Chanson Courante (2023) - Benjamin Gabbay

Chanson Courante (2023) for SATB choir and strings combines the texts of "Le Pont Mirabeau" by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) and "Les roses de Saâdi" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859) in a lively, folk-like song setting. This premiere performance was presented by Arcady Ensemble on June 10, 2023, in St. Andrew's United Church in Brantford, ON, Canada and conducted by director Ronald Beckett as part of Arcady's 25th Anniversary Celebration concert.

Full list of performers, program notes, and complete texts are included below.

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Director and conductor: Ronald Beckett

Violin I: David Rehner (concertmaster), Paul Earle, Kat Mrak
Violin II: Linda Choi, Bethany Horrocks Schouwstra, Kelly Larochette
Viola: John Wiebe, Jeffrey Komar
Cello: Ben Bolt-Martin, Sonya Nanos
Double bass: Fil Stasiak

Sopranos: Michaela Chiste, Sophia Korz, Hilary Krutchik, Sarah McQueen (soloist), Katherine Neeb, Cristina Pisani
Altos: Hollie Dunkley, Heather Fleming, Bree Horton, Emma Verdonk, Katie Walshaw (soloist)
Tenors: Lanny Fleming, Benjamin Gabbay, Shawn Oakes, Marcel van Helden (soloist), Mark Wood-Salomon
Basses: Silas Chinsen, Michael Lepock, Chris Petersen, John Van Maanen

Recording: Frank Ch. Eigler

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Chanson Courante combines two French poems with similar themes: the transience of material things and the power of memory. Both Guillaume Apollinaire's "Le Pont Mirabeau" and Marceline Desbordes-Valmore's "Les Roses de Saâdi" use the subject of water as an image for the fleeting nature of life, love, and beauty; as the narrator in "Saâdi" loses their roses to the sea because they carried too many, so does the narrator in "Mirabeau" see the flowing of the Seine as a metaphor for the often cruel, indifferent passage of time. In "Saâdi," the narrator finds an antidote to their woes in the permanence of memory—declaring that their robe is still embalmed with the scent of the lost roses. Similarly, in the strophic refrain that separates each verse of "Mirabeau," the narrator declares "je demeure"—both a lament of solitude and a stoic consolation that "I remain" in spite of all things passing.

Despite its melancholy theme, Apollinaire's "Mirabeau" is, in this work, set to a lively, folkish melody, with the syncopated rocking of the strings portraying the flowing of the Seine. The blithe vigour of the song is not intended to triviliaze the theme of the text; rather, it is rooted in the triumph of acceptance and endurance—just as the water runs under the Mirabeau Bridge, so does life go on. Desbordes-Valmore's poem forms the centrepiece of the work, inserted between verses three and four of the Apollinaire and set with a gentle intimacy that serves as a foil to the folk tune.

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Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine
Et nos amours
Faut-il qu'il m'en souvienne
La joie venait toujours après la peine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Les mains dans les mains restons face à face
Tandis que sous
Le pont de nos bras passe
Des éternels regards l'onde si lasse

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

L'amour s'en va comme cette eau courante
L'amour s'en va
Comme la vie est lente
Et comme l'Espérance est violente

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

Passent les jours et passent les semaines
Ni temps passé
Ni les amours reviennent
Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine

Vienne la nuit sonne l'heure
Les jours s'en vont je demeure

"Le Pont Mirabeau" (1912) by
Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918)


J'ai voulu ce matin te rapporter des roses ;
Mais j'en avais tant pris dans mes ceintures closes
Que les noeuds trop serrés n'ont pu les contenir.
Les noeuds ont éclaté. Les roses envolées
Dans le vent, à la mer s'en sont toutes allées.
Elles ont suivi l'eau pour ne plus revenir ;
La vague en a paru rouge et comme enflammée.
Ce soir, ma robe encore en est tout embaumée...
Respires-en sur moi l'odorant souvenir.

"Les Roses de Saâdi" (1860) by
Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (1786-1859)

For translations of both texts, please visit https://benjamingabbay.com/music/chan...