Théodore Gouvy: Songs to Texts by Renaissance Poets
The instrumental and orchestral music of the Franco-German Romantic Théodore Gouvy (1819-98) is slowly being rediscovered. Gouvy also wrote a generous number of melodious songs, showing a predilection for the sixteenth-century love-poems of Pierre de Ronsard. Only eleven of the 26 songs on this CD have been recorded before, and none in the key the composer intended, as they are here for the first time; the others are first-ever recordings.
MeeAe Nam, soprano
John Elwes, tenor
Joel Schoenhals, piano
Listen To This Recording:
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 1, À Olive (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 4, Voici le bois (late 19th c.)
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 2, Nymphes, mêlez vos plus vermeilles roses (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 7, Que dites-vous, que faites-vous, mignonne (late 19th c.)
- Six Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 42: No. 3, Je ne saurais aimer autre que vous (late 19th c.)
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 3, Doux rossignol, c’est toi! (late 19th c.)
- Six Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 42: No. 5, À Hélène (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 8, Quand je pense à ce jour (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 1, Aubade (late 19th c.)
- Huit Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 44: No. 1, À Marguerite (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 2, Prends cette rose (late 19th c.)
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 5, Père du doux repos (late 19th c.)
- Huit Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 44: No. 5, Vous méprisez nature (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 5, Je compare à ta jeune beauté (late 19th c.)
- Six Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 42: No. 2, Le rossignol (late 19th c.)
- Huit Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 44: No. 4, L’attrait de tes beaux yeux (late 19th c.)
- Sept Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 47: No. 1, Page, suis-moi (late 19th c.)
- Six Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 42: No. 1, Je meurs, hélas! (late 19th c.)
- Six Odes de Ronsard, Op. 37: No. 1, Chère Vesper, lumière dorée (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 3, Amour, amour, que ma maîtresse est belle (late 19th c.)
- Neuf Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 41: No. 6, Amour me tue (late 19th c.)
- Sept Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 47: No. 5, Adieu (late 19th c.)
- Six Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 42: No. 6, Chanson (late 19th c.)
- Sept Poésies de Ronsard, Op. 47: No. 6, Le doux sommeil (late 19th c.)
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 6, Fuirai-je ainsi toujours (late 19th c.)
- La Pléiade française, Op. 48: No. 11, Tel qu’un rocher (late 19th c.)
Fanfare Magazine :
‘…The strength of these performances is the colorful, animated pianism of Schoenhals. He goes way beyond just playing the notes, providing colorful, alive accompaniments throughout. Elwes’s light tenor is very expressively used. …Well-balanced recorded sound, with a good piano-voice balance, excellent notes, and full texts and translations round out the package. The more we learn of Gouvy’s music, the more important he seems as a composer.’
—Henry Fogel, Fanfare Magazine, January/February 2015