Poulenc - Bleuet (1939)

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963) is among the very finest French composers of art songs, carrying on the tradition of Fauré and Debussy. In his book chronicling his activity in this noble branch of classical music, Journal de mes melodies, Poulenc repeatedly states a belief that his songs do not come from intellect, but from the heart, and have to be performed -- and indeed, received by the listener -- in that mode.

Bleuet (1939)

Mark Padmore, tenor and Iain Burnside, piano

Bleuet is a prime example. Poulenc wrote it in October 1939, the month after Hitler initiated World War II by invading Poland. French soldiers were mobilized, rushed to their formations, placed behind their ultimately useless defensive lines, and there was great patriotic sentiment. There was little loss at this point; Hitler held off turning westward until the late spring of the following year.

Yet Poulenc responded to the fact that the hundreds of thousands of young men were prepared to sacrifice themselves, and anticipated that many of them would. He turned to a poem written by Guillaume Apollinaire in 1917, at the height of France's prior war. The poet wrote it after being returned from the front after suffering a head wound.

The poem addresses a "Young man of twenty years," and is essentially a lament for the innocence, the happy years, that have been lost, watching his comrades fall around him.

The title is a poetic invention of Apollinaire's: Because of his uniform color, a French soldier was often called a "Blue" (Bleu) and "Bleuet" is a diminutive. Thus, the poet addresses his soldier as "Little Blue."

Poulenc's own discussion of this song in the Journal is one of his best. It is clear that he was concerned to avoid many of the traditional trappings of music regarding soldiers and death in battle: There is no martial music, and no heroics. There is no religious solemnity. Poulenc explained:

"I was quite simply moved to the depths of my being by the intensely human overtones of Apollinaire's poem. Humility, whether it concerns prayer or the sacrifice of a life, is what touches me most.

Jeune homme De vingt ans Qui as vu des choses si affreuses Que penses-tu des hommes de ton enfance
Tu Tu as vu connais la mort la bravoure et la ruse, en face plus de cent fois tu ne sais
Transmets ton intrépidité pas ce À ceux qui viendront que c'est Après toi que la vie Jeune homme
Tu es joyeux, ta mémoire est ensanglantée Ton âme est rouge aussi De joie
Tu as absorbé la vie de ceux qui sont morts près de toi Tu as de la décision
Il est 17 heures et tu saurais Mourir
Sinon mieux que tes aînés Du moins plus pieusement Car tu connais mieux la mort que la vie Ô douceur d'autrefois, Lenteur immémoriale.

Category:

Music

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• Poulenc
• Bleuet
• 1939

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Mark Padmore