Listening #13

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And here for more about Poulenc's life

Francis Poulenc's song, Les chemins de l'amour, text by Jean Anouihl.

Listening #12

Les Chansons de Bilitis is a collection of erotic poetry by Pierre Louÿs published in Paris in 1894 (see 1894 in poetry).

The book's sensual poems are in the manner of Sappho; the introduction claims they were found on the walls of a tomb in Cyprus, written by a woman of Ancient Greece called Bilitis, a courtesan and contemporary of Sappho, to whose 'life' Louÿs dedicated a small section of his book. On publication, the volume deceived even the most expert of scholars. Though the poems were actually clever fabulations, authored by Louÿs himself, they are still considered important literature.

The Songs of Bilitis are separated into three cycles, each representative of a phase of Bilitis' life: Bucolicsin Pamphylia— childhood and first sexual encounters, Elegies at Mytilene— indulgence in homosexual sensuality, and Epigrams in the Isle of Cyprus— life as a courtesan. Each cycle progresses toward a melancholy conclusion, each conclusion signalling a new, more complex chapter of experience, emotion, and sexual exploration. One of Louÿs' technical accomplishments was to coincide Bilitis' growing maturity and emotional complexity with her changing views of divinity and the world around her— after leaving Pamphylia and Mytiline, she becomes involved in intricate mysteries, moving away from a mythical world inhabited by satyrs and Naiads. This change is perhaps best reflected by the symbolic death of the satyrs and Naiads in "The Tomb of the Naiads".

In 1897, Claude Debussy, Louÿs' close friend, composed a musical adaptation of three of the poems: "La flûte de Pan", "La Chevelure" and "Le Tombeau des Naïades," set as songs for female voice and piano. Debussy returned to the collection in a more elaborate fashion in 1901, when he composed music entitled "Six Epigraphes Antiques" for a recitation of six of Louÿs' poems. These pieces, also collectively titled "Chansons de Bilitis," were scored for two flutes, two harps, and celesta including another six poems making a total of twelve scored poems. According to contemporary sources the recitation and music were accompanied by tableaux vivants as well. Apparently only one private performance of the entire creation took place in Venice.

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