La Belle Époque: Known and
Little Known Composers
Chamber Series
Allison Voth, Music Director & Piano
Season Sponsor:
Melick & Porter
Season Supporter:
Charles & Nancy Husbands
Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 3 PM
Follen Church
Lexington, MA 02420
About the Program
This afternoon’s recital of French mélodie of La Belle Époque was inspired by two francophile friends who, many years ago, independently shared music with me from the Belle Époque period. One friend gave me copies of hard-to-find and little-known songs written and performed by the cabaret singer Yvette Guilbert; the other friend shared similarly little-known and rarely performed belle époque songs by Claude Terrasse. I performed a handful of the Guilbert songs several times in the early 1990’s and tucked away the Terrasse hoping one day to research this era more and ultimately curate a recital of French mélodie and cabaret songs from the Belle Epoque period. I can hardly believe it took me thirty some odd years to finally return to these songs, but I did and I am excited to share them with you today, along with other wonderful belle époque composers whom I suspect you have not heard of before—names like Paul and Lucien Hillemacher, Paul Puget, “Poldowski” and Déodat de Séverac. You will also hear some of the well-known grande maîtres (masters) of the Belle Époque: Fauré, Debussy, Hahn and Saint-Saëns—beloved composers we never tire of hearing.
La Belle Époque is generally considered to span the years in Europe between 1871-1914. It was a time of great financial wealth for many, relative peace in Europe and France in particular, and political stability. This wealth and stability afforded many artists and musicians more opportunities to innovate and create, along with opportunities to be seen and heard. Science and technology also exploded with new innovations and discoveries. For the rich, soirées and opulent parties, complete with live entertainment and downright decadence were in abundance. For the less financially fortunate (poverty was still very much present in the underbelly of Paris during the Belle Époque) cabarets, bistros and music halls were all the rage. This was a time when all walks of society had the time and joie de vivre to take time out to enjoy life, especially through art and music. The arts blossomed like never before and today’s recital is a small example of the song output produced during this era.
As we enjoy the delightful, dreamy, charming, fun, and at times slightly naughty songs of the Belle Époque this afternoon, let us remember that it was also a time of aggressive imperialism and colonialism. Many of the rich who thrived during the Belle Époque in Europe built their wealth on the backs of oppressed cultures outside of Europe.
— Allison Voth, Chamber Series Music Director
Meet the Chamber Series Music Director
Allison Voth, piano
Allison Voth is an associate professor of music at Boston University’s School of Music, and principal coach at Boston University’s Opera Institute. She widely concertized with Lucine Amara of the Metropolitan Opera. She is widely known as a diction coach in Boston and throughout the U.S. She has worked as diction coach and/or répétiteur with such companies as Opera Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, Emmanuel Music, Chautauqua Opera, Providence Opera, Granite State Opera, the Verismo Opera of New Jersey and Opera North. Festivals include Opera Unlimited, The Florence Vocal Seminar and the Athens Music Festival. Ms. Voth is well recognized for her supertitles, which have been used in both national and international opera productions including Washington Opera, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Barbicon Festival in London, Opera Boston, Palm Beach Opera among many others. For several years she had a unique, ongoing collaboration with John Conklin as supertitle co-writer and designer for Boston Lyric Opera. Since 2023, Ms. Voth has been the pre-performance lecturer for Boston Lyric Opera. As a champion of new music, she has performed and assisted in many premieres with ALEA III, Collage New Music, The New Music Consort, The Group for Contemporary Players and The National Orchestra Association New Music Project. She is a specialist in the music of Paul Bowles and was on the cutting edge of the Paul Bowles revival movement in the 1990’s when she produced and performed in a multi-media production of music and readings entitled Paul Bowles: One Man, Two Minds at Merkin Hall in New York. The EOS Ensemble consequently invited her to participate in its Paul Bowles Festival in New York where she premiered a set of piano preludes. In 2011 as part of the Boston University Fringe Festival, she co-produced and music directed a Paul and Jane Bowles centennial celebration which included a multi-media performance entitled Two Stars in the Desert (also performed at BU’s yearly Incite Festival in New York), as well as a fully staged Boston premiere of his theatre work Yerma. Ms. Voth, recognized for her innovative programming, is the Chamber Series Music Director for the well-known Cantata Singers in Boston. She can be heard on CRI recordings.
Meet the Singers
Adrian Cho, bass
Adrian Cho is a Boston-based baritone, choir director, and organist. He has appeared as a soloist and an ensemble member with groups such as the Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, the Choir of the Church of the Advent, and the Choir of Trinity Church Boston, and has most recently played the role of Pontius Pilate in the production of St. Matthew Passion by Cantata Singers. He is passionate about contemporary sacred choral music as well as early music and has a special love for the works of J. S. Bach. Cho completed his PhD in Speech and Hearing Science at Harvard University in 2023 and holds degrees in physics and biomedical engineering.
Jade Espina, alto
An Arkansas native, mezzo-soprano Jade Espina is a Cuban-American classical singer and voice teacher in the Boston area. Ms. Espina earned her Master of Music in Voice Performance from Boston University under the tutelage of Penelope Bitzas. She holds a B.M. in Voice Performance and B.M.E with a Choral Emphasis from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Ms. Espina has performed with several Boston-based opera and chorus companies, such as Odyssey Opera, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Boston Opera Collaborative, Cantata Singers, NEMPAC Opera Project, NOVA Women’s Choral Project, Arlington Friends of the Drama, Due Donne Productions, and Promenade Opera Project. A fourth-year PK-12 music educator, Ms. Espina currently teaches early childhood music with the New England Conservatory of Music’s Preparatory School. After teaching middle school chorus and elementary PK-5 general music, orchestra, band and chorus in Framingham Public Schools for over three years, she earned her professional teaching license in K-12 Music Education in Massachusetts. Ms. Espina manages her own private voice and piano studio of twenty students out of her home in Cambridge, and has been on faculty with the Handel and Haydn Society Youth Chorus Program as a musicianship teacher for three years.
Angie Grau, alto
Angelica (Angie) Grau has a deep love of art song, and has been fortunate to express this love in several recital appearances over the last few years. She has fully self-produced two recital programs: Afterglow: Music of Lust and Love explored the many facets of lust and romance, while MILESTONE: 30 celebrated the pride she has in her development as an artist upon turning 30. Grau has also performed in programs presented by the Mixtape Recital Series, the Cantata Singers Chamber Series, Boston Singers’ Resource and Calliope. Choral work is another large facet of Grau’s singing career. She is an active member of both the Cantata Singers and Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, with solo credits alongside both ensembles and even debuting as an assistant director in early 2023.
As an operatic singer, she has performed with Cambridge Chamber Ensemble in the role of Dorella in Richard Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot and Spirit in Gustav Holst’s Savitri. She has also appeared in several scenes programs with the New England Opera Intensive, North Shore Summer Concerts, and the Opera Theatres at both the Longy School of Music and West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Lauren Guthridge, alto
Lauren Guthridge (she/her), is an active solo and choral musician in the Boston area. As a member of Cantata Singers since 2022, she has enjoyed performing in both the chamber music series and larger concert series. Guthridge is a graduate of both New England Conservatory (MM Voice Pedagogy) and Oklahoma State University (BM Voice Performance, Oboe Secondary). Her primary voice studies were with Ian Howell (NEC) and April Golliver-Mohiuddin (OSU) with voice coaching by JJ Penna, Chelsea Whitaker, Michael Strauss (NEC) and Megan Barth Argo (OSU). Recent performance highlights include Jennie in Down in the Valley, Edith in Pirates of Penzance, and scenes from Ariodante, Ottone, Dido and Aeneas, and Lakmé among others. Recent choral highlights include Considering Matthew Shepard, B Minor Mass, Path of Miracles, and alto soloist in Messiah.
In her free time, Guthridge enjoys crocheting, playing board games and exploring with her partner Joel. She maintains an online voice studio, and continues to pursue research in voice pedagogy.
Kay Patterson, soprano
Kay Patterson is a classical soprano based in Boston. Equally comfortable on operatic and concert stages, with a specialty in early music, Patterson has been praised as being a "delight" (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and hailed as "a soulful highlight" (Boston Classical Review). She currently performs with Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Emmanuel Music and the Cantata Singers. Past engagements include appearances with Boston Ballet, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Andover Choral Society, North End Music & Performing Arts Center, Opera Providence, Masterworks Chorale and Back Bay Chorale. She is also creator and host of the YouTube channel, The Organized Soprano which produces short films about home organizing, homemaking, and life as a classical singer. Her home organizing advice has appeared in publications, daytime television and conferences including Better Homes & Gardens, Consumer Reports, Real Simple, The Wall Street Journal & BuzzFeed. www.theorganizedsoprano.com
Jennifer Webb, alto
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Webb appears regularly as a soloist and chorister in the Boston area. She joined Cantata Singers in 2011 and has been featured as a soloist with the ensemble on many occasions, including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach cantatas, the Magnificat and B Minor Mass, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Solomon, the world premiere of Peter Child's Lamentations, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Oceana. Other notable performances include Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum and the first staged performance of Elena Ruehr’s Cassandra In the Temples with Cappella Clausura, and Handel's Esther and Alexander's Feast with the King's Chapel choir. Ms. Webb has worked with composer Larry Thomas Bell on several recent projects including the premiere of his song cycle Parables of Love and Death. She appears on his album Thoughts and Prayers from Albany Records. For more, visit www.jenniferrachelwebb.com.
Majie Zeller, alto
Majie Zeller has received critical praise for the “beauty and grace,” "opulent tone," and "warmth of expression" she brings to her performances of opera, oratorio, and song. This is her 31st season with Cantata Singers, with whom she has been a soloist in the Brahms Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and B minor Mass, Stravinsky The Rake’s Progress, Mozart Requiem, Handel Israel in Egypt, and many cantatas. She is also a soloist on Cantata Singers’ recording of John Harbison’s Four Psalms on New World. Her operatic appearances in Boston include roles in Nixon in China, Ainadamar, and Candide with Opera Boston, Akhnaten with Boston Lyric Opera, and A Little Night Music with Emmanuel Music, with whom she has also been a cantata soloist. In her other life, Zeller is a user experience designer for the popular mechanical engineering app SOLIDWORKS.
About the Composers
Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Debussy is hands down the most revered and innovative of all the French art song composers.
He was a rebel at heart and a veritable outsider. As a young composer, he unabashedly stole from his predecessors, until he found his own musical language and eclipsed them all with his innovative genius which became known as impression– a style of composition that included unusual voice leading and timbral color. He wrote for all the musical genres, but his love for poetry and voice came early: his first piano teacher was Mme Mauté, who was Velaine’s mother-in-law; and, as a poor student, he played in the voice studio of Mme Moreau-Sainti where he fell in love with the voice and with one of her students, Mme Marie-Blanche Vansier. She was older and married but welcomed his attention and their eventual 8 year affair. He wrote countless songs for her high coloratura voice, one of which was Claire de lune from the song set Quatre Chansons de Jeunesse which Debussy neither compiled, nor titled. Debussy set Claire de lune twice. This soaring and elegant mélodie is his first setting of the Paul Verlaine’s poem.
Gabrielle Fauré (1845–1924)
Fauré had an unremarkable upbringing, but his remarkable musical talents led him to study with Saint-Saëns who also became a close friend. Unlike many French composers and poets of during the Belle Époque, Fauré played life by its rules, slow and steady as they go, never ruffling feathers, remaining quietly passionate, and ever private regarding his personal life. Not coming from money, Fauré was forced to maintain a day job as an inspector of Conservatoires, leaving him little time to compose except in the summer when the Conservatories were closed. As quiet and as unassuming as he was, he was given the nickname Robespierre for his uncompromising and zealous approach to reorganizing the Paris Conservatoire– perhaps a reflection of his deep inner passion. He is revered by most as the father of French mélodie, affectionally referred to as “mon délicieux” by Duparc, and less affectionally, as the “Master of Charms” by Debussy. Despite having to work, Fauré remained dedicated to composing his entire life writing mostly in small musical forms, especially the intimate art song. He may not have been the grand innovator that Debussy was in French mélodie, but his compositional style spanned considerable years and evolved with integrity and uncompromising attention to style and steadfast purity of expression. Fauré’s Mandoline is from his Cinq Mélodie ‘de Venice. These were written in 1891. There is no more exquisite and perfect serenade than Mandoline, complete with the plucked Mandoline sensibility in the piano accompaniment.
Yvette Guilbert
(1865–1944)
If you’ve seen works of Toulous Lautrec, you’ve seen Yvette Guilbert. She was the Moulin Rouge singer and dancer so often depicted in Lautrec’s posters and one of his favorite models. She became known for her bawdy and uniquely delivered monologue “patter songs,” often in collaboration with Léon Xanrof. Guilbert became referred to as a “diseuse” or “sayer”— a style considered very innovative for the time. Her songs are about lost love, decadent love and Parisian poverty— something she grew up in and knew all too well. Her songs were downright raunchy and audacious, breaking all the conventional rules of cabaret at the time. Audiences adored her. She became so famous that she had successful tours in England, Germany and the US in 1895-1896, even performing in Carnegie Hall. She later appeared in both silent and sound films and co-starred with Sacha Guitry. She also wrote two novels set in the Belle Époch: La Vedette and Les Demi-vielles. Not surprisingly, she was sought after by the rich for their decadent parties and she even performed for King Edward VII at a private party on the French Riviera.
Reynaldo Hahn (1874–1947)
Although Hahn spoke perfect French, his first language was Spanish. He was born in Caracas to a German Jewish father and a Venezuelan Catholic mother. (His name is pronounced with the German aspirate H, not without the H as the French would pronounce it.) He was a fellow student with Ravel and studied with Massenet. His songs are few, but they are gems which reflect Paris of times past like no other composer. He is deeply respected and adored by singers, despite not being one of the towering maîtres of French mélodie. The two songs Chanson d’automne and La bonne chanson are both from his set of songs Chansons Grises all set to texts by Verlaine. The poem, La bonne chanson, written in 1870, was dedicated to Mathilde Mauté with whom Verlaine was madly in love and eventually married, and Chason d’automne was used as a secret signal song on the radio during WWI. Hahn’s settings of Verlaine poetry were performed by the famous singer Sybil Sanderson at the home of Alphonse Daudet in 1893. Verlaine was present at this performance and apparently wept when he heard Hahn’s settings.
Paul Hillemacher (1852-1933)
&
Lucien Hillemacher (1860-1909)
Paul and Lucien Hillmacher were brothers who often collaborated as composers. Their collaborative works were signed P. L. Hillemacher. Although, essentially known as salon composers, they were independently accomplished — both were recipients of the Second Prix de Rome and Grand Prix de Rome awards. They composed stage works, operas, symphonies and arts songs both in collaboration and independently. Although less innovative and compositionally sophisticated than Hahn and Duparc’s settings of these poems L’invitation au voyage (Baudelaire) and Si mes vers avaient des ailes (Hugo), Paul and Lucien create a gently sensual and comforting musical landscape for each poem to live.
Paul Puget
(1848–1917)
The Puget family name is renowned in French musical history. The Puget’s celebrated a lineage of famous organ builders and musicians. Paul was the son of the tenor Henri Puget and is related to the older Louise Puget who was well-known for her salon romances in the 1840’s. Paul Puget won the Prix de Rome in 1873 and is primarily known for his small number of stage works, the most famous being his Shakespeare adaption of Beaucoup de bruit pour rien (Much Ado About Nothing). Madrid (de Musset) is a fine example of the common practice during the Belle Époque of French composers writing Spanish pastiches. The piano accompaniment is in the infectious bolero style and the vocal part is technically demanding. Comment, disaient-ils is a miniature masterpiece revealing his decided skill as a song composer, despite not being recognized as one of the French mélodie “maîtres” (masters) during this time.
Maurice Ravel
(1875–1937)
Ravel was truly one of the grande maître French song composers of his time, along with Debussy. The two are often unfairly compared, although admittedly, both were influenced by Chabrier and were supported by Satie. That said, they remain unique unto themselves and best viewed without comparison. With the exception of some of Ravel’s great orchestral works, he ultimately preferred the more intimate genres of mélodie, solo and chamber music and even returned to older compositional forms of composition for inspiration (ie. Pavane for a Dead Princess). As a mélodie composer, he excelled in his impeccable sense of pure beauty of sonority, mystery and exoticism without blatant borrowing. (Both Debussy and Ravel were greatly influenced by the Gamalan music featured in the Paris 1889 World’s Fair.) Sur l’herbe is one of only two settings of Verlaine by Ravel. Unlike Debussy and Fauré’s treatment of the Fêtes Galantes poems, Ravel takes a much darker approach to Sur l’herbe. In the words of Graham Johnson, the extraordinary British collaborative pianist and scholar, “Sur l’herbe stars a pair of old roués (old wheels), an abbé and marquis, whose ‘noirceur’ (darkness), we are somehow led to believe, could be a sequel straight from the pages of the Marquis de Sade…Here we have Verlaine, well known for the catholicity of his sexual tastes, hinting at an open air partouze (orgy).” In Ravel’s Chanson espagnole, we once again see the influence of Spanish music and culture on composers of the Belle Époque.
Albert Roussel (1869–1937)
Roussel initially had navy aspirations, despite also being a composer, which afforded him the opportunity to travel the world as a midshipman, especially in south-east Asia. He soon realized, however, that the demands of the navy deprived him of time to compose, so he was forced to choose between the two careers. He chose composition and became a much respect composer and teacher. He was particularly known for his unwavering integrity, fairness, sensitivity and generosity towards his students and colleagues, almost to his detriment regarding his aspirations as a composer. His writing style is a breath of fresh air full of compositional integrity and exquisite sonic delight. There is really no composer quite like Roussel. There is not a wasted note in his songs, and his sensitivity towards the poetry is unmatched. There is no bravura, just spare beauty of soul and honesty in all that he composes. The two-song cycle featured today, Deux Poèmes Chinois Op. 12 written in 1907-8 (Amoureux Séparés and Ode à un jeune gentilhomme ) reflects his love of world travel and his uncanny ability to borrow elements from other cultures with integrity, respect and to great effect.
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Saint-Saëns was a revered composer and teacher who outlived Debussy by date and Fauré in years lived. As respected a composer as he was while alive, over time he has never garnered the respect that perhaps he might have had he been more generous and less bitter towards his colleagues and critics while alive. His mélodie never reached the elegance of Fauré nor the evocative sensuality of Debussy, but it has decided character. The poem Le vent dans la plaine, also known as C’est l’exstase was brilliantly set by both Fauré and Debussy— the latter setting being one of art songs best post coital songs of sensuality and languor ever written. Saint-Saëns’ setting is influenced by his former student and good friend, Fauré, but Saint-Saëns deliberately cut text used by Debussy to avoid the overt sexual content of the poem. Saint-Saëns’ setting of the poem is youthfully enthralled, rather than sensually languorous.
Erik Satie
(1866–1925)
Satie was another composer who played by his own rules. Some saw him as a genius, others as a fraud similar to our American composer John Cage. He remains an enigma to historians and musicians, but what is certain, his music enchants, transports and delights and he led the way for young musicians in his midst (Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and even Stravinsky, for example) to break the chains of conforming to tradition as the new century evolved. He was one of the composers in the famous Les Six French composers (George Auric, Louis Dury, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Tailleferre). Satie spent a great deal of time in café’s and playing in cabarets to survive. Je te veux and Diva de l’empire are perfect examples of songs inspired by his time spent playing in cabarets.
Déodat De Séverac (1872–1921)
Séverac marched to his own drum, refusing to follow the masses who lived in the mecca of Paris. He remained in the south of France where he had roots close to the Spanish border, an area known as the ‘Mecca of Cubism.’ He was good friends with Picasso, among other cubist painters. Not surprisingly, he carried a deep understanding of Spanish music. He was also greatly influenced by Debussy and Mussorgsky—the latter of which also influenced Debussy. Like Roussel, his songs reflect an uncompromising compositional precision and integrity which resulted in an unabashed and unique amalgamated style of impressionism and romanticism. Le ciel est, par-dessus le toit is an exquisite transporting song clearly written in the impressionistic style. His use of bell tones in this song is reminiscent of Roussel’s use of bell tones in his Deux Poèmes Chinois Op. 12.
Claude Terrasse (1867–1923)
Terrasse was first recognized for his incidental music for the play Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry in 1896. He was introduced to the avante-guarde art world through his close relationship with the painter Pierre Bonnard. Bonnard painted several portraits of him. He eventually married Bonnard’s sister and subsequently had six children with her. His musical output is comprised of mostly theatrical works. Velas is a delightful, rousing song about Velas who fights for his country and returns a hero.
Régine Wieniawski
“Poldowski”
(1879–1932)
“Poldowski” was born Irène Regina Wieniawski, the daughter of the famous violinist Wieniawski and his English wife. She studied in Brussels and Paris, then married Sir Aubrey Dean Paul. Despite living in London for much of her life, she remained an impassioned Francophile. This is evident in her compositional style. She wrote approximately 30 songs, sixteen of which were set to Verlaine poetry. She became very popular in the early 1920’s. Although, not ground-breaking compositionally, her songs are charming and impassioned, and have their place amongst the repertoire of mélodie written during this era.
Léon Alfred Xanrof (1867-1953)
Xanrof was born Léon Alfred Fourneau, but formally changed his surname to “Xanrof,” an inversion of the Latin Fornax of his French surname Fourneau (“furnace”). He was a French humorist, music-hall artist, playwright and songwriter. Yvette Guilbert performed many of his songs at Rodolphe Salis’ cabaret Le Chat Noir.
