Because of the nature of the poetry, the interpretation of Banalites in this study has involved certain subjective decisions. These deductions were, nevertheless, colored by statements of the poet, the composer, and authorities on each. This is not to imply, however, that this is the only interpretation. Both poet and composer have given evidence that their creation requires a subjective response on the part of the interpreter. This is perhaps the greatest challenge offered by the work.

Le Bestiaire ou Cortège d’Orphée (1911) d’Apollinaire attire toujours les mélodistes de notre temps. S’inscrivant dans une tradition ancestrale, les mises en musique des petits poèmes d’animaux guidés par Orphée constituent en effet un inestimable « jardin zoologique » pour les musiciens. Apollinaire imaginait-il une exploration de ce type ? Ces créations musicales à partir du Bestiaire sont-elles, à titre posthume, un hommage au poète ? Des plus célèbres, celles de Poulenc et Durey (1919), à celle de Régis Campo (2008) en passant par les recueils de Claude Ballif et Robert Caby (1945), chacune des versions donne lieu à un réinvestissement spécifique des poèmes. Dans cette étude diachronique allant de 1919 à 2008, les compositions concernées sont analysées dans leur contexte puis examinées à travers la pluralité des langages musicaux qu’elles mettent en oeuvre. Outre Poulenc et Durey, voici, par ordre chronologique, les auteurs abordés : Yves Nat (Dans vos viviers, dans vos étangs, 1943) ; Claude Ballif (Le Cortège d’Orphée, op. 1b, 1945-1948) ; Robert Caby (Cycle inédit de sept mélodies, 1945-1948) ; Robert Cornman (Le Bestiaire Alpha, 1961-1963, Le Bestiaire Bêta, 1972) ; Jean Absil (Bestiaire op. 58, 1964) ; Lionel Daunais (Bestiaire, 1978) ; plus près de nous : May Breguet (Bestiaire, 1982) ; Alain Corbellari (Bestiaire bis, 1991) ; Rachel Laurin (Bestiaire op. 22, 1992) ; enfin, John Carbon (Bestiaire, 2002) et Régis Campo (Bestiaire, 2008) / The poem collection Le Bestiaire or Cortège d’Orphée (1911) by Apollinaire still attracts vocal composers of our time. Drawing on ancestral traditions, the setting to music of short poems about animals guided by Orpheus constitutes an inestimable “zoo” for musicians. Did Apollinaire imagine an exploration of this type? Are these musical creations, from Le Bestiaire onward, posthumously, homages to Apollinaire? From the most famous of animal cycles by Poulenc and Durey (1919), to that of Régis Campo (2008), as well as the collections of Claude Ballif and Robert Caby (1945) , each version gives rise to a specific reingagement with the poems. In this diachronic study from 1919 to 2008, the compositions in question are analyzed in their context and examined through the plurality of musical languages that they employ. In addition to Poulenc and Durey, here, in chronological order, are the other composers discussed: Yves Nat (Dans vos viviers, dans vos étangs, 1943); Claude Ballif (Le Cortège d’Orphée, op. 1b, 1945-1948); Robert Caby (Cycle of seven songs, 1945-1948); Robert Cornman (Le Bestiaire Alpha, 1961-1963, Le Bestiaire Bêta, 1972); Jean Absil (Bestiaire, op. 58, 1964); Lionel Daunais (Le Bestiaire, 1978); more recent, May Breguet (Bestiaire, 1982); Alain Corbellari (Bestiaire bis, 1991); Rachel Laurin (Bestiaire, op. 22, 1992); and, finally, John Carbon (Bestiaire, 2002) and Régis Campo (Le Bestiaire, 2008)

Francis Poulenc has made a significant contribution to twentieth century repertoire for voice and piano. Many of his songs are published in collections under a single title. These collections are often referred to as cycles, but they do not always fall into the definition of a song cycle in the traditional sense. The goal of this paper is to disclose a cyclic nature on a structural level in the music of Banalités, using Tel jour telle nuit as a model for critical examination of both works. The introduction to the thesis addresses both the problem of defining a song cycle, and the implications such a definition has on categorizing the works Banalités and Tel jour telle nuit. Chapter One explores influences of composers, teachers and artistic movements on Poulenc's early life and outlines his significant compositional periods. In addition, this chapter cites specific works indicative of a maturation process in Poulenc's approach to vocal settings. Chapter Two investigates the poetic texts of Banalités and Tel jour telle nuit. Guillaume Apollinaire and Paul Eluard were integral figures in the developments of Surrealism and its formation as an artistic movement. The chapter analyses the linkage between the poems within each work, offering interpretive solutions. Chapter Three, which constitutes the main body of the paper, provides a detailed analysis of the general architecture and shape of each cycle in terms of formal structure, harmonic and melodic language, and text-music relationships. The analysis reveals that both cycles are highly integrated and unified through various devices, such as literal restatement of materials, intervallic relationships and stylistic resemblances at the levels of texture, tempo and tonal structure. Moreover, metric aspects of both poetry and music are shown to also contribute to that integration. In light of this investigation, unifying devices of both a covert and overt nature testify to the cyclic nature of Banalités and Tel jour telle nuit, yet point to the different type of cycle each work outlines. This conclusion helps the performers to convey the unity of the song cycles, thus doing justice to the sense in which Poulenc conceived the works. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

Research has been conducted on Francis Poulenc and his prominent 20th century sonata for brass instruments. Poulenc and members of the French compositional collaboration known as Les Six have all been subjects of research. Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Horn Trumpet and Trombone is a crucial piece in the development of brass chamber music during the 20th century. As one of the first works written for modern brass instruments, it demonstrates a highly crafted compositional style representative of Poulenc's early period. Research includes background and historical significance of the Sonata, analysis of form and compositional techniques, biographical information on Francis Poulenc and the members of Les Six and a section on implications for the performance of the work. This study is necessary due to the lack of research available for the piece especially considering its relevance to the development of brass chamber music. This study explores the compositional style of Francis Poulenc and his contribution to the brass ensemble repertoire.

The opera bouffe Les mamelles de Tiresias (1944) by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) stands at the crossroad between the composer's formative and mature works. The opera exhibits a number of harmonic features characteristics of Poulenc's eclectic, idiosyncratic style. This thesis attempts to address the lack of attention given this work in particular and Poulenc's output in general. / The thesis consists of two volumes. Volume I contains the introduction, three chapters and the conclusion. Volume 2 contains musical examples, analytical graphs and reproductions of Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2, and Act 2, Scenes 7 and 8 from the piano-vocal score of Les mamelles de Tiresias. / The first chapter of Volume 1 reviews two Ph.D. dissertations that examine Poulenc's harmonic language; and summarizes the more recent analyses by Vivan Wood, Pamela Poulin and Keith Daniels. Figures (the musical examples) for Chapter 1 are given in Volume 2. / Chapter 2 of Volume 1 examines the large-scale harmonic organization in pivotal scenes that are representative of the musical language in the opera. / Chapter 3 of Volume I extends Warren Werner's and Richard Bobbitt's approach to show how local events and large-scale harmonic motions can be viewed as leitmotives that symbolize key events in the drama. Figures (the musical examples) and Graphs (the analytical graphs) for Chapter 3 are given in Volume 2. / The conclusion reviews there observations of the study and makes some general remarks about Poulenc's harmonic language. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis is a brief study of profane a capella works for mixed chorus by Francis Poulenc, the well known componist of the first half of twentieth century. On one hand the work descriebes his basic living moments important for his life and artistic work. On the other it analyze his profane works which was written for the mixed chorus a capella, i.e. without any instrumental accompaniment, reflecting mainly its musical form, harmonical structure and his technigue of composition.

The primary focus of this thesis is a selection of lesser-known Ballets Russes works, which, despite being largely neglected in academic studies, constitute important chapters in the history of the company. The bright light of publicity that shone on Stravinsky - in particular on Le Sacre du Printemps - has cast shadows over other Ballets Russes works, creating an over-simplified historical perspective. This is not to deny that Le Sacre was a watershed moment for the company, and in seeking to enrich our understanding of its place within broader musical trends, the thesis is divided into three sections, representing works composed before, around the same time as, and after, Stravinsky’s notorious masterpiece. Following a brief introduction, and a descriptive chapter outlining Diaghilev’s artistic heritage, as well as Paris before the arrival of his company, the first section deals with the Ballets Russes’s early modus operandi; focusing on Nikolai Tcherepnin’s Le Pavillon d’Armide and Reynaldo Hahn’s Le Dieu bleu. The next explores the Ballets Russes in the wake of Le Sacre du Printemps, using Erik Satie’s Parade as an example of a ballet indebted to Stravinsky’s innovations. However, influence was not entirely a one-way phenomenon, and part of this section also discusses connections between the early Ballets Russes works and Le Sacre. Finally, the season of French ballets performed in 1924 allows me to reflect on the stylistic changes that occurred in the later years of the company, using Darius Milhaud’s Le Train bleu, Georges Auric’s Les Fâcheux, and Francis Poulenc’s Les Biches as examples of the company’s shift to an enterprise that placed greater emphasis on the visual. This research argues that even the lesser-known works, despite their apparent lack of musical innovation, contributed to the more path-breaking scores that have come to command scholarly interest. Moreover, the seasons I have highlighted reflect the changing ideologies of Diaghilev and his company, as it evolved from a Russian troupe inspired by the Mir Iskusstva, to a European artistic collective presenting the ideas of Cocteau and Les Six to Paris. Areas of future research extend from this thesis, as many other lesser-known ballets not encompassed here would clearly benefit from detailed scrutiny. Applying the principles of musical examination here outlined, together with an open-minded approach to new historical perspectives, should further help to redress the balance of scholarly attention that has skewed the overall understanding of the Ballets Russes.

Francis Poulencs musical setting of La Voix Humaine, a one-act monodrama by Jean Cocteau, has enjoyed many successful performances since the premiere at the Paris Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique in February, 1959. Cocteau's original play (1932) was inspired by a crossed-wire" telephone conversation which he overheard in 1930. The play has become an international success, and requires the talents of a gifted actress. La Voix Humaine (hereafter LVH) is one of three unique stage works by Poulenc. All of his operas were composed late in his life and reflect a variety of libretto types. His first opera, Les Mamelles de Tirésias (1947), was a one-act comic opera. This satirical and humorous subject may be greatly contrasted with his full-length tragic opera, Les Dialogues des Carmélites (1957). In view of its monodramatic construction and the sensual tragic-romantic use of the orchestra, LVH stands alone as a specialized and demanding work for the theatre.

Francis Poulenc's one-character opera La Voix humaine (1958), a setting of the homonymous play by Jean Cocteau, explores the psychological complexities of an unnamed woman as she experiences the end of a romantic relationship. During the forty-minute work, she sings in a declamatory manner into a telephone, which serves as a sign of the unrevealed man at the other end. Poulenc uses musical motives to underscore the woman's changing emotional states as she recalls her past relationship. The musical dramaturgy in this work resignifies Debussy's impressionist symbolism by collapsing devices used in Pelléas et Mélisande in a language that shifts between octatonicism, chromaticism, harmonic and melodic whole tone passages, and diatonicism. This late work recontextualizes elements in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (1953-56), and the end of the opera provides a theme for his Sonate pour Clarinet et Piano(1962), as Poulenc reflects on his youthful encounters with Cocteau, Erik Satie, and Les Six.

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