heard the shepherdesses singing in the Auvergne region, and singlehandedly sprung them on the wider world in his fetching arrangements. These were classical, not folk, but are irresistibly lovely anyway.

First on LP (I believe), and certainly among the loveliest, was folk songstress Susan Reed. She had a movie role and several 78 rpm albums to her credit in the late 1940s when she made her Carnegie Hall debut (in 1949?) with the Auvergne songs in Canteloube's versions. In 1950 she put out half a dozen of them, backed by a small orchestra, as one side of her Columbia 12" album "Songs of the Auvergne," the B side being folksongs accompanied with Irish harp and "ever-lovin'" (a chord zither similar to the autoharp).

In the 1970s Natania Devrath (Vanguard I think) was one of many who followed up with complete album of these beautiful songs. Sporadically over the years since, other artists have recorded them too, but they're still far from well known.

The most authentic versions I know of, shorn of the Canteloube arrangements, are on a Folkways album by Lucie de Vienne-Blanc, her strong, florid singing backed only by oboe, considerably more in the traditional Auvergne spirit.   Bob

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: John Routledge
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 06:21 PM

A wonderful listen.

Many thanks Bob Coltman for further fascinating background.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Dec 06 - 09:59 PM

The singing of Netania Davrath was praised by reviewers who appreciated her fresh, young voice, and her use of the original dialect. Vanguard, as noted by Bob Coltman, re-released in cd format by Sony.
There are 27 tracks in five Series, arranged by Canteloube in the 1920's. In 1955, Canteloube added fifteen more in a new series, making a total of 42, all covered on the Davrath set, originally released in 1963. The album booklet has both the dialect and translations for all songs. As far as I know, this is the only complete recorded set. Discontinued at the moment, but Amazon lists old sets for $7.99 up.

I also have a set by Kiri Te Kanawa, lacking the new series of 15, but I prefer the Davrath; Kiri's voice is a little too heavy for these songs (personal opinion only).

Canteloube arranged other folk songs as well.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: mrdux
Date: 18 Dec 06 - 02:53 AM

Another couple to recommend: Veronique Gens (Naxos) performs 18 of the songs quite beautifully, and, since she is from the Auvergne, she comes by the dialect natively. Also worth hearing is a recording by Jill Gomez (EMI) from the 1970's. Finally, the very first recordings, by Madeleine Grey (c. 1930) have a unique freshness to them. I agree that Davrath brought a real sense of authenticity to the somgs, which is interesting since she was from the Ukraine, emigrated to Israel, and was not a native French speaker. She was, however, steeped in the folk idiom -- she was well know for her recordings of Russian, Yiddish and Israeli folksongs, in addition to her operatic and other classical performances.

michael

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Dec 06 - 02:44 PM

My notes say that Davrath studied with an expert in French dialects in order to sing the songs correctly. Canteloube wrote his scores in the dialect; he knew it well.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: mrdux
Date: 19 Dec 06 - 01:05 PM

Thanks. I read that in the liner notes, too. What I should have said was that I am both impressed by and appreciative of how compellingly she learned the dialect given that she wasn't a native speaker.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Dec 06 - 01:24 PM

mrdux, we agree. The album is a treasure.

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 05:05 AM

Came across the message about Pastourelle, which I also have on LP. I wonder if they will ever release this gem on CD?

Subject: RE: Canteloube
From: The Doctor
Date: 02 Feb 07 - 03:45 PM

I too have the Vanguard set. Among other things it is interesting to compare the opening of 'La pastrouletta e lou chibalie' with the verse opening of 'Wouldn't it be loverly?' from 'My Fair Lady'.