I've recently become acquainted with some of Henri Duparc's (1848-1933) songs, as sung by Kiri Te Kanawa. I especially like Au Pays où se fait la guerre, which is about a woman longing for her lover who has gone to war. Will he ever come back? I also like L'Invitation au voyage with it's rippling, ebbing and flowing accompaniment.

There is strong emotion expressed in these songs, but it's much more understated than in Berlioz, Wagner or Richard Strauss. The impressionistic and nuanced accompaniment seems to anticipate composers like Debussy & Ravel. His songs almost sound Twentieth Century, although they were written in the final decades of the Nineteenth. Unfortuantely, due to illness and severe self-criticism, his output was very small. However, judging from these songs, it must all be of a high quality.

Here is an extract from the bio on Wikipedia:

Duparc was born in Paris. He studied piano with César Franck at the Jesuit College in the Vaugirard district and became one of his first composition pupils. Following military service in the Franco-Prussian War, he married Ellen MacSwinney, from Scotland, on November 9, 1871. In the same year, he joined with Saint-Saëns and Romain Bussine to found the Société Nationale de Musique Moderne.

Duparc is best known for his seventeen mélodies ("art songs") with texts by poets such as Baudelaire, Gautier, Leconte de Lisle, and Goethe. These pieces are considered by many to be among the greatest compositions by any composer in this form.

A mental illness, called "neurasthenia", caused him to abruptly cease composing at age 37, in 1885. He devoted himself to his family and his other passions, drawing and painting. However, he began losing his vision after the turn of the century, which eventually led to complete blindness. He destroyed most of his music, leaving fewer than 40 works to posterity.

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"Contrary to general belief an artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs" - Edgard Varese

I've had his songs on my wish list for some time. As a huge fan of French chanson or melodies (Faure, Ravel, Chausson, Debussy, etc...) his work is certainly something I must eventually get.

Have you guys explored more of Duparc's songs and finally placed him in your collection? Well, hesitate no more.

Henri Duparc is among the finest Mélodie (French art song) composers that ever lived. He left us with only 17 songs, and yet at least 12 of them are fairly well-established in the repertoire. The famous setting of Baudelaire's L'invitation au voyage is considered by many to be the quintessential French Mélodie. It is a highly concentrated image of a very personal seashore landscape, full of mysterious colors, intimate and majestic at the same time. The poet/composer mingled the looks of his beloved one with the natural beauty and tried to convince us that this is the perfect place to build a "dream house", in which both unquestionably succeeded. The other Baudelaire song La vie antérieure, however, is a revisit to the protagonist's "previous existence", a life that's luxury but sick. The music starts with serene articulations, and then fervent waves "roll in", reaching a culmination of emotions which is eventually replaced by a peaceful sinking motion. There is also an ironic Le manoir de Rosamonde filled with vigor and hate, an airy Soupir that vividly illustrates a quiet but deadly infatuation, an operatic La vague et la cloche, a soothing Chanson triste and an Elégie that's marked by its composure and grace. And who could resist the meltingly loving Phidylé, where a man is waiting for his love from his flourishing youth to his twilight days. (For detailed descriptions of these songs, please refer to Graham Johnson's excellent book, A French Song Companion.) Unlike the late Fauré, Duparc was no "modernist"; Romanticism dominated his rather short composing career (already explained in the original post). Nevertheless, his works are rich in creativity and strong in breadth. They are truly remarkable testaments to the marriage between words (here in the French language) and music.

I have listened to many recordings of these musical gems, however, I have but four major recommendations that I would like to mention here. Let me start with the one easiest to be found at the moment, the Hyperion version made by Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano), Thomas Allen (baritone) and Roger Vignoles (piano). It features all the 17 Duparc songs and the program is very well-devised--the songs are put into a very comfortable sequence (with the two Baudelaire settings at two ends and the more obscure numbers in the middle) and the two singers take turns in the program (only unite in the duet La Fuite). Most importantly, both singers and their pianist know exactly how to create momentum across the disc; there is no self-indulgence and thus no distractions anywhere in their renditions, which set their product apart from the more recent effort of Canadian forces (Gerald Finley, Catherine Robbin and Stephen Ralls).

French songs are widely-known for their delicacy and fragility, making this repertoire a somewhat exclusive playground for Francophone singers. My first choice of Duparc songs is the complete edition issued by the now demised REM label. The French baritone François Le Roux (a phenomenal Pelléas he was) is in top form here. His interpretations are ever so fresh, elevating, ardent and seductive. He is everything that Pierre Bernac demands in this type of music and he is effectively aided by the clear and accurate pianism of Jeff Cohen (soprano Danielle Borst contributes to two female songs and the female part in the duet). The Belgian bass-baritone José van Dam is also an art-song veteran. His treatment of these songs can only be described as engaging and masterful. The pianist on this Forlane complete edition is the magical Maciej Pikulski (soprano Florence Bonnafous plays a similar role here as Danielle Borst for the REM issue). The last on my short list is the naïve edition sung by the Dutch baritone Bernard Kruysen, another French song specialist. He may not have the warm, supple voice of a Gérard Souzay, but his understanding of Duparc is second to none and his approach here is heart-wrenchingly sympathetic. Although this version does not contain four of the less known songs, it is completed with Noël Lee's impassioned accompaniment and would grace any art-song collection (soprano Danielle Galland sings the only female song on this album, Au pays où se fait la guerre). These three versions not only demonstrate how French diction is to be done, each manages to reveal the diverse characters of Duparc songs. Unfortunately, none of them is readily available in the market now, for which I urge you to invest whenever a used copy should appear. You will find these discs immensely rewarding.

It may be true that art song as a genre is not ambitious enough for many music lovers, but trust me, these Duparc songs are by no means meager offerings.

Wow, thanks for the very informative and interesting post, xuantu. You certainly have got me intrigued...