Thou singest ye carol

Henri Duparc’s creative career lasted sixteen years and his most important contribution to music lies in his seventeen solo compositions. After the last one was composed in 1884, he didn’t write anything for a while, but he was able to work on orchestrations of some song accompaniments and on reworking earlier compositions. His choice of texts for his songs suggests an atmosphere of melancholy that ultimately seems to have triumphed in the final silence.

In two parts, you can listen to all the songs of Henri Duparc performed by tenor Peter Gijsbertsen, soprano Liesbeth Devos and pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer. You will also hear the works of Duparc’s contemporaries, who, like Duparc, set poems by Baudelaire to music.

‘Thou singest ye carol’ is being broadcast every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.

Playlist: 

1. Henri Duparc – ‘L’Invitation au Voyage’ for cello and piano.
   Camille Thomas cello and Julien Libeer piano.
2. Henri Duparc – 1. Elégie’ (Thomas Moore/Ellen MaSwinny) 2. ‘Extase’ (Jean Lahor) Tenor Peter Gijsbertsen and pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer.
3. Henri Duparc – 1. Au Pays ou se fait la Guerre’ (Théophile Gautier) 2. ‘Le manoir de Rosemonde’ (Robert de Bonnières.) 3.’Sérénade florentine’ (Jean Lahor ) 4. ‘Phidylé’ (Leconte de Lisle) 5.’Lamento’ (Théophile Gautier) 6. ‘Testament’ (Armand Silvestre), 7.’La vie antérieure’ (Baudelaire). Tenor Peter Gijsbertsen and pianist Jozef de Beenhouwer.
4. Claude Debussy : 1. ‘Le Balcon’ (Baudelaire) 2. ‘Harmonie du Soir’ (Baudelaire) 3. ‘La Mort des Amants’ Baudelaire Soprano Felicity Lott and pianist Graham Johnson

Note:

Nancy van der Elst Henri Duparc. Musicologist from Utrecht

At the University of Paris, she obtained the Doctorat d’état des lettres et sciences humaines (April 21, 1972) with her thesis Henri Duparc, l’homme et son oeuvre. She studied under Professor Jacques Chailley.

Henri Duparc | The Classical-Componists Database https://musicalics.com/nl/node/79496

Duparc at the age of 84

© Lebrecht Music & Arts 2012