Product Description
1. Plaintes d'Orphée
2. Épigramme à un mauvais payeur
3. à Chloris
4. D'une maigre dame
5. Dans le fôret
6. Secret Amour
7. Complients à une duègne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo7KQ89pzz4
Gérard
Souzay, French baritone, said of Jacques Leguerneys music: How
does one describe this music which is, at the same time, classic
and modern?
It is pure, but colorfully nuanced; it speaks to the heart as well
as the
mind: at times calm; at times witty; wise, yet sensual. The music
of Jacques
Leguerney is un jardin à la française, both elegant and
stylish.
Jacques Leguerney was born in Le Havre on 19 November 1906.
His uncle
bought his first piano and encouraged him to study and write
music. He wrote
chamber works, and took a few semesters of harmony with Nadia Boulanger,
who arranged for a performance of his Epitaphe guerrière
and Clair
de lune in a concert organized by the Société musical
indépendante
at the Salle Pleyel. However, he decided not to continue his
studies.
He felt that his gift was natural and spontaneous, and that anyone
who understood
music should not have to do exercises to learn to compose.
In 1928, Jane
Bathori took an interest in Leguerney, including two
songs during her tour in Argentina, and the following year at the
Salle Erard
in Paris. In 1932, when his father died, Leguerney took over the
family
business and stopped composing until the outbreak of World War II.
The period
extending from the German occupation of France to the end of the
1940s constitutes
one of the important periods of Leguerneys musical life. He began
his extended
song cycle, Poèmes de la Pléiade, and wrote many songs upon
poems
of Paul-Jean Toulet. He also continued to compose chamber music,
including
the Sonatine pour violon et piano, the Fantasie pour
piano
and the Quatuor à cordes en Ré.
An important year for Leguerney was 1943. He met musical
colleagues
who would become his major interpreters. These included Gérard Souzay
as
well as his half-sister, soprano Geneviève
Touraine; pianist Jacqueline
Robin (Bonneau), Pierre Bernac, and Francis Poulenc. Robin
(Bonneau) particularly
influenced Leguerneys style. His piano accompaniments were
created specifically
for her virtuosic and sensitive style of pianism. Bernac observed
that Leguerney
wrote melodies de pianiste.
In 1946, Leguerney created a ballet on the mythological story of
Endymion.
The premiere was at the Opéra de Paris on 27 July 1949, with
choreography
by Serge Lifar. The Opéra de Paris immediately commissioned a
second work,
which was La Vénus noire, based upon a short story by
Prosper Mérimée. This
ballet was never produced, due to disagreements with the
choreographer.
Leguerney became discouraged and this situation was to lead to the
end of his interest
in composing.
However, the years 1950-1954 brought Leguerney widespread
recognition
as he created his beautiful mélodie cycles including La Nuit,
La Solitude
(for piano as well as an orchestration), Le Paysage, and Le
Carnaval,
as well as the cantata Psaume LXII de David. Gérard Souzay
requested many
new works for his recitals and premiered La Nuit, Le Carnaval
and
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