Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

Department

Music

First Advisor

Lori Bade

Abstract

Jacques Leguerney, French composer who lived from 1906--1997, is at last gaining a much-deserved place in the history of the French melodie. Primarily a composer of melodie, Leguerney was strongly drawn to the poetry of the French Renaissance, with more than one-third of his songs utilizing the poetry of members of the French Renaissance School known as La Pleiade, founded by poet Pierre de Ronsard. Ronsard's poetry is found in the majority of Leguerney's Pleiade settings, of which ten are presented in this study. The ten selections are: Je vous envoie, Genievres Herisses, Je me lamente, Bel aubepin, Si mille oeillets, Un voile obscure, Invocation. Ciel, air et vents, A la Fontaine Bellerie, Nous ne tenons, Le tombeau de Ronsard. Brief biographies of Leguerney and Ronsard are followed by a discussion of the poetry of the Pleiade School and Leguerney's compositional style. The following information is provided for each of the ten songs listed above: translation of poetry, dedication, date of composition, publisher, suggested voice type, tonality, meter, range, dynamic range, and tempo indication. Because there is little information available on the melodies of Leguerney, interpretive suggestions are made to assist the singer in making choices for performance. Appendixes concluding this study list the poetic achievements of Pierre de Ronsard; other poets and poetic terms are discussed; the published and unpublished songs of Jacques Leguerney are listed including dates of composition and publication information where applicable; a discography.

ISBN

9780493563152

Pages

105

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.418

Share

COinS