The author and poet Jules Renard often mocked the characters in his own work, treating them in a particularly sarcastic, even cruel manner. This is particularly the case in his Histoiries naturelles, a collection of poems based on the 44-volume zoological treatise by the 18th-century French naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon. In this work, Renard elevates the animals by making them archetypes of human personalities, and in doing so rather animalize men. Published in 1895, it became quite popular, and eleven years later Maurice Ravel selected five of Renard’s poems to set to music under the same title. Ravel’s settings are witty and humorous, certainly taking their cue from the lighthearted nature of the poems themselves, and which was seemingly lost on the audience at its premiere performance in 1907. Nonetheless, the charm of Ravel’s picturesque settings has nonetheless made Histoires naturelles a favorite among the composer’s vocal music.
Concluding Histoires naturelles is the humorous and brusque “La pintade,” or “The Guinea-fowl.” Renard describes the bird’s torment of the other fowls, her cantankerous mood, and her incessant cries, feeling the other birds are mocking her because of “her size, bald head and low tail.” But, then, she disappears, giving the others a moment’s rest, while she lays an egg in the country. There is a touch of sympathy for the poor bird, however, in Renard’s text as he refers to her as his “beloved hunchback” and “a cunning prankster.” Humorous on its own, the text is made even more so by Ravel’s setting. Those familiar with the bird’s discordant call will recognize its imitation. The recitative-like quality of the vocal melody is certainly melodramatic, giving the text an even more humorous and sarcastic tone. Likewise, the angular rhythms and melodies of the piano accompaniment reflect the bird’s unfortunate awkwardness and aggression.Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Bass
Maurice Ravel
Le pintade, from Histoires naturelles Play
Recorded on 07/06/2010, uploaded on 10/25/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
The author and poet Jules Renard often mocked the characters in his own work, treating them in a particularly sarcastic, even cruel manner. This is particularly the case in his Histoiries naturelles, a collection of poems based on the 44-volume zoological treatise by the 18th-century French naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon. In this work, Renard elevates the animals by making them archetypes of human personalities, and in doing so rather animalize men. Published in 1895, it became quite popular, and eleven years later Maurice Ravel selected five of Renard’s poems to set to music under the same title. Ravel’s settings are witty and humorous, certainly taking their cue from the lighthearted nature of the poems themselves, and which was seemingly lost on the audience at its premiere performance in 1907. Nonetheless, the charm of Ravel’s picturesque settings has nonetheless made Histoires naturelles a favorite among the composer’s vocal music.
Concluding Histoires naturelles is the humorous and brusque “La pintade,” or “The Guinea-fowl.” Renard describes the bird’s torment of the other fowls, her cantankerous mood, and her incessant cries, feeling the other birds are mocking her because of “her size, bald head and low tail.” But, then, she disappears, giving the others a moment’s rest, while she lays an egg in the country. There is a touch of sympathy for the poor bird, however, in Renard’s text as he refers to her as his “beloved hunchback” and “a cunning prankster.” Humorous on its own, the text is made even more so by Ravel’s setting. Those familiar with the bird’s discordant call will recognize its imitation. The recitative-like quality of the vocal melody is certainly melodramatic, giving the text an even more humorous and sarcastic tone. Likewise, the angular rhythms and melodies of the piano accompaniment reflect the bird’s unfortunate awkwardness and aggression. Joseph DuBose
More music by Maurice Ravel
La Valse
Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Faure
Noctuelles from Miroirs
Daphnis and Chloé, Suite No. 2
Une barque sur l'océan, from Miroirs
Alborada del Gracioso, from Miroirs
Pièce en Forme de Habanera
Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques
Rhapsodie espagnole
Concerto No. 2 in D Major for Piano and Orchestra
Performances by same musician(s)
Die Beiden Grenadiere, Op. 49, No. 1
Abends am Strand, Op. 45, No. 3
Le paon, from Histoires naturelles
Le cygne, from Histoires naturelles
Le grillon, from Histoires naturelles
Le martin-pêcheur, from Histoires naturelles
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