Pedagogical Guide To The Interpretation of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Songs For Solo Voice and Piano

Pedagogical Guide to the Interpretation of Nineteenth-
Century French Canadian Songs for Solo Voice and Piano
by
Karine St-Pierre
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto
© Copyright by Karine St-Pierre 2016
h i

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Pedagogical Guide to the Interpretation of Nineteenth-Century
French Canadian Songs for Solo Voice and Piano
Karine St-Pierre
Doctor of Musical Arts
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto
2016
Abstract
This thesis offers a historical narrative of nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo
voice and piano taking into consideration the various factors that have informed this unique body
of repertoire, such as the socio-political scene in Canada, shifts in colonial status, French cultural
heritage and preservation, French Canadian nationalism, European musical trends, folkloric
songs, and the role of the publishing industry in the creation and distribution of these songs. An
analysis of the chansonnette, the romance, and the mélodie reveals a series of distinctive
characteristics that define each genre, while demonstrating how the three genres contributed to
the development of art song repertoire in Canada.
The objective of the research was to create a pedagogical guide to the interpretation of French
Canadian songs in order to facilitate the dissemination of this repertoire among voice teachers,
performers, and institutions. This necessitated a literature review to determine how vocal
compositions are annotated and graded within the fields of voice performance and vocal
pedagogy. Primary vocal repertoire guides were consulted. Carol Kimball’s list of components of
style, J. Arden Hopkin’s methodology, Christopher Arneson’s sample rubrics, and the author’s
own teaching and performing experience led to the compilation of an assessment grid of twenty-
ii
five musical and vocal elements used to determine the level of difficulty of compositions for
voice and piano. Each element was assessed according to three levels (minimal, moderate, and
extensive), and a resulting numeric sum corresponded to three possible levels of difficulty
(elementary, intermediate, or advanced).
The literature review informed the choice of annotations used for twenty-two French Canadian
songs, and the assessment grid was used to determine their level of difficulty. The annotations of
French Canadian songs serves as an interpretation guide for voice teachers and performers, while
helping to illustrate their pedagogical and performance value.
iii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Lorna MacDonald, for her inestimable guidance
and mentorship throughout the entire dissertation process. You have given me the tools to
successfully complete my life-long goal, and have inspired me to always reach further.
My sincere thanks go to my committee members, Dr. Jeff Packman and Dr. Cameron Walter, for
their continuous support, and for their invaluable comments and suggestions.
I would like to extend gratitude to Guylaine Vallée, documentation technician at the

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, and her collegues, for generously donating their
time and efforts towards the compilation and digitalization of hundreds of scores of French
Canadian songs for voice and piano, without whom this project would not be possible.
I would also like to thank three mentors, Nathalie Paulin, Mia Bach, and Ginette Duplessis, for
sharing with me their passion for and knowledge of French and French Canadian repertoire.
A special note of thanks goes to my husband Ricky for his encouragements and patience during
the entire doctorate. I would like to extend a note of gratitude to all my family and friends for
their continuous support. I thank my colleagues Melissa and Jennifer for providing an
encouraging and positive support group via our numerous Skype calls.
Finally, I am grateful to the Fond de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture for funding my
doctoral project.
iv
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................iv!
Table.of.Contents.....................................................................................................................................v!
List.of.Tables.........................................................................................................................................viii!
List.of.Figures.........................................................................................................................................ix!
List.of.Examples.......................................................................................................................................x!
List.of.Appendices.................................................................................................................................xi!
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1!
Chapter.1.A.Historical.Narrative.of.NineteenthCCentury.French.Canadian.Songs.for.
Solo.Voice.and.Piano.............................................................................................................................5!
1.1.PreCConfederation.....................................................................................................................................7!
1.1.1!The!Earliest!Songs!for!Solo!Voice!and!Piano!in!Canada!......................................................................!7!
1.1.2!Patriotic!Songs!and!Colonial!Shifts!..............................................................................................................!8!
1.1.3!The!Saint<Jean<Baptiste!Society!and!Nationalism!...............................................................................!10!
1.1.4!The!Development!of!the!Music!Publishing!Industry!..........................................................................!14!
1.1.5!Folksongs!and!Nationalism!...........................................................................................................................!15!
1.1.6!Comical!Songs!......................................................................................................................................................!18!
1.2.Confederation...........................................................................................................................................19!
1.2.1!Towards!a!Unification!of!English!and!French!Colonies!.....................................................................!19!
1.2.2!The!Copyright!Act!..............................................................................................................................................!20!
1.3.PostCConfederation.................................................................................................................................21!
1.3.1!Music!Stores!and!Periodicals!Dedicated!to!Music!...............................................................................!21!
1.3.2!Political!Songs!.....................................................................................................................................................!23!
1.3.3!New!Year’s!Day!Songs!and!Celebration!Songs!......................................................................................!23!
1.3.4!Finding!an!Anthem!for!French!Canadians!..............................................................................................!25!
Chapter.2.Late.Nineteenth.Century:.the.Development.of.Art.Song.Repertoire..............30!
2.1.The.Chansonnette....................................................................................................................................32!
2.1.1!Poetry!......................................................................................................................................................................!33!
2.1.2!Form!........................................................................................................................................................................!33!
2.1.3!Music!.......................................................................................................................................................................!34!
.
v
2.2.The.Romance.............................................................................................................................................35!
2.2.1!Poetry!......................................................................................................................................................................!36!
2.2.2!Form!........................................................................................................................................................................!37!
2.2.3!Music!.......................................................................................................................................................................!39!
2.3.The.Mélodie...............................................................................................................................................41!
2.3.1!Poetry!......................................................................................................................................................................!43!
2.3.2!Form!........................................................................................................................................................................!47!
2.3.3!Music!.......................................................................................................................................................................!52!
Chapter.3.Annotating.and.Grading.Compositions.for.Solo.Voice.and.Piano....................60!
3.1! Literature.Review................................................................................................................................62!
3.1.1.!! Review!of!Annotations!Used!in!Voice!Guides!..................................................................................!62!
3.1.2! Review!of!Existing!Difficulty!Level!Assessment!Methods!............................................................!68!
3.2.! Elaboration.of.a.Level.of.Difficulty.Assessment.Grid..............................................................71!
3.2.1! Components!of!Compositions!for!Solo!Voice!and!Piano!...............................................................!71!
3.2.2! Level!of!Difficulty!Assessment!Grid!for!Compositions!for!Solo!Voice!and!Piano!...............!72!
3.2.2.1! Melody!.........................................................................................................................................................................!74!
3.2.2.2! Rhythm!........................................................................................................................................................................!77!
3.2.2.3! Harmony!.....................................................................................................................................................................!78!
3.2.2.4! Text!...............................................................................................................................................................................!79!
3.2.2.5! Piano!Accompaniment!..........................................................................................................................................!80!
3.2.2.6! Difficulty!Levels!.......................................................................................................................................................!81!
Chapter.4.Annotations.of.Selected.NineteenthCCentury.French.Canadian.Songs.for.
Solo.Voice.and.Piano...........................................................................................................................87!
4.1! The.Accent&d’insistance.......................................................................................................................89!
4.2! French.Canadian.Pronunciation.....................................................................................................90!
4.3! PreCConfederation...............................................................................................................................92!
4.3.1! “Sol!canadien”!(Canadian!Soil)!arranged!by!Theodore!Frederic!Molt!(1795<1856)!.......!92!
4.3.2! “Le!drapeau!de!Carillon”!(The!Flag!of!Carillon)!by!Charles!Wugk!Sabatier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(1819<1862)!....................................................................................................................................................................!96!
4.3.3! “À!la!claire!fontaine”!(At!the!Clear!Fountain)!arranged!by!Antoine!Dessane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(1826<1873)!....................................................................................................................................................................!99!
4.3.4! “La!huronne”!(The!Huron!Woman)!by!Célestin!Lavigueur!(1831<1885)!..........................!103!
.
.
vi
4.4! Confederation.....................................................................................................................................107!
4.4.1! “Ô!Canada,!mon!pays,!mes!amours”!(O!Canada,!My!Country,!My!Love)!by!Jean<Baptiste!
Labelle!(1825<1898)!................................................................................................................................................!107!
4.4.2! “Écho!malin”!(Devious!Echo)!by!Emmanuel!Blain!de!Saint<Aubin!(1833<1883)!with!
piano!accompaniment!by!Antoine!Dessane!(1826<1873)!.......................................................................!110!
4.5.Late.Nineteenth.Century....................................................................................................................115!
4.5.1! “En!m’ouvrant!ton!coeur”!(Opening!Your!Heart!to!Me)!by!Joseph!Vézina!(1849<1924)
! 115!
4.5.2! “Espagne”!(Spain)!by!Count!of!Premio<Real!(1840<1888)!.......................................................!118!
4.5.3! “Amour!”!(Love)!by!Célestin!Lavigueur!(1831<1885)!................................................................!121!
4.5.4! “Ô!Canada”!(O!Canada)!by!Calixa!Lavallée!(1842<1891)!..........................................................!127!
4.5.5! “Laissez<moi!dormir”!(Let!Me!Sleep)!by!Frantz!Jéhin<Prume!(1839<1899)!.....................!131!
4.5.6! “L’absence”!(Absence)!by!Calixa!Lavallée!(1842<1891)!............................................................!135!
4.5.7! “Vir’!de!bord,!mon!ami!Pierre”!(Tack,!My!Friend!Pierre)!arranged!by!Emmanuel!Blain!
de!Saint<Aubin!(1833<1883)!.................................................................................................................................!139!
4.5.8! “Épanchement”!(Outpouring)!by!Guillaume!Couture!(1851<1915)!.....................................!144!
4.5.9! “Andalouse”!(Andalusian!Woman),!op.!38,!by!Calixa!Lavallée!(1842<1891)!...................!147!
4.5.10! “Le!jour!de!l’an!à!la!campagne”!(New!Year’s!Day!in!the!Country)!by!Nazaire!LeVasseur!
(1848<1927)!.................................................................................................................................................................!150!
4.5.11! “Philosophie”!(Philosophy)!by!Achille!Fortier!(1864<1939)!................................................!155!
4.5.12! “Sérénade!mélancolique”!(Melancholic!Serenade)!by!Ernest!Lavigne!(1851<1909)!.!158!
4.5.13! “Rêverie”!(Daydream)!by!Frantz!Jéhin<Prume!(1839<1899)!...............................................!162!
4.5.14! “L’âme!d’un!ange”!(The!Soul!of!an!Angel)!by!Alexis!Contant!(1858<1918)!....................!165!
4.5.15! “Premier!rayon”!(First!Ray)!by!Ernest!Lavigne!(1851<1909)!..............................................!168!
4.5.16! “À!genoux”!(Kneeling!Down)!Paul<Émile!Prévost!(1864<1908)!.........................................!172!
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................177!
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................180!
Discography........................................................................................................................................192!
Musical.Scores....................................................................................................................................193!
vii
List of Tables
!
TABLE!1:!A!COMPILATION!OF!ANNOTATIONS!USED!IN!FORTY<TWO!VOICE!GUIDES!............................................................................!63!
TABLE!2:!CAROL!KIMBALL’S!COMPONENTS!OF!STYLE!................................................................................................................................!71!
TABLE!3:!LEVEL!OF!DIFFICULTY!ASSESSMENT!GRID!FOR!COMPOSITIONS!FOR!SOLO!VOICE!AND!PIANO!...........................................!73!
TABLE!4:!DIFFICULTY!LEVELS!AND!CORRESPONDING!GRID!SCORES!.......................................................................................................!73!
TABLE!5:!LEVEL!OF!DIFFICULTY!ASSESSMENT!GRID!SCORES!FOR!GRADED!VOCAL!COMPOSITIONS!IN!EXISTING!LITERATURE!....!83!
TABLE!6:!PRONUNCIATION!CHARACTERISTICS!OF!THE!COLLOQUIAL!FORM!OF!FRENCH!CANADIAN!LANGUAGE!.............................!91!
!
viii
List of Figures
FIGURE!1:!MOST!COMMONLY!USED!ANNOTATIONS!IN!VOICE!GUIDES!....................................................................................................!65!
FIGURE!2:!LEAST!COMMONLY!USED!ANNOTATIONS!IN!VOICE!GUIDES!....................................................................................................!66!
FIGURE!3:!APPROXIMATE!HIGH!AND!LOW!TESSITURE!FOR!EACH!VOICE!TYPE!......................................................................................!75!
ix
List of Examples
!
EXAMPLE!1:!ERNEST!LAVIGNE,!“LE!FRAIS!MATIN!DORAIT,”!BARS!13<15!...............................................................................................!35!
EXAMPLE!2:!CALIXA!LAVALLÉE,!“HARMONIE,”!BARS!27<29!....................................................................................................................!40!
EXAMPLE!3:!ERNEST!LAVIGNE,!“LES!PLEURS!DU!BON!DIEU,”!BARS!14<16!............................................................................................!40!
EXAMPLE!4:!HENRI!LAVIGNE,!“POURQUOI!PLAINDRE!LES!MORTS,”!FIRST!SUBSECTION,!BARS!5<6;!SECOND!SUBSECTION,!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BARS!13<14!...........................................................................................................................................................................................!48!
EXAMPLE!5:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“PHILOSOPHIE,”!BARS!10,!31!................................................................................................................!49!
EXAMPLE!6:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“ICI<BAS,”!BARS!5<8!.................................................................................................................................!50!
EXAMPLE!7:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“ICI<BAS,”!BARS!26<29!...........................................................................................................................!50!
EXAMPLE!8:!GUILLAUME!COUTURE,!“ÉPANCHEMENT,”!PIANO!ACCOMPANIMENT!FOR!EACH!SECTION,!BARS!1<2;!14<15;!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
27<28!.....................................................................................................................................................................................................!51!
EXAMPLE!9:!GUILLAUME!COUTURE,!“RÊVERIE,”!BARS!8<10!....................................................................................................................!52!
EXAMPLE!10:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“UN!REGARD,!UN!BAISER,”!BARS!1<11!...............................................................................................!54!
EXAMPLE!11:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“QUI!SAURAIT?”!BARS!23<26!..............................................................................................................!55!
EXAMPLE!12:!PAUL<ÉMILE!PRÉVOST,!“LA!TRÊVE,”!BARS!20<21!............................................................................................................!56!
EXAMPLE!13:!CALIXA!LAVALLÉE,!“ANDALOUSE,”!BARS!17<19!................................................................................................................!56!
EXAMPLE!14:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“MON!BOUQUET,”!BAR!25!....................................................................................................................!57!
EXAMPLE!15:!THEODORE!F.!MOLT,!“SOL!CANADIEN,”!PROSODY!OMISSION!AND!SOLUTION,!BARS!12<13!........................................!96!
EXAMPLE!16:!EMMANUEL!BLAIN!DE!SAINT<AUBIN,!“ÉCHO!MALIN,”!BARS!34<36!............................................................................!114!
EXAMPLE!17:!JOSEPH!VÉZINA,!“EN!M’OUVRANT!TON!COEUR,”!BARS!34<35!.......................................................................................!118!
EXAMPLE!18:!THE!COUNT!OF!PREMIO<REAL,!“ESPAGNE,”!BAR!62!......................................................................................................!121!
EXAMPLE!19:!ACHILLE!FORTIER,!“PHILOSOPHIE,”!BARS!13<14!...........................................................................................................!157!
EXAMPLE!20:!FRANTZ!JÉHIN<PRUME,!“RÊVERIE,”!PROSODY!OMISSION!AND!SOLUTION,!BAR!52!....................................................!165!
EXAMPLE!21:!PAUL<ÉMILE!PRÉVOST,!“À!GENOUX,”!BARS!7<8!..............................................................................................................!176!
x
List of Appendices
!
Appendix!A:!List!of!Nineteenth<Century!French!Canadian!Songs!for!Solo!Voice!and!Piano!....................................!201!
Appendix!B:!Brief!Biographies!of!Nineteenth<Century!French!Canadian!Song!Composers!for!Solo!Voice!!!!!!!!!!
and!Piano!......................................................................................................................................................................................................!206!
Appendix!C:!List!of!Voice!Guides!Used!for!the!Literature!Review!.......................................................................................!210!
Appendix!D:!Level!of!Difficulty!Assessment!Grids!for!Graded!Solo!Vocal!Compositions!in!Existing!!!!!!!!
Literature!.....................................................................................................................................................................................................!213!
Appendix!E:!Level!of!Difficulty!Assessment!Grids!for!French!Canadian!Songs!for!Solo!Voice!and!Piano!..........!243!
Appendix!F:!Glossary!...............................................................................................................................................................................!267!
xi
1
Introduction
Classical singing requires the performer to study a vast body of information drawn from topics as
diverse as foreign languages, anatomy, and physiology of the singing voice, musicianship and
music skills acquisition, music history, aesthetics, and dramatic arts. Within the study of classical
voice, it has become common practice for both voice teachers and performers to consult voice
guides—reference books that offer a deeper understanding of specific pieces within vocal genres.
Voice guides are practical reference tools for the performer and teacher; they offer information
such as vocal requirements specific to a musical tradition, voice type, range, detailed translations
of foreign language texts, and performance comments related to a specific composition. A large
number of voice guides exist that relate to European and American vocal traditions (e.g., The
Interpretation of French Song (1978) by Pierre Bernac, The Spanish Song Companion (1992) by
Jacqueline Cockburn and Richard Stokes); however, there is a paucity of guides devoted to
Canadian solo vocal compositions. The few guides that exist, i.e., A Performer’s Guide to Works
for Soprano Voice by Canadian Women Composers (2001) by Caroline Schiller, and A Singer’s
Overview: Canadian Contemporary Vocal Literature (2007) by Gloria Jean Nagy, focus
primarily on Canadian art song repertoire in English. No performance guides exist that are
dedicated to French Canadian songs.
A large body of French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano has received little attention to
date, due to the fact that it was previously difficult to access; it was, for the most part, only found
in archives. In 2015, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ), where a large
portion of French Canadian songs is preserved, launched its new Web platform BAnQ
numérique, a gateway to all its digital resources accessible to the public. With the digitalization
of a large number of French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, the BAnQ and other
institutions such as Internet Archive or Early Canadiana Online, have enabled the public to easily
access a repertoire for which there previously was only limited access. With ready access to
hundreds of French Canadian compositions, it is now prudent to provide a framework to
introduce these compositions within their historical context, and to guide performers and
teachers in their selection and interpretation. Due to the large volume of French Canadian songs
for solo voice and piano that exist, this research is limited to French Canadian songs of the
nineteenth century—the beginning of the nineteenth century corresponds to the first published
French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano.
2
The present research serves several purposes:

1. To fill the current gap in vocal music literature by creating a guide to French Canadian
songs for solo voice and piano.
2. To demonstrate the pedagogical and performance value of this repertoire, for which there
has been limited knowledge and access.
3. To provide an introduction to French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, and to
guide teachers and performers in their interpretation.
4. To contribute to the preservation of Quebec’s musical heritage by promoting the study
and performance of compositions that might otherwise be forgotten.
Finding existing nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano is a
challenging task, as almost all publishers of this repertoire have disappeared. In order to create
an inventory of nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, research was
conducted at the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec, university and city librairies in
Canada and the United States, the Canadian Music Centre, and online sources (i.e., Internet
Archive, Early Canadiana Online, and Hathi Trust Digital Library). As a result, close to 200
songs by 38 French Canadian composers were compiled; the exhaustive list can be found in
Appendix A. French Canadian composers were defined as either being born in or having lived in
Quebec for a substantial amount of time. For example, the Consulate of Spain in Canada, Count
of Premio-Real, was considered as a French Canadian composer since he lived in Canada for
fourteen years and died in Quebec City in 1888. The inventory of nineteenth-century French
Canadian songs for solo voice and piano found in Appendix A includes only songs set to French
texts, and songs that were unpublished in their time, but that were later published (e.g., “Mon
bouquet” (1892) by Achille Fortier published one hundred years later in The Canadian Musical
Heritage: Songs III to French Texts (1992) edited by Lucien Poirier). All songs have been dated
according to their date of composition, however when unknown, the date of publication was
provided.
Chapter 1 offers a chronological, historical narrative of French Canadian songs for solo voice
and piano taking into consideration the various factors that have informed this unique body of
repertoire, such as the socio-political scene in Canada, shifts in colonial status, French cultural
songs, and the role of the publishing industry in the creation and distribution of these songs.
3
Chapter 2 highlights distinctive characteristics of three dominant vocal genres of the late
nineteenth century (the chansonnette, the romance, and the mélodie), and demonstrates how
these three genres contributed to the development of art song repertoire in Canada.
Chapter 3 presents a literature review of guides specific to compositions for solo voice and piano
in order to determine how this repertoire is annotated and graded in the fields of voice
performance and vocal pedagogy. An assessment grid of twenty-five challenging elements to
determine the difficulty level of compositions for solo voice and piano is devised by the author,
which incorporates elements from Carol Kimball’s list of components of style, J. Arden
Hopkin’s methodology, Christopher Arneson’s sample rubrics, and the author’s own teaching
and performing experience. Each element is assessed and given a numerical value according to
three levels (minimal, moderate, and extensive); the numeric sum corresponds to three possible
levels of difficulty (elementary, intermediate, or advanced). The effectiveness and consistency of
the assessment grid was tested by applying it to thirty graded solo vocal compositions of varying
degrees of difficulty in existing literature. This exercise helped to define the demarcation points
of the three difficulty levels, and revealed that it may also be effective when subjected to
different genres of compositions for solo voice and piano.
Chapter 4 provides annotations for twenty-two French Canadian songs representative of the
different genres of French Canadian solo vocal compositions of the nineteenth century. The
choice of annotations are informed by the literature review conducted in Chapter 3, and each
song has been subjected to the assessment grid to determine its difficulty level. The annotations
are organized chronologically, and each piece presents systematic annotations (e.g., the
composition date, the publisher, the source of the musical score, the voice type if specified, the
vocal range, and the difficulty level), followed by paragraphs of narrated commentary, which
include relevant musical and pedagogical considerations. The annotations of French Canadian
songs serves as an interpretive guide for voice teachers and performers, while helping to
illustrate their pedagogical and performance value.
The Appendices include a list of nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo voice and
piano (Appendix A), brief biographies of nineteenth-century French Canadian song composers
for solo voice and piano (Appendix B), a list of voice guides used for the literature review
(Appendix C), level of difficulty assessment grids for graded solo vocal compositions in existing
4
literature (Appendix D), level of difficulty assessment grids for French Canadian songs for solo
voice and piano (Appendix E), and a glossary (Appendix F).
This guide does not employ the terminology of “art song” to designate nineteenth-century French
Canadian songs for solo voice and piano. Although an art song may be defined as a poem set to
music for voice and piano, art song repertoire is usually tied to specific vocal genres such as the
German Lied or the French mélodie. Given that this research addresses several vocal genres,
such as patriotic or folkloric songs that fall outside the conventional definition of art song, the
more inclusive terminology of “songs or compositions for solo voice and piano” has been used.
The author translated all English song excerpts and French citations that appear in this thesis.
Abbreviations
BAnQ Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
(http://www.banq.qc.ca)
CMH Lucien Poirier, ed., The Canadian Musical Heritage / Le Patrimoine
musical canadien: Vol. 7: Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur
des textes français (Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society /
Société pour le patrimoine musical canadien, 1987)
CMC Canadian Music Centre (http://www.musiccentre.ca)
ECO Early Canadiana Online (http://eco.canadiana.ca)
IA Internet Archive (http://archive.org)

Chapter 1
A Historical Narrative of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian
Songs for Solo Voice and Piano
The nineteenth century marked the beginnings of a flourishing and rich musical life in Quebec.
Expert in French Canadian literature, Micheline Cambron explains that at the end of the
nineteenth century, Montreal’s cultural life was “far from the desert that we willingly imagine. It
is, on the contrary, effervescent, marked by a reorganization of musical and theatrical life,
invigorated by the presence of artists fascinated by a diversity of aesthetic approaches and
1
intersected by great polemics.” This chapter introduces a body of repertoire for which little
attention has thus far been received; that is, nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo
voice and piano, which belongs to what Cambron qualifies as a “largely under-valued cultural
2
life.” This chapter presents a historical narrative of these songs, taking into consideration the
various factors that have informed this unique body of repertoire, such as the socio-political
scene in Canada, shifts in colonial status, French cultural heritage and preservation, French
Canadian nationalism, European musical trends, folkloric songs, and the role of the publishing
industry in the creation and distribution of these songs.
The historical narrative of nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano
serves two functions: introducing a body of repertoire for which there was previously limited
knowledge and access, and helping performers understand French Canadian songs within their
artistic and historical context. Several questions were used to situate the songs within their
cultural contexts: Is it the first song of its kind in Quebec? Is the song part of a larger artistic
trend? What are important musical elements of a particular vocal genre, and when did this vocal
genre develop? Who published vocal compositions? Who was the target audience? Did a specific
song play a political or social role? What other songs were composed during the same period?
For example, at first glance, “À la claire fontaine” appears to be a simple folkloric song with a
1
Micheline Cambron, “L’effervescence d’une fin de siècle,” in La Vie culturelle à Montréal vers 1900, ed.
Micheline Cambron (Canada: Les Éditions Fides and la Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, 2005), 15.
2
Cambron, “L’effervescence d’une fin de siècle,” 15.
6
trivial subject. However, when looking at its history, this piece played an integral part in French
Canadian nationalism and acted as a national anthem for French Canadians throughout the
nineteenth century. This piece also evolved differently in Canada and in France; therefore, two
different versions existed during the same time period in both countries, as noted by the French
3
composer Antoine Dessane. With this information, the performer might choose to program “À
la claire fontaine” alongside other patriotic songs, or to perform both French and French
Canadian versions of the song.
There are two main challenges in asserting a historical narrative of nineteenth-century French
Canadian songs for solo voice and piano. First, there exists no exhaustive list or history specific
to this repertoire, and second, several scores have been misplaced, gone missing, or have been
4
destroyed. To date, the anthologies Songs II and Songs III to French Texts, edited by noted
Canadian musicologist Lucien Poirier, present the most informative literature that exists on
French Canadian vocal compositions. Even though these anthologies provide a partial list of
French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, and a general overview of the different types of
vocal genres found in the nineteenth century, they present only a limited number of
compositions, with few details regarding the various factors that have informed this unique body
of repertoire, and offer little performance insight.
The present historical narrative offers a chronological overview of nineteenth-century French

Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, divided into three periods: Pre-Confederation,
Confederation, and Post-Confederation. The historical narrative describes important factors that
have shaped French Canadian solo vocal compositions, and present a variety of vocal genres
found in nineteenth-century French Canada: patriotic, folkloric, comical, political, and holiday
songs.
3
See Appendix B.
4
Lucien Poirier, ed., The Canadian musical heritage / Le Patrimoine musical canadien: Vol. 7: Songs II to French
Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français (Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society / Société pour le patrimoine
musical canadien, 1987); Lucien Poirier, ed., The Canadian musical heritage / Le Patrimoine musical canadien:
Vol. 12: Songs III to French Texts / Chansons III sur des textes français (Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage
Society / Société pour le patrimoine musical canadien, 1992).
7
1.1 Pre-Confederation
1.1.1 The Earliest Songs for Solo Voice and Piano in Canada
French Canadian compositions for solo voice and piano emerged at approximately the same time
that pianos became more widely available in Canada. Musician and composer Frederick
Glackemeyer imported the first fortepianos into Canada in 1788; he later imported grand pianos.
One of the first piano builders in Canada was Frederic Hund, who had a shop in Quebec City
around 1816. Identifying the first French Canadian composition for solo voice and piano is not
an easy task, since many songs have been lost and many prints are undated. According to Poirier,
the earliest scores of French Canadian compositions for solo voice and piano are “Chanson
patriotique” (Patriotic Song), an arrangement of Thomas Arne’s “Rule Britannia” that may be
5
attributed to Cécile Lagueux, and two songs by Frederick Glackemeyer, “En roulant ma boule
6
roulant” (Rolling My Ball Rolling) and “Mon père a fait faire un étang” (My Father Had a Pond
Made). Although the surviving prints are undated, Poirier indicates that these three songs may be
dated close to 1817. The first published French Canadian song was perhaps “Sol canadien”
7 8
(Canadian Soil) with music by Théodore Frederic Molt, and may be dated as far back as 1833.
The exact date of composition, however, is unknown since the original score is undated. The first
dated score of a French Canadian song published with piano accompaniment was “Le dépit
amoureux” (The Amorous Rancor) (1840), with text and melody by Napoléon Aubin and piano
9
accompaniment by Charles Sauvageau.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, printed songs were scarce, as the music publishing
industry was still in its infancy. As historian Odette Vincent explains, “at the beginning of the
5
See Appendix B.
6
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xiii, xix-xx.
7
See Appendix B.
8
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xiv; Le Solitaire, “Romance,” L’Ami du
peuple, de l’ordre et des lois 8, no. 57 (5 February 1840): 1, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2031501.
Poirier states possible years of composition 1833 or between 1841 and 1849 for “Sol canadien.” The “Romance” by
Le Solitaire published in 1840 was intended to be sung on the air “Sol canadien, terre chérie,” which helps
corroborate a date of composition anterior to 1840.
9
See Appendix B.
8
nineteenth century, professional musicians are still rare, music publishers, and music teaching is
10
not widespread.” Scores of songs did not include any publishing information (e.g., “Chanson
patriotique,” which may be attributed to Cécile Lagueux) or included only the typesetting or
typographical printing company (e.g., “Le dépit amoureux” by Napoléon Aubin and Charles
Sauvageau, printed by N. Aubin & W. H. Rowen) or included imprints that revealed the songs to
be self-published (e.g., “Sol canadien” published by Theodore Frederic Molt).
1.1.2 Patriotic Songs and Colonial Shifts

The majority of the first printed compositions for solo voice and piano were patriotic songs,
which celebrated and promoted French Canadian culture and heritage: for example, “Chanson
patriotique,” “Sol canadien,” and “Chant canadien” (Canadian Song) (1843) by Charles
Sauvageau. In these songs, French Canadians referred to themselves as Canadiens and to their
land as Canada. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the French colony established around
the St. Lawrence River was called Canada. After the defeat of France by England in the Seven
Year’s War (1756-1763), the territory known as Canada was renamed “Province of Quebec”;
however, the British Empire kept the term Canadiens to designate the French population that had
been living in the territory since the beginning of the seventeenth century. The term Canadiens is
important in nineteenth-century songs as it is closely linked to questions of French Canadian
identity and nationalism.
The first French Canadian patriotic songs depicted the establishment of the new British regime in
Canada, which now governed the French colony. Odette Vincent explains, “The handover of the
colony to England leads to the arrival of a new political elite, now British . . . Until the Canadian
Confederation, British regiments settle in Canada, taking with them their music corps . . .
[which] participate in theatre performances or supply musicians to orchestras at the occasion of
11
rare concerts or organized balls.” For example, “Chanson patriotique” is a French translation
by Joseph Quesnel of a few stanzas of the British patriotic song “Rule Britannia.” The music is
set to Thomas Arne’s original melody of 1740, with the exception of the bass line, which may be
10
Odette Vincent, La vie musicale au Québec: art lyrique, musique classique et contemporaine (Saint-Nicolas, QC:
Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2000), 25.
11
Vincent, La vie musicale au Québec, 22-23.
9
12
attributed to Cécile Lagueux. According to Poirier, “Rule Britannia” and “God Save the King”
were performed in both French and English in Canada on a number of public occasions towards
13
the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Another patriotic song that
14
reflects the British regime is “Sol canadien,” an arrangement by Theodore Frederic Molt of
Joseph-Isidore Bédard’s poem “Sol canadien! Terre chérie!” published in the Quebec Gazette of
1829 as French Canadians’ first national anthem (see Annotation 4.3.1, Chapter 4).
As stated in the Recueil de chansons canadiennes et françaises (Collection of Canadian and

French Songs), Bédard’s poem reflects the state of mind of French Canadians of the time,
“subjected to the British regime, despite the fact that the oligarchy who governed them contested
15
their loyalty every day, they abhorred any idea of annexation by the United States.” The lines
of the poem read:
Respecte la main protectrice Respect the protective hand
D’Albion ton digne soutien Of Albion, your worthy support
…Si d’Albion la main chérie . . . If of Albion the dear hand
Cesse un jour de te protéger, Ceases one day to protect you,
Soutiens-toi seule, ô ma patrie! Stand up for yourself, o my motherland!
Méprise un secours étranger. Despise a foreign help.
It is not surprising to discover that the earliest accounts of French Canadian patriotic songs
praised the British regime. In the article “Premières réactions des vaincus de 1760 devant leur
vainqueurs,” (First Reactions of the Defeated of 1760 in Front of Their Victors), Michel Brunet
explains the state of mind of the conquered French population:
It appears that many Canadiens . . . were pleased with the “change of domination.” Fearing
the worst, the conquered discovered, not without astonishment, that the conqueror treated
them with benevolence. The excess of fear that they had experienced largely explains their
quasi-spontaneous submission at the beginning of the English occupation.16
12
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xiii.
13
Ibid.
14
The original score indicates, “The music is arranged by T. F. Molt,” which suggests that the melody of the song
may be attributed to Joseph-Isidore Bédard.
15
Recueil de chansons canadiennes et françaises (Montréal: John Lovell, 1859), 341, http://eco.canadiana.ca/
view/oocihm.39821/3?r=0&s=1.
16
Michel Brunet, “Premières réactions des vaincus de 1760 devant leur vainqueurs,” Revue d’histoire de
l’Amérique française 6, no. 4 (1953): 515, http://www.erudit.org/revue/haf/1953/v6/n4/301550ar.html?vue=resume.
10
Nevertheless, during the 1830s, a series of events triggered tensions between French Canadians
17
living in Lower Canada and English colonies living in Upper Canada. After fifteen years of
political struggle to obtain justice for French Canadians, Louis-Joseph Papineau’s democratic
pleas to establish a government responsible to its electors were rejected by London. On 21 May
1832, a fight between supporters of the English Party and a group of Patriotes ended in the
shooting of three French Canadians. The same year, the Carrick, an Irish ship filled with
immigrants, reached Quebec and spread an epidemic of cholera, claiming more than nine
thousand lives, of which more than half were from Lower Canada, which was mainly populated
18
by Canadiens. As a result, several Canadiens blamed Britain and its immigration policy for
their misfortune. These events, coupled with an economic depression hitting the farming
industry, led to the Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 organized by the Patriotes. Historian Fernand
Ouellet explains that during this period, several French Canadians viewed the British
government as a suppressor: “They [Canadiens] were convinced that the British government and
its supporters intended to abolish French language, Catholic religion, and French civil law, and
19
furthermore to seize their farms for the benefit of immigrants.” The patriotic song “Chant
canadien” by Charles Sauvageau exemplifies the new state of mind of French Canadians after the
events of the 1830s. The text by Mr. J. P. Plamondon does not make any reference to the British
Empire, but rather praises Canada, its French-speaking residents, the Canadiens, and their
patron, Saint John the Baptist.
1.1.3 The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society and Nationalism

On 24 June 1834, during a banquet reuniting important figures of the time, journalist and patriot
Ludger Duvernay founded the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society to stimulate a nationalist spirit among
French Canadians and to promote their cultural heritage. On the same occasion, the holiday
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day was instituted to revive the ancient French tradition of celebrating the
17
In 1791, Britain divided the Province of Quebec into Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) and Lower Canada
(present-day Quebec).
18
Don Gillmor and Pierre Turgeon, Canada: A People’s History Volume 1 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd,
2000), 224.
19
Fernand Ouellet, Lower Canada 1791-1840: Social Change and Nationalism (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart
Limited, 1980), 287.
11
summer solstice and Saint John the Baptist. Michel Brunet explains the impetus behind this
nationalist movement:
Nevertheless, they [Canadiens] kept, to a certain extent, the illusion of continuing the work
of France in America. For them, Canada had not disappeared. It was the country that they
had always known, the kingdom that their ancestors had founded, the native land that they
had always defended against invaders. Canada, in a word, was their motherland . . .
Canadiens knew they formed the vast majority of the population and everything indicated
that it would always remain that way . . . Canadiens did not doubt that, sooner or later, they
would regain control of politics and economy in the country, which they still considered to
be their own motherland.20 !
As noted Canadian musicologist Gordon Smith explains, French Canadian historians, literary
figures, and politicians turned to the past to uncover their roots and define their identity:
Following the 1837-38 rebellion, French Canadians felt conquered for a second time, and
in a position of economic, political, and social inferiority vis-à-vis their Anglophone
counterparts. Faced with a closer prospect of assimilation and a need to cope with their
sense of humiliation, French Canadians turned to their past.”21
The patriotic song “Notre religion, notre langue, nos moeurs et nos lois: Chant national” (Our
Religion, Our Language, Our Customs, and Our Laws: National Song), composed by Mr. and
22
Mrs. Louis A. Olivier between 1862 and 1864, illustrates the desire of the French Canadians of
the time to preserve and defend their identity and culture from the threat of assimilation. The
poem reads, “The language of our mother . . . May we always keep . . . This is our heritage / By
our sons may it be kept.” “La montréalaise” (The Montrealer) (1858) by Sabatier echoes the
same ideas, “Of our old mother [France] / Let’s keep the language and the Faith [Catholicism].”
23 24
“Chant patriotique” (Patriotic Songs) (1868), with poem and music by Célestin Lavigueur,
speaks specifically about the threat of assimilation:
20
Michel Brunet, Canadians et Canadiens: Études sur l’histoire et la pensée des deux Canadas (Montreal: Fides,
1954), 18-19.
21
Gordon E. Smith, “Ernest Gagnon on Nationalism and Canadian Music: Folk and Native Sources,” Canadian
Folk Music Journal 17 (1989): 32-33, https://journals.lib.unb.ca/ index.php/MC/article/download/21739/25228.
22
See Appendix B.
23
Bourget, Célestin Lavigueur, 126.
24
See Appendix B.
12
Devant l’Anglais, triomphant sur In front of the British, who triumphed on

ton fleuve, your river,
Tu sus garder le plus noble maintien. You sought to keep the noblest of stances.
Lorsque plus tard, une clameur inique When later, an iniquitous clamour
Contre ta langue et ta foi s’éleva, Rose against your language and your faith,
Tu sus trouver dans ta valeur antique, You sought to find in your antique value,
Un héroïsme ardent qui les sauva. An ardent heroism that saved them.
A large source of contention for French Canadians came from Lord Durham’s Report on the
Affairs of British North America, which stated: “There can hardly be conceived a nationality
more destitute of all that can invigorate and elevate a people, than that which is exhibited by the
descendants of the French in Lower Canada, owing to their retaining their peculiar language and
25
manners. They are a people with no history, and no literature.” In response to Lord Durham’s
report, French Canadians founded organizations such as the Institut canadien in 1844 to serve as
a forum to advocate French Canadian patriotism and culture. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society,
which was at the heart of French Canadian nationalism, had a motto, “Nos institutions, notre
langue et nos droits” (Our institutions, our language and our rights), a green, white, and red flag
(the same colours as the Patriots’ flag), as well as an emblem, the maple leaf, which represented
the destiny of the French Canadian people. It sought to popularize and glorify, in a quasi-
mythological manner, important events and figures of French Canadian history. Periodicals such
as Les soirées canadiennes and Le Foyer canadien also promoted nationalist issues.
The majority of compositions for solo voice and piano published during this period were
patriotic songs that advocated French Canadian nationalism. For example, “Le drapeau de
Carillon” (The Flag of Carillon) (1858) by Charles Wugk Sabatier with poem by Octave
Crémazie commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of the victory of Louis-Joseph de
Montcalm, commander in chief of French forces in Canada, over the British troops at Fort
Carillon (today Ticonderaga, NY) on 8 July 1758 (see Annotation 4.3.2, Chapter 4). The
legendary Flag of Carillon, which is said to have been waved by Montcalm’s troops after their
victory, is celebrated, although not without a sense of painful nostalgia: “O Carillon, I see you
again, / Alas no more! as I did in those blessed days.” Composer Antoine Dessane also set to
music Crémazie’s poem, “Le drapeau de Carillon” in 1861; in his version, the text is set to a
25
Earl of Durham, Report on the Affairs of British North America (Ottawa: s.n., 1839), 95.
http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.32374/95?r=0&s=1.
13
duple meter and the melody covers twice the range of Sabatier’s version (close to two octaves).
Dessane also wrote a song specifically for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, “La chanson de la Saint-
26
Jean-Baptiste” (The Song of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day). “Les couleurs du Canada” (The Colours
27
of Canada) (1858) by Romain-Octave Pelletier is another song that references the battle of
Carillon and that of the Plains of Abraham, raising Montcalm and Salaberry to the status of
national heroes. The poem by Adolphe de Puisbusque, a French writer who visited Canada, was
dedicated to the president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, and was read on Saint-Jean-
Baptiste Day 1858 in Montreal. Another patriotic song closely tied to the Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Society was “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” (O Canada, My Country, My Love) (pre-
28 29
1868) by Jean-Baptiste Labelle, set to a poem by George-Étienne Cartier (see Annotation
4.4.1, Chapter 4). According to historian Louis-Phillippe Turcotte, Cartier first sang his poem to
an existing French song during the second banquet of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Association (later
30
Society) on 24 June 1835 in Montreal. Other examples of patriotic songs that ascribed to
French Canadian nationalism include “La frontière” (The Border) (1857) by Guillaume Fleury
31
D’Eschambault, “Chant du vieux soldat canadien” (Song of the Old Canadian Soldier) (1855-
32
56), and “La mère canadienne” (The Canadian Mother) (1862) by Antoine Dessane.
Not all early French Canadian songs were patriotic; two of the earliest French Canadian songs
were romances, light pieces with sentimental subject and simple melody. “Le dépit amoureux”
(1840) by Napoléon Aubin and Charles Sauvageau was one of the first romances composed in
Canada. The poem speaks of love and fidelity, and is set to a strophic form, the predominant
26
L’Album musical 3 (March 1882): 15, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_04149.
27
See Appendix B.
28
In Le Passe-Temps (1 October 1874), Gustave Comte dates the song to 1874, but this is incorrect since Labelle’s
version was performed on 7 Jan 1868 at City Hall in Montreal.
29
See Appendix B.
30
Stephen C. Willis, “Ô Canada! mon pays! mes amours!,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada,
2013), www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/en/article/o-canada-mon-pays-mes-amours-emc.
31
See Appendix B.
32
Dessane set “La mère canadienne” to the same music of his song “Le drapeau de Carillon,” composed a year
earlier.
14
musical form during the nineteenth century. Another early romance was “Soupirs d’amour”
33
(Sighs of Love) (1849) by Eugène L’Écuyer. These two romances were precursors of their
time, as the romance would only develop thirty years later in French Canada.
1.1.4 The Development of the Music Publishing Industry

The second half of the nineteenth century marked the development of the music publishing
industry in Canada, and with it, the publication of several compositions for solo voice and piano.
One of the first music publishers was J. & O. Crémazie, founded by two brothers, Joseph and
Octave Crémazie, in Quebec City in 1844. Until the company’s dissolution in 1862, J. & O.
Crémazie published several compositions for solo voice and piano, including “Chant du vieux
soldat canadien” by Antoine Dessane, “L’alouette” (The Lark) (1858) by Charles Wugk Sabatier,
and the collection of folksong arrangements Chants canadiens (Canadian Songs) (1856) by
34
Josette Desbarats. Another of Canada’s earliest music publishers was John Lovell, an Irish
immigrant who founded a company bearing his name in Montreal in 1835. The company was
first and foremost dedicated to the printing of periodicals and newspapers, but it also published a
small number of pieces for solo voice and piano such as “La montréalaise” by Charles Wugk
Sabatier and “Les couleurs du Canada” by Romain-Octave Pelletier. Between 1862 and 1864,
Laurent, Laforce & Cie (later Boucher & Manseau) published several songs by French and
French Canadian composers as part of their series Lyre Canadienne. The series featured French
Canadian songs “Notre religion, notre langue, nos moeurs et nos lois” by Louis Auguste Olivier
35
(No.1) and “La mansarde” (The Attic Room) by Calixa Lavallée (No.5). In 1864, Boucher &
Manseau became Adélard J. Boucher, the most important publisher of sheet music in Quebec in
the nineteenth century. Other publishers of French Canadian compositions for solo voice and
36
piano included Sénécal and Georges E. Desbarats. Scores were not exclusively printed by
music publishers; for instance, composer Antoine Dessane had his own lithographic workshop in
33
See Appendix B.
34
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xiv. The score of Chants canadiens is
undated and anonymous, however Poirier attributes the arrangements to Josette Desbarats (see Appendix B), and
dates the score to the year 1856.
35
See Appendix B.
36
Also known as Senécal & Daniel, Senécal, Daniel & Cie, and Eusèbe Senécal.
15
Quebec City and printed a few of his compositions, including “Le chant des voyageurs” (The
Song of the Travelers) and “La mère canadienne.”
With the development of the publishing industry in Canada, the first periodicals dedicated to arts
and literature appeared, which occasionally featured French Canadian vocal compositions. In
1862 and 1863, the Montreal-based periodical Écho du cabinet de lecture paroissial, which was
mostly dedicated to religion, history, and arts, published several songs by French Canadian
37
composers, including “La huronne” (The Huron Woman) (1861) and “Le nom de ma soeur”
(The Name of My Sister) (1863) by Célestin Lavigueur, and “Je me voyais au milieu de ma
38
course” (I Saw Myself in the Middle of My Journey) (1862) by Ernest Gagnon. The Écho du
cabinet de lecture paroissial also published the first songs by a French Canadian women
composer, “L’exilé de là-bas!” (The Exiled from Over There!) (1862) and “Servante et reine”
39
(Servant and Queen) (1863) by Mrs. Blain de St-Aubin.
1.1.5 Folksongs and Nationalism

The nineteenth century saw the emergence of a nationalist musical movement in European
countries alongside political movements for independence. The movement was “marked by an
emphasis on nationalist elements in music such as folksongs, folk dances, folk rhythms or on
40
subjects for operas and symphonic poems which reflected nationalist life or history.” In 1852,
Hippolyte Fortoul, the French minister of public education, spearheaded a project to collect and
publish all the folksongs of France. The following year, Jean-Jacques Ampère published the
results of the project in a book entitled Instructions relatives aux poésies populaires de la
37
Magdeleine A. Bourget, Célestin Lavigueur: musicien et poète, 1831-1885: incursion dans la vie culturelle de
Québec au XIXe siècle (Québec: Les Éditions de la Huit, 2005), 84-88. Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin sang “La
huronne” on 28 November 1861 with Célestin Lavigueur at the piano.
38
See Appendix B.
39
Charlotte-Euphémie Rhéaume, spouse-to-be of composer Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin (their wedding took
place on 22 November 1864). See Appendix B.
40
Oxford Music Online, “Nationalism in Music,” (Oxford University Press, 2007-2016),
www.oxfordmusiconline.com.
16
41
France (Guide to the Popular Poetry of France) that presented the melody of each folksong
collected with a commentary. A few months later, parts of the book were published in Canada in
the Journal de Québec of 27, 29, and 31 December 1853, and of 10 January 1854. In the same
spirit of the work undertaken in France, Hubert LaRue published Les chansons populaires et
historiques du Canada (Popular and Historical Songs of Canada) in Le Foyer Canadien in
42
1863. LaRue’s collection of folksongs was not the first of its kind in Canada: an earlier
collection of French Canadian folksongs was Le Chansonnier des collèges (The School Song
Book) published by the Bureau de l’Abeille in 1850; however, its primary objective was not the
preservation and study of folksongs. In Les chansons populaires et historiques du Canada,
LaRue presented a detailed commentary of each folksong, with its text and its different
variations, but without including any musical notation. LaRue convinced Ernest Gagnon to
transcribe the melodies of the folksongs he had collected. Two years later, Gagnon published
43
Chansons populaires du Canada (Popular Songs of Canada), a compilation of folksongs
presented with melody, but without piano accompaniment. Gagnon explained:
. . . harmony is not and has never been the reality of the people. Let us say nevertheless, in
closing, that harmony must be added to folksongs only with much tact and taste; that, very
often, it hinders the movement and rhythm, that is when it does not completely destroy the
modality; and that, in the present conditions of science, it is preferable, more often, that
harmony not appear at all.44
In the same spirit of preservation and celebration of French Canadian heritage adopted by the
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society thirty years earlier, Gagnon’s work on folksongs was tied to his
larger goal, which aimed to define the identity of French Canadians by uncovering their roots.
He explained, “It has always been my belief that the ‘discovery’ of our roots would help
41
Instructions relatives aux poésies populaires de la France (Paris: Imprimerie Impériale, 1853),
https://archive.org/details/instructionsrela00fran.
42
François-Alexandre-Hubert LaRue, “Les chansons populaires et historiques du Canada,” Le Foyer Canadien
(November/December 1863): 321-384, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_06433.
43
Ernest Gagnon, Chansons populaires du Canada: recueillies et publiées avec annotations, etc (Québec: G. E.
Desbarats, 1865), http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.48455/5?r=0&s=1.
44
Ibid., 349.
17
45
establish a sense of national identity.” As folksongs were omnipresent in French Canada’s
daily life, it seems natural that a portion of nineteenth-century French Canadian compositions for
solo voice and piano were arrangements of folksongs. In 1856, J. & O. Crémazie published
Chants canadiens, one of the first collections of folksongs with piano accompaniment. The
collection contained seven folksongs set to their original melodies, with a simple piano
accompaniment by Josette Desbarats. As is typical of folksongs, all songs except “Légèrement,
gai, gaiement” (Lightly, Merry, Merrily), which contains one stanza only, follow a strophic form,
in which all stanzas are sung to the same music, and alternate with a refrain (with the exception
of “Catin, catin, belle catin!” (Doll, Doll, Beautiful Doll!)). In 1861, Antoine Dessane, a French
musician and composer who had immigrated to Canada in 1849, published an arrangement of “À
la claire fontaine” (At the Clear Fountain) with the subtitle “Comme on la chante en France” (As
We Sing it in France) (see Annotation 4.3.3, Chapter 4). Several folksongs such as “À la claire
fontaine” had been brought to Canada by French settlers in the seventeenth century, and had
undergone transformations during more than two centuries, both in France and in Canada.
French Canadian composer Léo-Pol Morin noted, “[French folklore] has undergone in Canada a
certain transformation, both in terms of lyrics and melody. And the songs we find in France are
46
sung in Canada on completely different tunes and are of Canadian inspiration.” This explains
why Dessane’s arrangement of “À la claire fontaine” shares little resemblance, except for the
poetic lines of the stanzas, with Josette Desbarats’ arrangement of the same song published five
years earlier in Chants canadiens. In 1882, “À la claire fontaine” was described as belonging to
“old songs that came from the motherland, France, that became popular, and that have, so to
47
speak, become naturalized amongst [French Canadians].”
Other pieces such as “La huronne” (1861) by Célestin Lavigueur and “Le chant des voyageurs”
(1862) by Antoine Dessane were inspired by themes drawn from French Canadian folklore and
45
Ernest Gagnon’s letter to Marius Barbeau (8 August 1911), in Gordon Smith, “Ernest Gagnon on Nationalism
and Canadian Music: Folk and Native Sources,” Canadian Folk Music Journal 17 (1989): 32,
https://journals.lib.unb.ca/ index.php/MC/article/download/21739/25228.
46
Léo-Pol Morin, Papiers de musique (Montreal: Librairie d’action canadienne-française, 1930), 133,
http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2022069.
47
Nouvelle Lyre Canadienne: Recueil de chansons canadiennes et françaises (Montreal: Chapeleau & Labelle,
1882), 3, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t80k3fv50;view=1up;seq=2.
18
were performed during patriotic celebrations. French Canadian folklore was informed by an
awareness of First Nations people, and informed by particular attitudes towards them. The
subject of Lavigueur’s “La huronne,” which celebrates Huron women and their tribe, was
described as “national” in Écho du cabinet de lecture paroissial, which published the piece on 3
January 1862 (see Annotation 4.3.4, Chapter 4). Writer Magdeleine Bourget indicates that the
tribe of Ancienne-Lorette (today the Huron-Wendat) adopted the song as their national anthem,
48
and that numerous bands played the song during official celebrations. “Le chant des
voyageurs,” set to a text by Octave Crémazie, paints the life of the first French settlers in North
America, who “braved thunder and storms” and “watched the shadows of the Algonquins and
Iroquois pass.” The song was performed on the occasion of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on 25 June
1862.
1.1.6 Comical Songs

In parallel to patriotic and folkloric songs, French Canadian composer Emmanuel Blain de Saint-
49
Aubin published three pieces with comical subjects: “Bavards et bavardes” (Gossipy Men and
50 51
Women) (between 1858-1865), “Écho malin” (Devious Echo) (1864-1871), and “Vir’ de
bord, mon ami Pierre” (Tack, My Friend Pierre) (1882).
The poem of “Écho malin,” written by Blain de Saint-Aubin, presents a humorous take on the
dangers of gossiping (see Annotation 4.4.2, Chapter 4). The fast changing tempo, filled with a
tempo and ritenuto markings, helps render the effect of a mischievous rumor. “Écho malin”
gained popularity in English Canada, as evidenced by the Canadian Illustrated News:
48
49
See Appendix B.
50
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xxii. The original score is undated.
However, Poirier estimates the date of composition between 1858-1865.
51
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xxi; “New Music Received,” The
Canadian Illustrated News IV, no. 27 (30 December 1871): 426, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/
oocihm.8_06230. The original score is undated; however, Poirier estimates the date of composition between 1864-
1873. The listing of “Écho malin” under “New Music Received” in 1871 suggests that the song was composed in or
prior to 1871.
19
[“Écho malin”] was produced amid great applause at the St. Alban’s and Gowan’s Hall
Readings. The song has been translated into English and is equally charming in both
languages. We are under a great obligation to the author for this very agreeable addition to
our repertoire and have much pleasure in recommending it to our musical friends.”52
53
Another composer who wrote a comical piece was Ernest Lavigne; his song “Premier rayon”
(First Rays) (ca. 1896) depicts a humorous commentary on a spring romance.
1.2 Confederation
1.2.1 Towards a Unification of English and French Colonies
In the period leading to Confederation, the attitude of French Canadians towards the English
colony changed, as Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine worked hard to obtain responsible government
for French Canadians. According to him, the first step was to recognize that the Act of Union,
recommended by Lord Durham, was faulty:
The Union of the two provinces was originally devised in order to annihilate the French
Canadians, but things have changed since then . . . The author of this measure made a
mistake. He wanted to lay low a whole category of citizens, because of their origin. But the
facts today show that people of all origins are on equal footing.’54
La Fontaine’s second step was to promote the union of Upper and Lower Canada, which he
viewed as the only way to establish a government that would allow French Canadians to control
their own affairs. He won such a government in 1848 and became the first Prime Minister of the
United Province of Canada.
George-Étienne Cartier, a supporter of La Fontaine, continued working to promote the federation

of the provinces in North America. He realized that French Canadians were now outnumbered
and that their interests would be better served in a federative state, where education and justice
would be dependent on a local legislature. Serving as a co-premier with John A. MacDonald,
Cartier participated in the formation of a coalition ministry in 1864 to push forward the
52
Canadian Illustrated News V, no. 12 (23 March 1872): 182, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/
oocihm.8_06230.
53
See Appendix B.
54
Gillmor and Turgeon, Canada: A People’s History, 249.
20
confederation of all the colonies of British North America. On 7 Feb. 1865, Cartier declared, “If
we unite, we will form a political nationality independent of the national origin and religion of
55
individuals.” In April 1865, Cartier presented the plan for federalism to the government in
London, and after a series of conferences and negotiations, the federal Dominion of Canada was
formed on July 1, 1867.
The song “La montréalaise” by Sabatier exemplifies the frame of mind of French Canadians in
the period leading to Confederation:
Le Canada, terre chérie Canada, our cherished land
Doit pour tous, Anglais et Français, Must for all, English and French,
Devenir la seule Patrie Become the sole motherland
Qui pour nos fils ait des attraits. May it appeal to our sons.
Travaillons pour que notre histoire May we work together so that our history
Burine cette oeuvre de gloire ! Engraves this work of glory!
The resentment that French Canadians had felt for English colonies since the 1830s was now
replaced by a will to unite and work together to obtain a federative state. As part of the
Confederation celebrations, the existing patriotic song, “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” by
Jean-Baptiste Labelle, was performed at the premiere of the composer’s cantata, The
Confederation, on 7 January 1868 at Montreal’s City Hall, in front of 4,000 people including
George-Étienne Cartier.
1.2.2 The Copyright Act

In the same period as Confederation, the Parliament of Canada passed the Copyright Act of 1868
(later the Copyright Act of 1875), which secured copyright for registered musical compositions
for a period of 28 years, with an option to extend for an additional fourteen years. After the
Copyright Act was passed, scores were published with the inscription “in accordance with the
Parliament of Canada Act, at the office of the Minister of Agriculture, in Ottawa” (e.g., “La foi,
l’espérance et la charité” (1875) by Napoléon Crépault, and “Vive la France” (Long Live France)
(1884) by Ernest Lavigne). Publishers also registered scores published prior to the Copyright
Act. For example, “La huronne,” published in 1862, was registered by Lavigueur & Hutchison in
55
Jean-Charles Bonenfant, “Sir George-Étienne Cartier,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 10 (1871-
1880) (University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 –), www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cartier_george_etienne_10E.html.
21
1894. A small number of French Canadian compositions were registered in the United States,
under the Act of Congress. The collection of songs Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le
Comte de Premio-Real (Sixteen Mélodies for Voice and Piano by the Count of Premio-Real) was
registered both by Arthur Lavigne at the Minister of Agriculture in Canada and by S. T. Gordon
& Son at the office of the Librarian of Congress in Washington in 1879.
1.3 Post-Confederation
1.3.1 Music Stores and Periodicals Dedicated to Music
After Confederation, music stores flourished in the province of Quebec, and constituted one of
the most important sources of French Canadian printed music. In 1868, Arthur Lavigne opened a
music store in Quebec City and published several compositions for solo voice and piano by
French Canadian composers Ernest Lavigne, Napoléon Crépault, Calixa Lavallée, and the Count
56
of Premio-Real. Arthur Lavigne was also the first publisher of “Ô Canada” (O Canada) (1880)
by Calixa Lavallée. From 1881 to 1891, Arthur’s brother, the composer Ernest Lavigne, co-
owned a music store in Montreal with Louis-Joseph Lajoie, and together they published more
than 50 French Canadian pieces under Lavigne & Lajoie. Ernest Lavigne was also one of the
most prolific song composers in his time—writing a total of 81 songs during his lifetime. In
1885, Edmond Hardy opened a music store in Montreal and published vocal compositions by
French Canadian composers Charles Wugk Sabatier, Calixa Lavallée, Achille Fortier, and Alexis
57
Contant, until the store’s dissolution in 1925. In 1892, Henri-Edgar Lavigueur (son of
composer Célestin Lavigeur) partnered with Alfred Hutchison and opened a music store in
Quebec City. Lavigueur & Hutchison published a small number of French Canadian songs,
including “La huronne” by Célestin Lavigueur.
After Confederation, periodicals dedicated to musical life multiplied, in which several French
Canadian compositions for solo voice and piano were published. From 1866 to 1867, and from
1875 to 1881, Adélard J. Boucher published the periodical Le Canada musical, revue artistique
et littéraire, which reported musical life in Canada and in Europe. The periodical published
56
See Appendix B.
57
Ibid.
22
several scores, most of which were songs by French and Belgian composers, although two were
by French Canadian composers: “Le drapeau de Carillon” by Charles Wugk Sabatier and “Rien
n’est si beau que mon couvent” (Nothing is More Beautiful Than My Convent) (1878) by Jean-
Baptiste Labelle. In 1872, the periodical Album de la Minerve published “Chanson du jour de
l’an” by Jean-Baptiste Labelle. From 1881 to 1884, Artistide Filiatreault published the periodical
L’Album musical, which featured several French Canadian solo vocal compositions, including
“L’absence” (Absence) (1881) by Calixa Lavallée, “Ô ma charmante” (O My Charming One)
58
(1882) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, “Le chemin des amoureux” (The Path of the Lovers) (1882) and
“Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” (1882) by Emmanuel Blain de St-Aubin, and “Aurore” (Dawn)
(1882) by Alexis Contant. In the year 1890, Filiatreault published Le Canada artistique, a
periodical dedicated to artistic life in Canada, which featured French, Belgian, and German
songs, as well as two songs by Ernest Lavigne, “Le pays des rêves” (The Country of Dreams)
and “Sérénade mélancolique (Melancholic Serenade).
Another important periodical dedicated to music was Piano-Canada, issued by J. R. Brodeur

from 1893 to 1895. Piano-Canada published a small number of French Canadian solo vocal
pieces, including “L’âme d’un ange” (The Soul of an Angel) (1893) by Alexis Contant (see
59
Annotation 4.5.14, Chapter 4), “Rêverie” (Daydream) (1890) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume,
60
“Rêverie” (1894) by Guillaume Couture, “Je ne veux pas autre chose” (I Do Not Want
Anything Else) (1894) by Paul-Émile Prévost, and “Aux braves de 1760” (To the Braves of
61
1760) (1895) by A. J. H. St-Denis. In 1895 and 1896, Eusèbe Sénécal & Fils published the
periodical La Revue nationale, which issued several French Canadian compositions for solo
voice and piano including “Qui saurait?” (Who Would Know?) by Achille Fortier, “Valse
chantée” (Sung Waltz), “Cinerès” (Cineres), “Le temps des roses” (The Season of Roses), “La
petite mendiante” (The Little Beggar), “Les roses de Saadi” (The Roses of Saadi), and “Le frais
58
See Appendix B.
59
Date according to Louis Fréchette, Jehin-Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste (Montreal: R. Constantineau, ca. 1900), 280,
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951002127558s;view=1up;seq=9.
60
See Appendix B.
61
Ibid.
23
matin dorait” (The Cool Morning Was Golden) by Ernest Lavigne, “La bien-aimée” (The
Beloved) by Roméo Poisson, “Consolation” (Consolation) by Gaudiose Paradis, and “L’aveu”
62
(Confession) by Paul-Émile Prévost. One of the most important publishers of French Canadian
compositions was J.E. Bélair, which published hundreds of vocal scores either as separate sheets
63
of music or through its periodical Le Passe-Temps, which ran from 1895 to 1949.
1.3.2 Political Songs

In the period following Confederation, political songs emerged, and played an active role during
political events. For example, in 1877, Célestin Lavigueur wrote the political song “Pas
d’Thibault!” (No More Thibault!) to support the Liberal party’s Quebec-East candidate Wilfrid
Laurier in the federal elections of the same year. The piece mocked the lawyer Charles Thibault,
a tribune for the opposing Conservative party: “Go pack your bags illustrious Thibault . . . We
laugh at your nonsense / In all the counties.” At the end of a political assembly organized at the
Place Jacques-Cartier on 16 November 1877, liberal supporters sang “Pas d’Thibault!” to mock
Thibault, who was representing the conservatives during the assembly. In 1879, Lavigueur
composed another political song, “Soyez les bienvenus” (Welcome) on a poem by Jean-Amable
Bélanger for the visit of the Governor General of Canada, Lord Campbell of Lorne, and his wife
Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria. That year, the royal couple visited several
communities in Quebec that had been greatly affected by the financial crisis of 1876. “Soyez les
bienvenus” was first performed in Montreal on 21 February 1879, when Princess Louise visited
the Société de bienfaisance, a charity that assisted those in need.
1.3.3 New Year’s Day Songs and Celebration Songs

New Year’s Day songs were part of French Canadian heritage, and were often composed for
periodicals. As stated by Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, “[New Year’s Day songs] were
designed to obtain from the benevolent subscriber the New Year’s Day gift for the little
paperboy . . . In the old days, one would let the poor little messenger of the New Year in, all
numbed with cold; make him sing his song—since his role was taken seriously—and reward him
62
See Appendix B.
63
With an interruption between 1935-1944.
24
with some cake or even with a glass of liquor in addition to the mandatory New Year’s Day
64
gift.” New Year’s Day songs were part of what French Canadians called le temps des fêtes, the
holiday period surrounding Christmas and New Year’s, a time of celebration and of good spirit.
In 1872, the periodical Album de la Minerve published Jean-Baptiste Labelle’s “Chanson du jour
de l’an” (New Year’s Day Song) on a poem by Benjamin Sulte, which speaks of the legacy of
New Year’s Day: “This beautiful day that our fathers adored . . . Let’s not lose anything of the
heritage, that was bequeathed to us by our ancestors.” The New Year’s Day song “Le jour de
65
l’an à la campagne” (New Year’s Day in the Country) (1889) by Nazaire LeVasseur (see
Annotation 4.5.10, Chapter 4) on a poem by Napoléon Legendre describes the celebrations
surrounding le temps des fêtes:
C’est le temps des longues histoires, A time of long stories,
Des fiers récits, des gais refrains, Of proud tales, of merry tunes,
Qui redisent nos vieilles glories That recount our past glories
Et les combats des jours anciens. And the battles of ancient days.
. . . C’est le temps des fêtes joyeuses, . . . A time of joyful celebrations,
Des longs repas, des doux loisirs, Of long meals, of sweet leisures,
Le temps des heures paresseuses A time of lazy hours
Qui passent entre deux plaisirs. That pass between two enjoyments.
Another French Canadian New Year’s Day song was “Les jeunes canadiennes” (The Young
Canadian Women) (ca. 1880) by the Count of Premio-Real on a poem by Jean-Baptiste Caouette,
which describes another facet of le temps des fête: the opportunity for young men to meet young
women. During the holiday season, Christmas songs with Catholic subjects were also sung in
French Canadian households, often depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Two of the first French
Canadian Christmas songs for solo voice and piano were “Près d’un berceau” (Close to a Cradle)
(1871) by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin, and “Au saint-berceau” (At the Holy Cradle) (1889)
66
by Priest Georges Dugas.
At the end of the nineteenth century, two pieces written for specific celebrations were published
in the periodical Le Passe-Temps: “Aux mariés des noces d’or” (To the Golden Wedding
64
Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, François-Xavier Garneau: sa vie et ses œuvres (Montreal: Beauchemin &
Valois, 1883), 35, https://archive.org/details/franoisxavier00chau.
65
See Appendix B.
66
Ibid.
25
Anniversary of the Married) (1899) by Paul-Émile Prévost, composed for Prévost’s parents’
fiftieth wedding anniversary, and “J’ai cinquante ans” (I Am Fifty Years Old) (1899) by Clovis
67
Omer Sénécal for the fiftieth birthday of a certain C. D. of Quebec City.
1.3.4 Finding an Anthem for French Canadians

After Confederation, patriotic songs continued to be written for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day,
promoting French Canadian heritage, and serving as rallying chants for French Canadians. For
68
example, Charles-Marie Panneton’s “Rallions-nous!” (Let’s Rally!) was composed for
Montreal’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste festivities of 24 June 1874. The song speaks of French Canadian
heritage, talking about the “heroes that were our ancestors,” “the old country” (France), stressing
the idea, “Of our past we keep the memory.” After Confederation, preserving the memory of the
past was still an important objective for French Canadians. In 1883, Eugène-Étienne Taché
prepared the construction plans for the Hôtel du Parlement de Québec and inscribed the motto
“Je me souviens” (I remember) under the provincial coat of arms above the main door. Taché’s
inscription would become the official motto of Quebec in 1939.
Folkloric songs often served as French Canadian anthems. In 1878, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Society of Montreal officially adopted “À la claire fontaine” as its national song. As Ernest
Gagnon explained, “From the seven-year-old child to the white-headed old man, every one in
69
Canada knows and sings ‘Claire fontaine.’ One is not Canadian without that.” The songs “À la
claire fontaine” and “Vive la canadienne” (Long Live the Canadian Woman), which is set to the
melody of “Par derrièr’ chez mon père” (Through the Back of my Father’s House), were sung
during patriotic rallies and ceremonial occasions. In the song collection Nouvelle Lyre
Canadienne published in 1882, “À la claire fontaine” was presented as the “chant national”
70
(national song) of French Canadians.
67
See Appendix B.
68
Ibid.
69
Gagnon, Chansons populaires du Canada, 1.
70
Nouvelle Lyre Canadienne: Recueil de chansons canadiennes et françaises (Montreal: Chapeleau & Labelle,
1882), 3, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=aeu.ark:/13960/t80k3fv50;view=1up;seq=2.
26
In anticipation for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations of 24 June 1880, the Saint-Jean-
71
Baptiste Society branch of Quebec City planned a national convention of French Canadians
that was to be held in June of the same year, which would reunite French Canadians from all
provinces and from the United States. On 15 March 1880, the organizers of the National
Convention of French Canadians appointed a music committee, presided by Ernest Gagnon,
whose task was to find a more suitable national anthem for French Canadians, which would be
presented on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. Ernest Gagnon had previously stated, “The melody of
[“Vive la canadienne”] as well as that of “À la claire fontaine,” serve as national anthem, until a
72
better one is found.” Célestin Lavigueur proposed his “Chant patriotique”; however, it was
73
considered to be of “a nationalism too French Canadian for the supporters of Confederation.”
Notwithstanding this belief, Lavigueur’s “Chant patriotique” was still published under the title
“Chant national” by Bernard & Allaire, with the subtitle “At the occasion of the Grande fête
nationale in Quebec City on 24 June 1880,” suggesting that it may have been performed during
the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations of 1880. As time was running short, Gagnon convinced
fellow committee member Calixa Lavallée and Judge Adolphe-Basile Routhier to compose the
74
national anthem. When Lavallée finished the composition of “Chant national” (also known as
“Ô Canada”) with words by Routhier in April 1880 (see Annotation 4.5.4, Chapter 4), the
75
Journal de Québec stated: “At last, we have a truly French Canadian National Song!” and
added that Ernest Gagnon would provide “a run of 6,000 copies of the National Song, of which
5,000 will be distributed to the public.”76 “Ô Canada” was performed at the skaters’ pavilion in
Quebec City on 24 June 1880, and on the following day, in front of 6,000 people during an
71
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society had several branches across the province of Quebec and in other francophone
communities accross North America.
72
Gagnon, Chansons populaires du Canada, 4.
73
Caroline Royer, Amour et Conquête (Victoria, BC: FriesenPress, 2014), 185-186.
74
Gilles Potvin and Helmut Kallmann, “O Canada,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada, 2013),
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/o-canada.
75
Journal de Québec (17 April 1880), from Gilles Potvin and Helmut Kallmann, “O Canada,” in The Canadian
Encyclopedia (Historica Canada, 2013), www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/o-canada.
76
Ibid.
27
afternoon concert hosted by Lieutenant-Governor Robitaille at Spencer Wood. In its account of

the events surrounding Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, the periodical Le Canada musical described
Lavallée’s “Chant national” as a composition combining “all the beauties that one likes to find
in the national hymn of a people,” adding that, “it will become without a doubt the popular chant
77
of French Canadians.” The popularity of Lavallée’s “Ô Canada” quickly spread through
English Canada, prompting several English translations of the song, the most known being that
of Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. On 15 March 1967, “Ô Canada” was approved by a Special
Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons as Canada’s national anthem. The current
bilingual version was officially adopted on 27 June 1980, under the National Anthem Act.
Lavallée’s original score was composed for a four-part choir in G Major, and was first published
by Arthur Lavigne. It is not clear when “Ô Canada” was first published for solo voice. In the
1960s, Archambault published scores of the piece for solo voice and piano in F or Eb Major,
featuring the first two stanzas of Routhier’s four-stanza poem. The official Government of
Canada version of the song is a bilingual version for solo voice in F Major, featuring the first
78
stanza only of the poem. In 2016, Canadian lawmakers voted to pass a bill that would change
the English lyrics “in all thy sons command” to the gender-neutral “in all of us command.”
After composing “Ô Canada,” Lavallée did not cease to write patriotic songs. In 1888, the
newspaper l’Indépendant of Fall River, Massachussetts, founded three years earlier by writer
Rémi Tremblay, published Lavallée’s patriotic song “Restons Français” (Let’s Stay French). As
stated by Jean Levasseur, the poem by Rémi Tremblay was written in reaction to the hanging of
79
Louis Riel in 1885, which left French Canadians outraged. “Restons Français” is dedicated to
the Ligue des Patriotes, a nationalist league founded the previous year by Rémi Tremblay and
Hugo Dubuque in Fall River, in order to defend the rights of French Canadians in America.
“Restons Français” acted as the official anthem of the Ligue des Patriotes, describing its militant
spirit:
77
Le Canada musical (1 July 1880): 57, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_06183.
78
Government of Canada, “Anthems of Canada” (Government of Canada, 2016),
http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1443808632931.
79
Jean Levasseur, Aux chevaliers du nœud coulant: poèmes et chansons / Rémi Tremblay (Québec: Presses de
l’Université Laval, 2007), 410.
28
Nous t’acclamons, Ligue des Patriotes, We acclaim you, Ligue of Patriots,

Aux champs d’honneur nous suivrons To the battlefield we will follow our
nos aînés ; elders;
Les Canadiens ne sont pas des ilotes ; French Canadians are not slaves;
Nul ne saurait les tenir enchaînés, No one can keep them chained,
Forts de nos droits, laissant Strong by our rights, letting
l’intolérance intolerance
S’empoisonner du suc de ses ferments, Poison itself with the sap of its
Nous resterons Français par la ferment,
vaillance. We will remain French by valour.
Français de coeur, Français de French by heart, French by feelings.
sentiments.
Although less prominent, patriotic songs continued to be composed until the end of the
nineteenth century. For example, in 1895, the periodical Piano-Canada published “Aux Braves
de 1760” by A. J. H. St-Denis. In 1860, a monument of the same name was erected by the Saint-
Jean-Baptiste Society of Quebec to commemorate the victory of the French over the British on
28 April 1760. The upper portion of the statue consisted of a bronze representation of Bellona,
donated to the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society by Prince Jérôme-Napoléon, nephew of Napoléon
Bonaparte. The statue was officially inaugurated on 19 October 1863, as a symbol of
reconciliation and peace between the French and British nations. The poem of “Aux Braves de
1760” by Napoléon Legendre is said to have been inspired by “the generosity of Mr. Octave
80
Lemieux, who gave one thousand dollars for the restoration of the monument.” The poem is a
tribute to the statue and to the peace between French and English colonies:
Car, maintenant, l’ami remplace Because now a friend replaces
L’ennemi des jours d’autrefois ; The enemy of the olden days;
Sur ce sol, l’une et l’autre race On this soil, both races
Vit, calme, sous les mêmes lois. Live, calmly, under the same laws.
Et l’airain qui soutient, austère, And the bronze that holds up, austere,
Et les bombes et les mortiers, The bombs and the mortars,
N’est plus qu’au tombeau solitaire Is no more but in the solitary tombstone
Couvrant les cendre des guerriers ! Covering the ashes of the warriors!
The historical narrative of French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano demonstrates that a
rich and diverse vocal repertoire existed in Quebec in the nineteenth century, which included
patriotic, comical, political, folkloric, and holiday songs. As exemplified by “La montréalaise’
80
Piano-Canada 2, no. 12 (20 January 1895): 3, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_06430.
29
by Charles Wugk Sabatier, “Ô Canada” by Calixa Lavallée, and “Pas d’Thibault!” by Célestin
Lavigueur, patriotic and political songs were strongly informed by the socio-political scene in
French Canada, often mirroring the ideology of Canadiens with regards to the establishment of
the British regime in Canada, French Canadian nationalism, and political stances of the time.
Although folkloric songs had been brought to Canada by the French colony in the seventeenth
century, in the nineteenth century, they played a central role in French Canadian nationalism:
they were viewed as a shared heritage that would help establish and preserve French Canadian
national identity. New Year’s Day songs represent a subset of repertoire that is unique to French
Canada, since they describe the celebrations of le temps des fêtes as performed by French
Canadians.
30
Chapter 2
Late Nineteenth Century: the Development of Art Song Repertoire
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, three vocal genres developed in French Canada:
chansonnettes, romances, and mélodies—vocal genres that were already in vogue in Paris. They
offered a contrast to previous vocal genres of the time, since composers sought an artistic
medium of expression to highlight the poetry of the Romantics and Parnassians.
Composers and publishers used the terminology of chansonnette, romance, and mélodie to make
a distinction between three types of songs. For example, in 1889, Ernest Lavigne published
Recueil de 8 mélodies et chansonnettes (Collection of 8 Mélodies and Chansonnettes); in 1884,
the music publisher Lavigne & Lajoie advertized their new music under the title “Selected
Romances and Chansonnettes,” and in 1887, the same publisher sold a compilation of songs
under the title Le succès du salon contenant 80 romances, chansonnettes, et mélodies choisies
(The Hits of the Salon Containing 80 Selected Romances, Chansonnettes, and Mélodies). Even if
composers and publishers used the terminology chansonnette, romance, and mélodie widely,
they also sometimes used these labels interchangeably. For example, on the front cover of “Les
pleurs du bon Dieu” (The Tears of God) (1884), Lavigne & Lajoie lists the piece under “Selected
Romances and Chansonnettes,” and on the first page of the score; under the title, the piece is
identified as a mélodie. What appears to be confusion in the labelling of songs may be explained
by the fact that the term mélodie predated its time: “The history of terminology is generally late
with regards to the reality that it designates. The French mélodie constitutes one of the rare
exceptions of this rule. The first vocal pieces entitled ‘mélodies’ were still composed in the older
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style of the romance.”
During this period, the first collections of songs by French Canadian composers appeared. These
included the Count of Premio-Real’s Seize mélodies pour chant et piano (1879)—the largest
collection of songs of its time—published by Arthur Lavigne; Ernest Lavigne’s Recueil de 8
mélodies et chansonnettes published by Lavigne & Lajoie in 1889; Achille Fortier’s 20 chansons
populaires du Canada (20 Popular Songs of Canada) published by Edmond Hardy in 1893; Paul-
Émile Prévost’s three collections of songs: Pensées solitaires (Solitary Thoughts) (1895), Mes
81
Antonio Rodriguez and André Wyss, eds., Le chant et l’écrit lyrique (Bern: Peter Lang, 2009), 157.
31
rêves (My Dreams) published by Edmond Hardy in 1897, and Mes souvenirs (My Memories)
(undated); as well as Mélodies par F. Jéhin-Prume (Mélodies by F. Jéhin-Prume), a collection of
songs by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, published in Brussels by Schott Frères (ca. 1899).
In the second half of the nineteenth century, Quebec’s musical life closely followed the musical
life of France. As noted by Odette Vincent, in Quebec, “The importation of French sheets of
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music flood the market: Chaminade, Dubois, Gounod, Lalo, Massenet, Saint-Saëns.” French
Canadian musicians programmed French and European composers in concerts, and often
travelled to France to further their musical studies. For example, while in Paris, French Canadian
composer Guillaume Couture was a regular attendee of the salon of Camille Saint-Saëns, studied
with Théodore Dubois, and had his compositions performed in Paris by César Franck. French
Canadian composer Achille Fortier studied with Théodore Dubois, Ernest Guiraud, who
famously taught Claude Debussy, and Romain Bussine at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1885
to 1890. Ernest Lavigne was one of the most travelled French Canadian composers, visiting
Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, England, Denmark, Norway, and the United States between 1868
and 1873.
As was the case in nineteenth-century Paris, chansonnettes, romances, and mélodies in Canada
were intended to be performed in salons of the middle class or of the bourgeoisie. Musicologist
David Tunley explains that in Paris, “Vocal music was the staple diet of the salons . . . a number
of excellent singers made their livelihood in the fashionable quarters by singing not only excerpts
from the best-loved operas of the day, but also the latest romance or, as the century progressed,
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the more developed form known as mélodie.” Commenting on the Count of Premio-Real’s
“Tes beaux yeux” (Your Beautiful Eyes) published in Quebec in 1879, Calixa Lavallée wrote,
84
“[it] will be all the rage in the elegant salons.”
82
Vincent, La vie musicale au Québec, 46.
83
Tunley, David. Salons, Singers and Songs: A Background to Romantic French Song 1830-1870 (Burlington, VT :
Ashgate, 2002), 13.
84
Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le Comte de Premio-Real (Québec: Arthur Lavigne, 1879), 3,
32
2.1 The Chansonnette

In his Dictionnaire de la langue française 1872-1877 (French Language Dictionary of 1872-
85
1877), Émile Littré defined the chansonnette as a “little song with light and gracious subject.”
Littré’s definition is in line with French Canadian chansonnettes published at the end of the
nineteenth century, which often showcased light love stories. For example, Célestin Lavigueur’s
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“Amour!” (Love!) (ca. 1880) talks about the love between a young girl and a mariner (see
Annotation 4.5.3, Chapter 4). “Dans le bois” (In the Woods) by Ernest Lavigne speaks about a
young man who invites his sweet Ninette to the woods to eat cherries and strawberries, to pick
roses, and to perhaps discover love. Chansonnettes also included pieces for children, such as
Lavigne’s “Le petit doigt de la maman” (The Mother’s Little Finger) (1889), which describes the
relationship between a baby and his mother’s little finger, and “La petite mendiante” (1895),
which teaches children to care for beggars. Several chansonnettes included pieces of folkloric
influence: for example, “La petite mendiante” comes from an “Old Chanson”, and “Valse
chantée” is a “Known Air” entitled “Je t’aimerai” (I Will Love You), which is found in Chants et
chansons populaires de la France (Popular Chants and Songs of France) published in Paris by
Garnier Frères in 1854. In 1882, the Album musical published “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” by
Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin, a piece written in the style of a folksong (see Annotation 4.5.7,
Chapter 4). The subtitle “Chansonnette canadienne” (Little Canadian Song), the colloquial style
of the text, and the simple piano accompaniment bears much resemblance to French Canadian
folkloric songs of the time. The song composed by Blain de Saint-Aubin could easily have been
part of Ernest Gagnon’s folksong collection, Chansons populaires du Canada. Interestingly,
Blain de Saint-Aubin, who had immigrated from France twenty years earlier, demonstrated a
mastery of the colloquial form of the French Canadian language, writing expressions such as
“Ben sûr v’là l’bon temps!” or “Vir’ de bord.” Blain de Saint-Aubin had previously written
another piece inspired by French Canadian folklore, “La fille à Baptiste: chansonnette
villageoise” (Baptiste’s Daughter: Chansonnette from the Village) (ca. 1873).
85
Dictionnaire vivant de la langue française, “Chansonnette” (The University of Chicago, 2014),
http://dvlf.uchicago.edu/mot/chansonnette.
86
The original cover of the song indicates “romance”, while the first page of the score indicates “chansonnette”.
The song’s simple language, light subject, short feet, waltz form, and clear division of sections suggest a
chansonnette rather than a romance.
33
2.1.1 Poetry
French Canadian chansonnettes featured mostly French and Belgian poets or lyricists, such as
Victor Hugo, Leconte de Lisle, Victor Wilder, Gaston Villemer, and Camille Soubise. Two
chansonnettes were set to French Canadian poetry: “Amour!” which features Célestin
Lavigueur’s own poem, and “La fleur du poëte” (The Flower of the Poet) (1879), a musical
setting of a poem by Aurèle Barthe. Several chansonnettes published by Lavigne & Lajoie
omitted the authorship of the poetry, such as Ernest Lavigne’s “L’hirondelle” (The Swallow)
(1887), “Le petit baiser” (The Little Kiss) (1887), “Mariette” (Little Mary) (ca. 1881), “Le petit
doigt de la maman,” “Gertrude” (Gertrude) (1891), “Premier rayon,” “Ô ma charmante” (O My
87
Charming One) (1887), and “Je t’aimerai” (I Will Love You) (1889), even though the poems of
these compositions had identifiable sources. “L’hirondelle” is by French author Eugène Bazin,
the poem of “Le petit baiser” by Italian and French writer Achille de Lauzières, “Ô ma
88
charmante” is a French translation of a popular Italian folksong, and “Je t’aimerai” is a
folksong found in Les chansons d’autrefois: vieux chants populaires de nos pères (The Songs of
89
the Past: Old Popular Chants of Our Fathers). These omissions may be explained by the fact
that chansonnettes were regarded as simple and somewhat trivial songs, in which case the
recognition of the author of the poetry was not considered of primary importance.
2.1.2 Form
The language of the chansonnette was simple, and the lines contained a short number of feet. The
poem followed the form of alternating stanzas and refrain. For example, in Lavigne’s “Suzette et
Suzon” (Suzette and Suzon) (1889), the lines are five feet and the poem contains eleven stanzas
that all end with the same refrain “Ah! Suzon, Suzette! / Suzette, Suzon!” Each stanza of the
poem is set to the same music; the first stanza and the refrain usually end with a da capo or a dal
87
Labelled as a mélodie, however it shares the characteristics of the chansonnette with its light subject and musical
simplicity.
88
Although not the exact same French translation found in Lavigne’s “Ô ma charmante,” the Italian folksong with
French translation is referenced in Mrs. Marie Ratazzi’s one-act play L’héritage de la bouquetière, found in Baron
Stock, Les matinées italiennes: Revue anecdotique, artistique et littéraire, vol.1 (Florence: Baron Stock, 1868), 174-
175, http://books.google.com.
89
Charles Malo, Les chansons d’autrefois: vieux chants populaires de nos pères (Paris: Jules Laisné, 1861), 176-
177, https://archive.org/details/leschansonsdaut00malogoog.
34
segno, indicating a repeat of the music from the start for the following stanzas. Publishers either
added the following stanzas under the words of the first stanza or at the bottom of the score. The
musical structure of chansonnettes was made very clear in the score and in the musical materials,
as each section was usually divided by double bar lines. For example, “La fleur du poëte” by
Lavigne was printed so that the introduction, the stanza, and the refrain each ended with a
fermata and double bar lines.
2.1.3 Music
The majority of French Canadian chansonnettes featured a waltz, a dance with a 3/4 time
signature, and a strong emphasis placed on the first beat of the bar followed by two light beats.
The waltz, which originated from Germany, was in vogue all over Europe in the nineteenth
century, especially with the popular Austrian composer Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), known as
“The Waltz King.” While the clear expression of a waltz was typical in most chansonnettes, not
all composers approached them exactly the same way. The tempo di valse was either kept
throughout the piece (e.g., “Amour!” by Célestin Lavigueur or “Valse chantée” (1895) by Ernest
Lavigne); in others, the refrain was sung at a slightly different tempo. In Lavigne’s “Chanson
d’amour” (Song of Love) (1889), the refrain is sung poco più lento (a little slower), and in
Lavigne’s “Mariette,” the refrain begins with the indication un peu plus vite (a little faster).
As important as it was as a basis of chansonnette composition, the waltz was not the sole salon
dance used by composers; the polka was another popular choice. The lively dance in 2/4 from
Bohemia was also in vogue in Europe in the nineteenth century. Ernest Lavigne set “Le petit
baiser” to a polka dance form with distinctive upbeats, and combined both the waltz and the
polka in “Le petit doigt de la maman” and “Premier Rayon” (See Annotation 4.5.15, Chapter 4).
In the latter two songs, the stanzas are written in a waltz dance form, and the refrain is written in
a polka dance form.
Regardless of the dance form upon which it was based, one of the main characteristics of the
chansonnette was its simplicity, which was carried out from the language and subject of the
poetry to the melody and piano accompaniment. As shown in Example 1, “Le frais matin dorait”
(1896) by Ernest Lavigne exemplifies the simplicity of the music in the chansonnette with its
basic waltz piano accompaniment: a single bass note held in the left hand on the first beat of the
bar followed by two repeated three-note chords in the right hand on beats two and three.
35
Example 1: Ernest Lavigne, “Le frais matin dorait,” bars 13-15
The simplicity of the music might have been explained by the fact that the chansonnette was
intended to be played by amateur musicians in the salon familial (family living room). However,
not every chansonnette was composed for or performed by amateur musicians. Ernest Lavigne’s
“Gertrude” was composed for and sung by the established Boston-based singer Gertrude
Franklin.
The distribution of the French Canadian chansonnette occasionally extended beyond Quebec. For
example, the chansonnette “Si vous étiez” (Wert Thou) by Ernest Lavigne was published in both
Canada and in the United States. In Canada, the song was published in 1881 by Lavigne’s
Montreal-based publishing company; in the United States, it was published in 1885 by
Philadelphia-based publisher F. William Shaw under the English title “Wert Thou.” The
American publication of the piece featured only the English translation created by Dr.
Tuckerman.
2.2 The Romance

In his Dictionnaire de la langue française 1872-1877, Émile Littré defined the romance as “Any
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piece with modern verses, in stanzas, with a tender or even plaintive subject, and set to music.”
In his definitions of the chansonnette and the romance, Littré made an implicit hierarchical
distinction between the two vocal genres, qualifying the first as a “little song” and the second as
a “piece”. In France, the romance enjoyed a widespread popularity. In his 1845 book Histoire de
90
Dictionnaire vivant de la langue française, “Romance” (The University of Chicago, 2014),
http://dvlf.uchicago.edu/mot/romance.
36
la romance considérée comme œuvre littéraire et musicale (History of the Romance Considered
as a Literary and Musical Work), Jacques-Auguste Delaire noted that “As per its commercial
value, the romance is a best-selling commodity when it is launched in salons under the patronage
of a fashionable singer,” adding that “500 hundred romances are published yearly . . . the number
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of copies sold every year . . . is at least 250,000.” David Tunley further explains, “Depending
so much upon beauty of performance romances were by nature ephemeral; fashionable for a
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season and then put aside like last year’s hats.” As in France, the romance was a popular vocal
genre among French Canadian composers; in fact, one of the first published French Canadian
compositions for voice and piano was the romance “Le dépit amoureux” (1840) by Napoléon
Aubin and Charles Sauvageau. While the majority of French Canadian romances were composed
in the late nineteenth century, a small number of romances were published earlier (e.g., “L’exilé
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de là-bas!” (1862) and “Servante et reine” (1863) by Mrs. Blain de St-Aubin, “L’alouette” and
“Le mendiant des Basses-Alpes” (The Beggar of the Lower-Alps) (1860) by Charles Wugk
Sabatier, and “La mansarde” (1862-64) by Calixa Lavallée).
2.2.1 Poetry
For romances, French Canadian composers chose texts by established French poets such as
Victor Hugo, Alphonse de Lamartine, Édouard Turquety, and Émile Deschamps, whose poetry
belonged to the Romantic Movement. Poems of the Romantic Movement were characterized by
an emphasis on “the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the
94
spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.” In the second half of the
nineteenth century, as literary arts flourished in Quebec, composers of romances gained access to
a large body of poetry by French Canadian poets such as Louis Fréchette, Aurèle Barthe,
Napoléon Legendre, Rémi Tremblay, Tancrède Trudel, J. G. Boissonneault, Arthur Sasseville,
91
Jacques-Auguste Delaire. Histoire de la romance considérée comme œuvre littéraire et musicale (Paris:
Ducessois, 1845), 22, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54429565.
92
Tunley, Salons, Singers and Songs, 61.
93
The score labels the song as a bluette, a term that was occasionally used to describe a simple and light piece.
94
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Romanticism” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2016),
www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism.
37
Hubert LaRue, and Joseph Napoléon Legault. Only a limited number of French Canadian
romances featured texts by French songwriters such as Pierre Dupont, and collaborators Gaston
Villemer and Lucien Delormel.
With the romance, composers began portraying a larger variety of emotions, which was mirrored
in their choice of poetry. The poetry they chose was more refined, with longer feet, polished
vocabulary, and deeper subjects. Ernest Lavigne’s “Vieillard et souvenirs” (Old Man and
Memories) (1879) with poetry by Aurèle Barthe depicts an old man’s life memories and painful
resignation about death. The stanzas alternate lines of eleven and ten feet, and Barthe’s poetry
conveys the dramatic death of the character: “As an old oak which succumbs to winter / Yes, I
pass away, alas! Moaning.” If a romance’s subject was love, it portrayed an array of emotions,
from pain and rejection to fulfillment and desire, in contrast to the one-dimentional light love
stories depicted in chansonnettes. For example, Calixa Lavallée’s “L’absence” (1881) set to a
poem by Rémi Tremblay speaks of a man who recounts the tender days spent with his beloved,
while confronting his new painful reality, in which his beloved is gone (see Annotation 4.5.6,
Chapter 4).
2.2.2 Form
In the same manner as the chansonnette, the romance followed the form of alternating stanzas
(between two and four) and refrain, in which each stanza was repeated to the same music. For
example, “Les vertus de l’amour” (The Virtues of Love) (1885) by Ernest Lavigne contains three
stanzas repeated to the same music followed by the refrain “C’est que j’aimais la blonde
Madeleine” (For I loved the Blond Madeleine). Other examples of romances based on an
alternating stanza and refrain form include “En m’ouvrant ton coeur” (Opening Your Heart to
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Me) (ca. 1879) by Joseph Vézina, “Amour trompeur” (Deceptive Love) (1888) by Alexis
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Contant, “La cueillette” (Picking) (1895) by Lorenzo Prince, and Ernest Lavigne’s “Vieillard
et souvenirs,” “Les pleurs du bon Dieu” (1884), “La maison de mes amours” (The House of My
Love) (1886), “Sérénade mélancolique” (1890). Where the sections of nearly all chansonnettes
95
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xiii. The printed score is undated,
however Poirier indicates that the date of composition may be close to 1879.
96
See Appendix B.
38
were clearly demarcated in the scores, this was not always the case of the romance. In some,
sections were clearly separated by double bar lines (e.g., “En m’ouvrant ton coeur” by Joseph
Vézina, “La fontaine aux plaintes" (The Fountain of Complaints) (1889) by Ernest Lavigne, and
“La cueillette” by Lorenzo Prince). In others, the double bar lines were eliminated and replaced
by a ritardando, a rallentando or a fermata (e.g., “Les pleurs du bon Dieu” by Ernest Lavigne
and “Amour trompeur” by Alexis Contant). Performance conventions, however, leaved the
sections of both chansonnettes and romances easily discernable. Likewise, chansonnettes and
romances nearly always featured a clear ending of the song indicated by a ritardando, a
rallentando or a fermata. For example, in “Harmonie” (Harmony) (1879), Calixa Lavallée added
a ritardando and a fermata to the last line of the poetry, and in “Les vertus de l’amour,” Ernest
Lavigne added not one but two fermatas at the end of the vocal line.
In spite of the fact that several romances employed alternating stanzas and repeated refrains,
composers began to modify this simple form. In many cases, the stanza and the refrain shared the
same length (traditionally, the refrain was shorter). In “La foi, l’espérance et la charité” (Faith,
Hope and Charity) by Napoléon Crépault and “Sous les tilleuls” (Under the Linden Trees) (1881)
by Ernest Lavigne, the stanza and the refrain are eight bars each. In order to obtain stanzas and
refrain of equal length, composers repeated lines of the refrain. (e.g., “Ton souvenir” (Your
Memory) (1881) by Ernest Lavigne, and “L’aveu” (1895) by Dr Paul-Émile Prévost).
In the romance, the refrain, which was traditionally repeated word for word at the end of each
stanza, contained only a few repeated words (e.g., “Amour Trompeur” by Alexis Contant and
“La fontaine aux plaintes" by Ernest Lavigne) or no repetition at all (e.g., “L’absence” (1881) by
Calixa Lavallée, and “La fleur du souvenir” (The Flower of Memory) (1889) by Ernest Lavigne).
In several romances, the alternating stanzas and repeated refrain form morphed into a binary
form (AB), with sections of approximately the same length and usually divided by a fermata. In
“Aurore” (1882) by Ernest Lavigne, there is no refrain; the song contains A and B sections of
eight-bars each, divided by a fermata. Both sections share the same poetic structure with the
repetition of the last verse of the stanza, however in the B section, the melody and the piano
accompaniment change to offer a contrast in colour and texture.
With the exception of a small number of romances, composers abandoned dance forms (i.e., the
waltz and polka) for binary or ternary meters, and in a few cases, combining both meters in the
39
same song (e.g., “Amour Trompeur” by Alexis Contant). Although the majority of romances
were not written in a dance form, the influence of the waltz could still be found in sections of a
small number of them. In “En m’ouvrant ton coeur” by Joseph Vézina, the refrain is written in a
waltz form (see Annotation 4.5.1, Chapter 4), and in “Sérénade mélancolique” by Ernest
Lavigne, the piano prelude and postlude are written in a waltz form (see Annotation 4.5.12,
Chapter 4).
2.2.3 Music
With chansonnettes, French Canadian composers sought to create simple and enjoyable songs
that were accessible to all. With the romance, composers strived to create somewhat deeper and
more meaningful songs with poetry that was more refined and music that was more elaborate. In
many ways, the romance could be viewed as an extension of the chansonnette with slightly more
complex musical and poetic language. However, distinguishing between the chansonnette and
the romance is not always easy as they share several common characteristics. In fact, many
pieces seem to walk a fine line between the two categories: for example, “Le grillon” (The
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Cricket) (pre-1873) by Antoine Dessane, Ernest Lavigne’s “Il faut aimer” (One Must Love)
(1884), “Ô ma charmante,” “Chanson d’amour,” “Cinerès” (1895), and “Les roses de Saadi”
(1895), as well as “La bien-aimée” by Roméo Poisson. In all of these examples–and in both
genres−the piano accompaniment is subservient to the vocal line; it supports and sometimes
doubles the vocal line. Thus, even if the music of the romance was slightly more elaborate than
that of the chansonnette, it was still very accessible. French mélodie experts Michel Faure and
Vincent Vivès state that, “the romance is of simple writing and requires no great vocal or
98
pianistic technique.” As in the chansonnette, each bar of the romance generally started with a
strong emphasis on first beat, usually a single note or double octaves played in the bass. In
“Laissez-moi dormir” (Let Me Sleep) (ca. 1881) by Ernest Lavigne the thirty-two measures of
the song begin with a double octave in the bass, which gives the song a steady pulse, making it
accessible to performers and listeners.
97
The score is undated, however as Dessane died in 1873, the date of composition can be identified as prior to
1873.
98
Michel Faure and Vincent Vivès, Histoire et poétique de la mélodie française (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2000), 35.
40
To create musical contrast in the piano accompaniment, composers of the romance used
accidentals and secondary dominant chords, and a variety of musical patterns such as broken-
chord triplets (e.g., “Ton souvenir” by Ernest Lavigne), thicker chords (see Example 2, which
features eight-note chords in “Harmonie” by Calixa Lavallée), arpeggios and scales (e.g.,
“L’aveu” by Paul-Émile Prévost), and syncopation (e.g., “Violette” (Violet) (1879) and
“L’absence” (1881) by Calixa Lavallée).
Example 2: Calixa Lavallée, “Harmonie,” bars 27-29
The romance was dramatically more invested than the chansonnette, making use of more
contrasts in dynamics. As shown in Example 3, in Ernest Lavigne’s “Les pleurs du bon Dieu,”
the last words of the stanza are sung double forte and the refrain begins with a double pianissimo
at the end of the same measure, creating an extreme contrast in dynamic.
Example 3: Ernest Lavigne, “Les pleurs du bon Dieu,” bars 14-16
Composers of the romance also used more markings for expression than in the chansonnette. For
example, in “Harmonie” by Calixa Lavallée, the piece begins with the marking moderato con
41
espressione (moderate with expression), and changes to the marking risoluto (resolute) at the
refrain section.
2.3 The Mélodie

The origin of the term mélodie can be traced back to Hector Berlioz’ Neuf mélodies imitées de
l’anglais (Nine Mélodies Imitated from English) (1829), a collection of songs featuring French
translations of Thomas Moore’s Irish melodies. As acclaimed pianist Graham Johnson states,
“These [Berlioz’ mélodies] employed voice and piano in equal partnership, and made quite a stir
99
. . . the label [mélodie] stuck for all piano-accompanied songs in this mould.” In his book
French Song from Berlioz to Duparc, musicologist Frits Noske highlights three main reasons that
led to the development of the mélodie genre in France:
. . . the decline in the artistic level of the romance, with the resultant need for a substitute
vocal genre; the introduction into France of Schubert’s Lieder, which soon became
enormously popular and influential; and the impact of the new Romantic poetry, supplying
composers with inspiration and with literary texts that forced a renunciation of earlier
compositional styles and techniques.100
With the mélodie, French composers turned towards a medium of expression that was musically
and poetically sophisticated, abandoning the sentimentality and the harmonic simplicity of the
romance for a more sincere art form filled with profound emotions and harmonic intensity.
Composers of mélodie sought a perfect union of music and poetry. The supplantation of the
romance by the mélodie was gradual. In fact, Faure and Vivès note that the first mélodies in
France were still close to the romance with “their strophic form and verses repeated to the same
101
music.” Such is the case of several French Canadian mélodies, which shared common features
with the romance (e.g., “Va, chère, dormir” (Go, Dear, Sleep) (1879) by the Count of Premio-
Real, “Nuit d’été” (Summer Night) (1880) by Calixa Lavallée, “Novembre” (November) (1882)
and “Je suis chasseur” (I am a Hunter) (1888) by Ernest Lavigne, “Les craintes maternelles”
99
Graham Johnson and Richard Stokes, A French Song Companion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000),
xix.
100
Frits Noske, French Song from Berlioz to Duparc, trans. Rita Benton (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.,
1970), 1.
101
Michel Faure and Vincent Vivès, Histoire et poétique de la mélodie française (Paris: CNRS Éditions, 2000), 54.
42
(Maternal Worries) (1892) by Alexis Contant, “Consolation” (1895) by Gaudiose Paradis, and
“Consolation” (1897) and “Te souviens-tu” (Do You Remember) (1897) by Paul-Émile Prévost).
In French Canada, the mélodie developed somewhat later than in France, towards the end of the
nineteenth century. In 1879, Calixa Lavallée declared the end of the romance in the preface of
the Count of Premio-Real’s Seize mélodies pour chant et piano: “The romance, which during a
long number of years, has reigned supreme and has resounded in all salons with accents too
102
languorous and naïve, the romance has definitely had its day.”
The Count of Premio-Real (José Antonio de Lavalle Romero-Montezuma) was an instrumental

figure in the development of the mélodie genre in Canada. Not only did he publish the first
collection of mélodies in Canada (Seize mélodies pour chant et piano), but he also played a key
role in the intellectual and artistic life of Quebec by hosting leading intellectuals and artists at his
residence. Writer and composer Nazaire Le Vasseur wrote, “the headquarters of the General
Consulate of Spain in Canada . . . has become today a center of intellectual activity, diplomatic,
103
commercial, literary, and musical.” Regular visitors included composers Calixa Lavallée and
Nazaire Le Vasseur, and poets Faucher de Saint-Maurice and Louis Fréchette. The Count of
Premio Real also founded the Club des 21 in 1879, a society for writers and musicians, which
included composers Calixa Lavallée, Nazaire Le Vasseur, and Ernest Lavigne, as well as poets
Faucher de St-Maurice, Louis Fréchette, and Tancrède Trudel. The influence of Premio-Real
transpired in the literature and music of the time. For example, Louis Fréchette’s poem
“Espagne” published in France in 1881 was dedicated to Premio-Real. In his accounts, Premio-
Real writes that Fréchette’s poem “was written initially for a meeting of the ‘21’, and that it was
104
in fact read during one of their meetings.” After the publication of Premio-Real’s collection of
mélodies in 1879, French Canadian composers wrote pieces inspired by the subjects and rhythms
102
Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le Comte de Premio-Real, 1.
103
Comte de Premio-Réal, Scrap-book contenant divers souvenirs personnels du Canada et des “21”, quelques
poésies, etc, … (Québec: Typographie de C. Darveau, 1880), 147-148, https://archive.org/stream/
scrapbookcontena00prem/scrapbookcontena00prem_djvu.txt.
104
Ibid, 171.
43
of Premio-Real’s native Andalousia (e.g., “Je suis chasseur” by Ernest Lavigne, “Flora” (Flora)
105
(1868) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, and “Andalouse” (Andalusian Woman) by Calixa Lavallée).
2.3.1 Poetry
As was the case for the romance, composers of mélodies also turned to the poetry of the
Romantics for their choice of texts. However, as discussed above, the musical setting of the
poetry was quite different. Examples of Romantic poetry set to music by French Canadian
composers of mélodie include “Madame la Marquise” (Madam the Marchioness) by Alfred de
Musset set to music by Calixa Lavallée, “Je suis chasseur” by Émile Deschamps set to music by
Ernest Lavigne, “Épanchement” (Outpouring) by Édouard Turquety and “Une larme” (A Tear)
by Alphonse de Lamartine set to music by Guillaume Couture, and “À une femme” (To a
Woman) by Victor Hugo set to music by Achille Fortier. A composer of mélodie who chose
almost exclusively poems by the Romantics was Paul-Émile Prévost; he set to music “Puisqu’ici
bas toute âme” (Since Here on Earth Every Soul), “Aimons toujours!” (Let’s Always Love) and
“Quand tu me parles de gloire” (When You Speak to Me of Glory) by Victor Hugo, “L’aveu” by
Achille de Lauzières, “Les colombes”(The Doves) by Théophile Gauthier, and “Qui donc vous a
donné vos yeux” (Who Gave You Your Eyes) by Benjamin Godard. Paul-Émile Prévost was also
one of the only French Canadian composers to choose poetry by a woman poet, “Fleur du
vallon” (Flower of the Valley) by Rose Harel.
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, another poetic aesthetic appeared in France: the
Parnassian Movement. The Parnassians were a group of poets “who stressed restraint,
objectivity, technical perfection, and precise description as a reaction against the emotionalism
106
and verbal imprecision of the Romantics.” Examples of Parnassian poetry set to music by
French Canadian composers include “Philosophie” (Philosophy) and “Qui saurait?” by Armand
Silvestre, and “Ici-bas” (Here Below) by Sully Prudhomme set to music by Achille Fortier,
“L’énamourée” (The Enamored) by Théodore de Banville set to music by Frantz Jéhin-Prume,
105
Date according to Fréchette, Jehin-Prume, 201.
106
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Parnassian” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2016), www.britannica.com/topic/
Parnassian.
44
and “La trêve” (The Break) by François Coppée and “Consolation” by Armand Silvestre set to
music by Paul-Émile Prévost.
French Canadian composers of mélodie also turned to the poetry of their peers. One figure that
dominated the literary world in French Canada was that of Louis Fréchette. He was a politician,
lawyer, journalist, and writer. He was the first Canadian to be awarded a major literary prize
from a European nation, the Montyon prize from the Académie Française. Although Fréchette
was influenced by the Romantic aesthetics, while in Paris, he met with French Parnassian poets
Leconte de Lisle, François Coppée, and Théodore de Banville. The Count of Premio-Real wrote
about Fréchette, “Poet, his chants were favourably appreciated by the celebrities of the French
107
Parnassism (among others Victor Hugo), who recognized him as one of their own.” French
Canadian composer Frantz Jéhin-Prume, who was a close friend of Fréchette, set several of his
poems to music, including “Sous les étoiles” (Under the Stars), “Le souvenir” (The Memory),
“Les amoureux” (The Lovers), “Laissez-moi dormir,” and “Flora.” Achille Fortier composed a
mélodie on Fréchette’s poem “Mon bouquet” (My Bouquet).
Another esteemed French Canadian poet was Napoléon Legendre. Like Fréchette, he too was a
man of many talents; he was a lawyer, journalist, writer, civil servant, and tenor. Napoléon
Legendre’s poetry was influenced by the Romantic aesthetics. French Canadian composer Calixa
Lavallée set to music two poems by Legendre, “Nuit d’été” and “Violette,” and he also
collaborated with Legendre for his Cantate en l’honneur du Marquis de Lorne (Cantata in
Honour of the Marquis of Lorne) (1879) written at the occasion of the visit of the Governor
General of Canada, Marquis of Lorne, and his wife, Princess Louise, in Quebec City. Legendre
was not solely a writer, he was a tenor; he sang the first performance of Lavallée’s arrangement
of “La mansarde” with melody by M. F. E. Valois at Mechanics’ Hall in Montreal on 29 June
1864. Composer Frantz Jéhin-Prume set to music two poems by Napoléon Legendre, “Rêverie”
(see Annotation 4.5.13, Chapter 4) and “Mater dolorosa.” Other examples of mélodies featuring
French Canadian poets include “Angélus” (Angelus) by Gonzalve Desaulniers set to music by
Frantz Jéhin-Prume, “Pourquoi plaindre les morts” (Why Pity the Dead) by Anna Marie Duval-
107
Premio-Réal, Scrap-book contenant divers souvenirs personnels du Canada et des “21,” 60. Interestingly, Hugo
is known today as a Romantic rather than a Parnassian poet, as is Louis Fréchette.
45
108
Thibault set to music by Henri Lavigne, and “Novembre” by Faucher de Saint-Maurice set to
music by Ernest Lavigne.
As it was the case for composers, French Canadian poets kept a close relationship with the
literary life of France: they made trips to France to perfect their art, and followed the latest trends
in French poetry, which was readily accessible via newspapers, diverse publications, and book
stores throughout the Province of Quebec. The talent of French Canadian poets was recognized,
and compared to the great poets of France. Premio-Réal reported that The Morning Chronicle
stated, “The splendid intelligence of French Canadians is the echo of the current literary circles
in France. Garneau, Faillon, Ferland, Casgrain, de Saint-Maurice, LaRue, Fréchette, Marmette,
Sulte, Legendre, Turcotte, Le May, etc., are for us all familiar names. They are the mirror that
reflects the intellectual power of Lower Canada. France, from overseas, would classify them in
109
the literary group represented by Gauthier, de Musset, Béranger, Thedriet, and Daudet.”
A small number of French Canadian mélodie composers, such as the Count of Premio-Real, set
their own poems to music. An Andalousia-native and world traveler, Premio-Real was Consul
General of Spain for the whole of Canada, stationed in Quebec City, from 1874 until his death in
1888. He was well educated: he held a Master’s degree in Arts, was a civil engineer, had earned
eight decorations, was a member of eighteen scholar societies, and mastered four languages
(Spanish, French, English, and Italian). Premio-Real’s unique social status as a highly educated
and wealthy member of aristocracy, recipient of numerous titles and decorations (which was
highly uncommon in Quebec at the time) appears to have been both praised and envied by his
peers. Regarding Premio-Real’s Seize mélodies pour chant et piano, French Canadian architect
and author Charles Baillargé wrote, “[They are] a charming collection of sixteen fresh mélodies
that reveal an exquisite sensibility combined to a poetic melancholy, which demonstrate that the
most gifted man by God and by birth is not exempt from the heartaches of the soul which brings
108
See Appendix B.
109
Premio-Réal, Scrap-book contenant divers souvenirs personnels du Canada et des “21,” 85-86.
46
110
one closer to Divinity.” In contrast, in the preface of Premio-Real’s Seize mélodies pour chant
et piano, Calixa Lavallée stated, “To take place among the contemporary artistic celebrities,
[Premio-Real] only lacks one condition unfortunately necessary to the complete flourishing of
111
the artist’s genius, extreme poverty.” Ironically, a wealthy man all his life, Premio-Real
committed suicide on 17 October 1888, when “his financial affairs, for some time, were very
112
much in difficulty.” Premio-Real’s song output is unique in that he translated the majority of
his poems in three languages (Spanish, French, and English). Most of Premio-Real’s mélodies
feature characteristic Spanish rhythms and ornamentation, as well as sentimental subjects.
“Espagne” (“Spain”) (1879) exemplifies Premio-Real’s Spanish musical roots (see Annotation
4.5.2, Chapter 4). Calixa Lavallée described the mélodie as “that which is most successful in the
whole collection in terms of national character,” adding, “one must be Spanish to find such a
music, in which the peasant like the erudite person can recognize at first sight the accents of
113
beautiful Spain.”
French Canadian composers occasionally turned to current events as a source of inspiration. A

unique case of collaboration between French Canadian composers and poets is that surrounding
the death of singer Rosita del Vecchio, the wife of composer Frantz Jéhin-Prume, who died at the
early age of thirty-five in 1881. Del Vecchio’s funeral was one of the highest attended events in
Montreal’s history: Le National (Montreal) “reported that her funeral “was the most important
114
ever given to a woman in Canada,” and that more than 10,000 were present. Poets Louis
Fréchette and Tancrède Trudel, who were pallbearers at del Vecchio’s funeral, wrote poems
inspired by her last words “Laissez-moi dormir.” Jéhin-Prume set to music the mélodie “Laissez-
moi dormir” (1881) on Fréchette’s poem (see Annotation 4.5.5, Chapter 4), and Ernest Lavigne
110
Charles Baillargé, 20 ans après: le Club des 21 en 1879: courte biographie de chacun de ses membres / par le
Chevalier Chs. Baillargé (s.l. [Québec]: s.n. [C. Darveau], n.d. [1879]), 10, https://archive.org/details/
20ansapresleclub00bail.
111
112
Raoul de Tilley, “Premio-Réal,” Le Monde illustré 5, no. 236 (10 November 1888): 221,
http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_06290.
113
114
Helmut Kallmann, “Frantz Jehin-Prume,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol.12 (1891-1900) (University
of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 –), www.biographi.ca/en/bio/jehin_prume_frantz_12F.html.
47
set to music a romance with the same title on Trudel’s poem. The Count of Premio-Real also
wrote a mélodie for a current event: he composed “Je t’aimerai toujours” (I Will Always Love
You) for the funeral service of the death of Her Majesty Queen Mercedes of Spain in Quebec
City, in the summer of 1878. As suggested by Calixa Lavallée, this mélodie is perhaps written
from the point of view of King Alphonse XII, who lost his wife to typhoid fever six months only
115
after their marriage.
2.3.2 Form
In the mélodie, composers abandoned the repeated stanza and refrain form, and began
experimenting with new forms and ideas. The length of mélodies was typically longer than that
of the romance (excluding repeated stanzas), since composers used more elaborate forms to
structure the poetry, further developing each section. Several poems contained irregular feet,
which was reflected in musical phrases of asymmetrical lengths. For example, in “À genoux”
(Kneeling Down) (1897) by Paul-Émile Prévost, which is set to a poem by Victor Hugo, the lines
of the poem feature an irregular alternation of 7 and 4 feet. Prévost set the first four stanzas of
Hugo’s poem to four-bar phrases and the fifth stanza to a seven-bar phrase, mimicking the 7:4
ratio of the poetry.
A small number of mélodies used the binary form (AB) found in the romance, but the A and B
sections were further expanded and developed. This is exemplified in “Pourquoi plaindre les
morts” (1899) by Henri Lavigne, in which the sixteen-measure A section is subdivided into two
subsections of eight measures each. Instead of employing the same piano accompaniment
throughout the A section, as in the romance, Lavigne changed the texture of the piano
accompaniment in the second subsection. As shown in Example 4, in the first subsection, the
piano accompaniment is characterized by repeated eighth-note chords in the right hand and a
slow descending scale in the bass, while in the second subsection, the texture becomes denser
with repeated eighth-note chords in the left hand and an eighth-note melody line in the right
hand.
115
48
Example 4: Henri Lavigne, “Pourquoi plaindre les morts,” first subsection, bars 5-6; second
subsection, bars 13-14
Several composers of mélodie expanded the basic structure of the AB form. For example, in
“Seul” (Alone) (1879), the performer has an option to sing a long cadenza at the end of the A
section, and the B section is extended by the addition of a four-measure coda. The second
116
version of “Laissez-moi dormir” (ca. 1899) by Jéhin-Prume features an extended binary form
(ABAB) with small modifications in the last bars of the second B section. In “Sous les étoiles”
117
(1881) by Jéhin-Prume, there is a dal segno symbol at the end of the second B section,
indicating to end the song with the A section. This gives the piece a unique ABABA form, a
form that was not commonly used in French Canadian songs.
The majority of French Canadian mélodies were based on the ternary form ABA: for example,
118
“Le souvenir” (1873) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, “Un rêve” (A Dream) (1879) by the Count of
Premio-Real, “L’adieu du matin” (The Morning’s Goodbye) (1889) by Ernest Lavigne, and
“Philosophie” (1889) by Achille Fortier. At the return of the A section, composers usually made
small modifications to the music to highlight the poetry, since the return of the A section
featured a new stanza of poetry. For example, in Achille Fortier’s “Philosophie” (see Annotation
4.5.11, Chapter 4), the word “douloureux” (painful) in the sixth measure of the first A section is
set on a diminished chord. At the return of the A section, the sixth measure contains the words
“je meurs” (I die); Fortier removed the diminished chord in the left hand of the piano, and kept
116
“Laissez-moi dormir” by Frantz Jéhin-Prume was first published by D. Olivier in Montreal in 1881. A revised
version of the song containing a more intricate piano accompaniment was published by Schott Frères in Brussels, ca.
1899, as part of a collection of mélodies by the composer.
117
118
Ibid.
49
only the descending semitone in the right hand of the piano, exposing the dramatic poetry, as
shown in Example 5.
Example 5: Achille Fortier, “Philosophie,” bars 10, 31
In the majority of cases, the A and B sections of the ternary form shared a similar length despite
efforts to elaborate on the basic form. For example, in “Le plus fort” (The Strongest) (1879) by
the Count of Premio-Real, the A and B sections are twenty measures each, and in “Flora” by
Jéhin-Prume, the A and B sections are twenty-eight measures each. However, in “Le souvenir”
by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, the ternary form is structured differently: the A section is sixteen
measures, and the B and A’ sections are eight measures each.
A composer who used a hybrid form was Achille Fortier. In his mélodies “Philosophie,” “Ici-
119
bas” (ca. 1893), and “Qui saurait?” (1895), Fortier used a ternary form, but the B section
presents a melodic and harmonic variation of the A section, similar to a theme and variation
form. As shown in Example 7, in the B section of “Ici-bas,” Fortier kept the overall shape of the
melody contained in the A section (Example 6), but introduced small variations in the pitches
and intervals of the vocal line, while developing the harmonic progression by modulating in
several tonalities.
119
The score of “Ici-bas” is undated; however, the song was performed during a concert that Fortier gave of his
own compositions on November of 1893 at the Association Hall in Montreal.
50
Example 6: Achille Fortier, “Ici-bas,” bars 5-8
Example 7: Achille Fortier, “Ici-bas,” bars 26-29
Another form used in French Canadian mélodies of the nineteenth century was the rondo
120
(ABACA). In “Andalouse” (ca. 1885) by Calixa Lavallée, “Rêverie” by Frantz Jéhin-Prume,
and “O Souvenir” (O Memory) (1897) by Paul-Émile Prévost, the main theme (section A) is
repeated three times and interspersed with contrasting episodes (sections B and C). “Les
121
amoureux” (1882) by Jéhin-Prume explores a modified rondo form (ABABCA); half of the B
section is repeated, and followed with a new contrasting section (C), before returning to the main
theme (A).
120
Boston Home Journal (14 Mar. 1885): 3, in Brian Christopher Thomson, Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The Life
and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891 (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015), 281. The
song was performed by Maud Nichols in Boston in 1885, and was published by White Smith & Co in 1886.
121
51
A small number of composers of mélodie used a chain form (ABC or ABCD), which contained
no repetitions of sections (e.g., “Espagne” by the Count of Premio-Real, “Rêverie” (1894) by
Guillaume Couture, and “À genoux” by Paul-Émile Prévost). In “Rêverie,” Couture created three
different sections, each one containing a distinct piano accompaniment, and characterized by a
different temperament (“sostenuto,” “with irony,” and “with vigor”).
Guillaume Couture’s “Épanchement” (1884) offers a unique case of form that combines strophic
and ternary forms (see Annotation 4.5.8, Chapter 4). The vocal line belongs to the strophic form,
as it is repeated three times with minor modifications. In contrast, the piano accompaniment
follows a ternary form: in the A section, the piano plays eighth-note descending scale patterns; in
the B section, the piano plays ascending sixteenth-note scale patterns; and at the return of the A
section, the descending scale patterns reappear, but this time, with a faster rhythm of sixteenth-
note sextuplets. As shown in Example 8, in addition to a combined strophic and ternary form,
Couture’s piano accompaniment demonstrates a linear approach as he used a progressive
diminution of rhythm for every section, from eighth notes to sixteenth notes to sixteenth-note
sextuplets.
Example 8: Guillaume Couture, “Épanchement,” piano accompaniment for each section, bars 1-
2; 14-15; 27-28
A Section B Section A1 Section
Occasionally, mélodies exhibited uncommon forms, such as an ABCA form in “L’âme d’un
122
ange” (1894) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, an ABABC form in “Prière d’amour” (Love Prayer)
(1897) and “Dites-moi” (Tell Me) (1897) by Paul-Émile Prévost, and an ABCDA form in
123
“Angélus” (1898) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume.
122
123
Ibid.
52
2.3.3 Music
In the mélodie, composers broadened the harmonic landscape by employing devices such as
chromaticism, modulation, tonicization, diminished chords, augmented chords, uncommon chord
progressions, and counterpoint to highlight the words of the poetry. Faure and Vivès explain,
“Unlike the romance in which timbre pre-existed the words and constrained prosody to
accommodate itself to its scansions, the music of the mélodie was conceived to highlight the
124
poetic text.” For example, in “L’âme d’un ange” by Frantz Jéhin-Prume, the first seven
measures of the piece feature an ascending chromatic bass line interspersed with arpeggios filled
with accidentals. The sense of tonality is obscured by the thick piano texture that is in constant
harmonic flux. In the beginning of the piece, the fluctuating harmony conveys the idea of a
spiritual realm, as the poetry speaks of a loved one who has passed and who is still dreaming in
her tomb. Another composer who used chromaticism to convey the images of the poetry is
Guillaume Couture. As shown in Example 9, in “Rêverie,” Couture wrote a three-measure
chromatic descending bass line under “Tombez comme une aride pluie” (Fall like an arid rain).
The chromatic descending line supports the imagery of falling rain, which is a metaphor for
heavy tears.
Example 9: Guillaume Couture, “Rêverie,” bars 8-10
Composers of mélodie used diminished and augmented chords to colour specific words of the
poetry. “Absence” (1879) by the Count of Premio-Real is an early example of mélodie that uses
124
Michel Faure and Vincent Vivès, Histoire et poétique de la mélodie française, 56.
53
diminished chords to highlight the poetry. As Calixa Lavallée pointed out, “The piano
125
accompaniment is rich in effects and harmonic novelty. In “Absence,” key words of the
poetry, such as “tu me quittes” (you leave me), “je vis en pleurant” (I live crying), and “en
soupirant” (sighing), are set to diminished chords, which help highlight the pain of the
protagonist. Another example is that of the mélodie “À genoux” by Paul-Émile Prévost, in which
the composer repeated the last line of the poetry “La chose la meilleure que j’ai en moi” (The
best thing that I have in me), first on a diminished seventh chord, and then resolving it on a
major chord (see Annotation 4.5.16, Chapter 4). The unexpected resolution of the poetry line on
the diminished chord before the final resolution on the major chord helps to convey the depth
and sincerity of the poetry line.
A composer of the time who stood out by pushing the conventional sense of tonality was Achille
Fortier. Pianist Réjean Coallier writes,
If [Achille Fortier’s] songs had been published when they were composed, they would
easily have stood out from the rest of the music being composed here [in Canada] at the
time and taken their place beside the best European music of their type. Using a
profoundly original language, Fortier’s compositions would thus have followed in the
wake of what is generally called the “Renouveau musical français” or new French
music.126
With the exception of “Qui saurait?” Achille Fortier’s mélodies were not published during his
127
lifetime, although they were performed on several occasions. “Un regard, un baiser” (A
128
Glance, a Kiss) also known as “Enfant! si j’étais roi…” (Child! If I Were King…) (ca. 1893)
by Fortier exemplifies the composer’s original harmonic language. As shown in Example 10, the
mélodie, which is set to the tonality of F major, begins with a single held note, a B natural, which
negates the B-flat that defines the tonality of F major. A dominant seventh chord then follows to
125
126
Coallier, ed., Achille Fortier, ix.
127
The song is listed as “Un regard, un baiser” in Fortier’s 1893 concert programme. It is unclear if Fortier ever
referred to the song as “Enfant! Si j’étais roi” or if this change of title was made by a publisher, as a result of Liszt’s
famous setting of the poem, which title is “Enfant! Si j’étais roi.”
128
The score is undated, however the song was performed in a concert that Fortier gave of his own compositions in
November of 1893 at the Association Hall in Montreal.
54
establish the F major tonality, but rather than resolving to the tonic, it moves towards the
submediant degree, which is then followed by a brief tonicization in D minor. Fortier continues
to push the boundary of tonality with an augmented and a diminished chord, before returning to
the dominant seventh chord that ends the piano introduction. Instead of establishing the tonality
of F major, the entrance of the vocal line begins with a tonicization in B-flat major followed by
tonicizations in A minor and G minor and major. Throughout the entire piece the tonality of F
major is never fully established; even the last chords of the song present a weak and evasive
cadence in F major.
Example 10: Achille Fortier, “Un regard, un baiser,” bars 1-11
It appears that Fortier’s goal was not to clearly establish the tonality of the piece, as convention
would dictate, but rather to use tonicization and modulation as a means to create different
timbres for the different sections of the poetry. Coallier states that “the use of a range of abrupt
modulations to highlight certain details of the text . . . [is one of the] principal constants which
129
stand out as milestones in [Fortier’s] compositions.” Fortier’s “Mon bouquet” (1892) is
129
Coallier, ed., Achille Fortier, ix.
55
another example of a mélodie that showcases the composer’s unique harmonic language. The B
section (mm. 21 to 34) travels through a succession of half diminished seventh chords,
unresolved dominant seventh chords, and uncommon chord progressions (e.g., F# -7♭5 to C7 to
B), which, although contributing to a lack of tonal stability throughout the entire section,
generate distinct sonorities to highlight the words of the poetry.
A unique feature of Fortier’s mélodies is his use of counterpoint. In “Qui saurait?” there are up to
five voices operating at the same time, not unlike what we find in a chorale. As shown in
Example 11, in bars 23 to 25, the dominant melody line travels from the tenor voice to the
soprano voice of the piano, then to the vocal line, with delayed entries that are reminiscent of
that found in a fugue.
Example 11: Achille Fortier, “Qui saurait?” bars 23-26
In “Qui saurait?” there is a constant dialogue between the vocal line and the voices in the piano
accompaniment, as they all share primary melodic material. Fortier’s mélodies show two
important trends of the mélodie genre: a primordial search for unique harmonic colours and
textures to highlight words of the poetry, and a constant dialogue between the vocal line and the
piano accompaniment.
In the mélodie, the piano played an integral role: among the numerous ways in which it
supported the vocal melody, it also commented on the action, made dialogue with the vocal line,
and shared the thematic material. For example, in “La trêve” (1897) by Paul-Émile Prévost, the
piano part helps convey the meaning of the poetry throughout the piece. As shown in Example
12, at the line “pour en parfumer tes pensées” (to perfume your thoughts) two sixteenth-note
56
descending motives are heard in the upper range of the right hand, more than four octaves higher
than the doubled octave bass notes played simultaneously in the left hand.
Example 12: Paul-Émile Prévost, “La trêve,” bars 20-21
The wide expanse of the piano writing helps convey the idea of the realm of thoughts by
providing a contrast from the previous measures, in which the piano range is narrower as the
poetry speaks of the present reality. The sixteenth-note motives also help to communicate the
idea of “perfuming” with their quick rhythm and delicate descending lines in the piano’s upper
range. “Andalouse” by Calixa Lavallée offers an example of intricate dialogue between the vocal
and piano parts. As shown in Example 13, in measures 17 to 19, the vocal part first presents the
melody, which is then mimicked at the piano. The vocal line re-enters upon the last note of the
melody in the piano, creating a seamless transition between voice and piano parts, thus
reinforcing the role of the piano as an equal partner to the voice part.
Example 13: Calixa Lavallée, “Andalouse,” bars 17-19

57
The mélodie differentiated itself from the romance by an increased level of difficulty and
sophistication in the vocal part. Like the pianists who needed to navigate complex chord
progressions, modulations, and writing that made use of the whole range of the keyboard,
increased demands were placed on the musicianship of mélodie singers. Indeed, vocalists needed
to contend with wider ranges, longer phrase lengths, wider intervals, and more melismatic and
coloratura passages. Overall, the mélodie was a repertoire written for and to be performed by
advanced musicians. “Andalouse” by Calixa Lavallée exemplifies the increased level of
difficulty of the vocal part in the mélodie genre (see Annotation 4.5.9, Chapter 4). Dedicated to
the American soprano Emma Juch (1863-1939), who had a successful career in England and the
United States, “Andalouse” features a vocal range that spans over two octaves (C#4-D6), filled
with florid melismatic and coloratura passages, octave leaps, and long sustained phrases, which
requires a high degree of vocal flexibility and skill. The piano part must also execute quick
ornamentation and uncommon chord progressions filled with alterations, while maintaining the
fast-paced tempo di bolero. “Andalouse” is arguably a “showpiece,” due to the high-level
demands it places on the performers.
Another example of a mélodie that places increased demands on the singer is “Mon bouquet” by
Achille Fortier. First, the vocal part contains several challenging intervals. For example, in
measure 10 the melody line drops down a seventh, from G#4 to A#3. Second, the piano part
creates several dissonances with the vocal part, providing little support to the singer. As shown
in Example 14, in measure 25 on the first beat, the voice sings an A natural against a B natural in
the piano part. The roles are reversed on the last beat of the measure, where the voice sings a B
natural against an A natural in the piano part.
Example 14: Achille Fortier, “Mon bouquet,” bar 25

58
Third, the voice must sing sustained lyrical phrases against the thick piano accompaniment,
which requires the performer to maintain a full and resonant voice production to cut through the
dense piano accompaniment. Finally, the setting of the poetry requires a high degree of dramatic
investment from the singer. For example, in measures 56 to 58, the last two lines of the poetry
“vous presseront encore / dans mon dernier sommeil!” (they [my lips] will still press against you
[the bouquet of flowers] / in my last sleep!) are marked double forte followed by a quick piano.
This extreme contrast of dynamic requires the performer to rapidly transition between ideas to
successfully portray these profound emotions.
In summary, detailed analysis of three dominant vocal genres in the late nineteenth century (the
chansonnette, the romance, and the mélodie) revealed that these genres were strongly rooted in
the artistic life of France, and developed approximately twenty to forty years later in Quebec.
The chansonnette was characterized by its simplicity, which was carried out from the language
and subject of the poetry to the melody and piano accompaniment. Chansonnettes generally
showcased light love stories written by poets or lyricists, and were set to a waltz form.
The romance featured the poetry of French writers of the Romantic Movement (e.g., Victor
Hugo, Alphonse de Lamartine, Édouard Turquety, and Émile Deschamps), as well as poems by
French Canadian writers (e.g., Louis Fréchette, Aurèle Barthe, Napoléon Legendre, Rémi
Tremblay, and Tancrède Trudel). In the romance, the poetry was more refined, with longer feet,
and dealt with deeper subjects. Although composers of romances still employed alternating
stanzas and refrain form, the stanza and the refrain shared the same length, and the refrain
contained few repeated words or no repetition at all. Dance forms were abandoned (i.e., the waltz
and polka) and replaced by binary or ternary meters, and composers used more intricate musical
writing (e.g., accidentals and secondary dominant chords, contrasts in dynamics, markings of
expression, and variety in the piano accompaniment).
The mélodie featured the poetry of the French Romantics and Parnassians, as well as French
Canadian poetry by writers such as Louis Fréchette and Napoléon Legendre. Distinctive
characteristics of the mélodie included a sophistication of the music and poetry, an equal
partnership between voice and piano, and an increased difficulty of the vocal and piano parts.
Composers of mélodies sought a perfect union of music and poetry, and broadened the harmonic
landscape by employing devices such as chromaticism, modulation, tonicization, diminished
59
chords, augmented chords, uncommon chord progressions, and counterpoint to highlight the
words of the poetry.
Notwithstanding that there were several characteristics that differentiated the chansonnette, the
romance, and the mélodie, there were several pieces that displayed characteristics of more than
one genre (e.g., “Le grillon” by Antoine Dessane, “Nuit d’été” by Calixa Lavallée, “Les craintes
maternelles” by Alexis Contant, and “Va, chère, dormir” by the Count of Premio-Real).
Chapter 3
Annotating and Grading Compositions for Solo Voice and Piano
Choosing appropriate-level repertoire for singers at all stages of their training is a complex task
for two main reasons: the numerous factors that determine appropriate-level repertoire, and the
lack of training that exists among teachers in evaluating and selecting suitable repertoire. Richard
Miller, renowned voice pedagogue, states, “Finding repertoire to fit the need of every beginning
student is not an easy task. . . . Making sweeping repertoire recommendations is difficult because
130
so much depends on gender, voice category, and an individual’s level of accomplishment.” In
The First Book of Soprano Solos, Joan Frey Boytim explains, “Repertoire for the beginning
voice student, whether teenager, college student, or adult, always poses a great challenge for the
voice teacher because of the varied abilities and backgrounds the students bring to the voice
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studio.” In the book, Literature for Teaching: A Guide for Choosing Solo Vocal Repertoire
from a Developmental Perspective, Christopher Arneson emphasizes the challenges of choosing
appropriate-level pieces for students, and identifies a gap that exists in voice teachers’ training:
“One of the biggest challenges for voice teachers is choosing repertoire that meets a pedagogical
end without exceeding the student’s ability. Very often, colleges train their undergraduate
students to become teachers of singing without teaching them how to evaluate and select
repertoire. As a result, these new teachers turn to repertoire they sang during their own
training—repertoire that might not be suitable for the unique technical issues of their current
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students.” In the case of lesser-known repertoire, such as nineteenth-century French Canadian
songs for solo voice and piano, the selection of repertoire may be even more difficult as there is
little to no recorded examples extant, and the level of difficulty has not been assessed, especially
in cases where the repertoire was previously difficult to access.
130
Richard Miller, Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers (New York: Oxford University Press,
2004), 199.
131
Joan Frey Boytim, The First Book of Soprano Solos (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1991), preface.
132
Christopher Arneson, Literature for Teaching: A Guide for Choosing Solo Vocal Repertoire from a
Developmental Perspective (Delaware, OH: Inside View Press, 2014), 1.
61
Inappropriate repertoire choices may be detrimental to the singer’s success and future career
goals. Voice pedagogue John Nix explains, “no matter how talented and knowledgeable the
teacher is in assisting the singer to establish a technical foundation through vocalises, the same
teacher, by assigning inappropriate literature, can hamper the student’s rate of development or
133
even undermine the technique he or she helped the student acquire.”
Several voice guides exist to guide the teacher and singer in the interpretation of a specific vocal
genre. These guides provide information about vocal requirements related to musical tradition,
voice type, vocal range, detailed translations and pronunciation of foreign language texts, the
context in which a piece was created, and performance comments related to specific
compositions. Although these elements enable singers to make informed choices regarding
interpretation, the level of difficulty of pieces is seldom provided, which makes it complicated to
choose appropriate-level repertoire. In addition, no acknowledged standard exists for assessing
the level of difficulty of compositions for solo voice and piano in the fields of voice performance
and vocal pedagogy. With no comparative scale to assess the difficulty of solo vocal
compositions, an important developmental and performance-related tool is lacking within the
literature.
In order to find an effective way to assess the level of difficulty of compositions for solo voice
and piano, a literature review of guides (including journals and syllabi) specific to compositions
for solo voice and piano was conducted. The literature review’s objectives were to inform the
choice of annotations used for French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano presented in
Chapter 4, and to serve as a basis for the elaboration of an assessment grid to determine the level
of difficulty of compositions for solo voice and piano.
133
John Nix, “Criteria for Selecting Repertoire,” Journal of Singing 58, no. 3 (Jan/Feb 2002): 217.
62
3.1 Literature Review

3.1.1. Review of Annotations Used in Voice Guides
134
A literature review of forty-two guides (including journals and syllabi) specific to
compositions for solo voice and piano and representative of the wide variety of reference guides
used by singers and voice teachers was conducted in order to determine how vocal pieces are
assessed in the fields of voice performance and vocal pedagogy. The forty-two guides were
reviewed to determine the frequency and types of annotations used to assess solo vocal pieces.
As a result, thirty-nine different types of annotations were identified, and are listed in Table 1.
Each voice guide was assigned a number in Table 1. For the complete list of voice guides used
for this compilation with their corresponding number, refer to Appendix C.
134
Opera and oratorio voice guides have been excluded.
63
Table 1: A Compilation of Annotations Used in Forty-Two Voice Guides
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Title of the piece ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Composer’s name ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Composer’s birth/death
dates ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Information about the
composer ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Poet’s name ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Poet’s birth/death dates ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
poet ✔ ✔ ✔
Dedications ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Language ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Year of composition ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Premiere ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Context in which the
work was composed ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Range ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Tessitura ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Voice type ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Difficulty level ✔ ✔ ✔
Sources (editor,
publisher, location) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Text of the poem ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Translation of poem ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
IPA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Musical form ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Key ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Tempo indication ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Meter indication ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Melody ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Harmony ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Rhythm ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Dynamics ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Piano accompaniment ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Character/mood of the
piece ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Style of text setting ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Technical demands ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Pedagogical comments ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Recommendations ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Errors/revisions in the
score ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Score length ✔
Performance length ✔ ✔ ✔
Authoritative
performances ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Recordings ✔ ✔ ✔
64
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
Title of the piece ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Composer’s name ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Composer’s birth/death
dates ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
composer ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Poet’s name ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Poet’s birth/death dates ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
poet ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Dedications ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Language ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Year of composition ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Premiere ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Context in which the
work was composed ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Range ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Tessitura ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Voice type ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Difficulty level ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Sources (editor,
publisher, location) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Text of the poem ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Translation of poem ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
IPA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Musical form ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Key ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Tempo indication ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Meter indication ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Melody ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Harmony ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Rhythm ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Dynamics ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Piano accompaniment ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Character/mood of the
piece ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Style of text setting ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Technical demands ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Pedagogical comments ✔ ✔ ✔
Recommendations ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Errors/revisions in the
score ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Score length
Performance length ✔
Authoritative
performances ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Recordings ✔ ✔
65
Based on the review of the forty-two guides specific to compositions for solo voice and piano,
the frequency of each type of annotation was determined to ascertain which annotations are more
common and which are given more importance. Figure 1 shows the most commonly used
annotations in the voice guides reviewed.
Figure 1: Most Commonly Used Annotations in Voice Guides
The most commonly used annotations are the title of the piece, the composer’s name, the
composer’s birth and death dates, information about the composer, the language of the text, the
poet’s name, and the sources of the score. In the majority of voice guides, there is more
information given on the composer than the poet, despite the central role of text in vocal
compositions. French composer Jacques Leguerney states, “The words and music are of equal
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importance. Their conjunction results in a poem that is not the same as it was before.” Even if
music and text are considered of equal importance when performing vocal compositions, this
parity is not reflected in their annotations. Musical elements such as the melody, rhythm, and
piano accompaniment are frequently described, as they convey the general compositional style
135
Mary Dibbern, Carol Kimball, and Patrick Choukroun, Interpreting the Songs of Jacques Leguerney: A Guide
for Study and Performance (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2001), 34.
66
and character of a piece. In contrast, Figure 2 shows the least commonly used annotations in the
voice guides reviewed.
Figure 2: Least Commonly Used Annotations in Voice Guides
In voice guides, the annotations that are used less frequently include the score length, the
performance length, recordings of the piece, and the difficulty level. On one hand, it is not
surprising to find that the score length is almost never used since it is not indicative of the
performance length of a piece. A two-page piece could be as short as 30 seconds and as long as 5
minutes, depending on the tempo or the genre. On the other hand, it is surprising to find that the
performance length, recordings, and the difficulty level of a piece are seldom given, since they
are useful annotations for both singer and teacher. The performance length of a piece can
facilitate programming of recitals, voice competitions, and voice examinations. There are a few
possible reasons why the performance length is seldom given in voice guides. A performer will
rarely take the same amount of time when performing a vocal composition twice. Performance
timings are also influenced by factors such as voice type, level of training, and individual
interpretation. For example, for the same song, mature voices might take a slightly slower tempo
to complement the inherent characteristics of their instrument, and beginning students might
need a faster tempo because they have not yet developed optimal breathing efficiency for
singing. However, when one observes a given metronome marking and considers the text setting
of a piece, it may be possible to give a useful, approximate performance length. Recordings are
67
useful tools for singers and teachers, as they provide an example of interpretation of a
composition. Recordings can help the singer and teacher quickly understand the musical style
and overall character of a piece that they might not be familiar with. The absence of the level of
difficulty of solo vocal compositions in voice guides may be explained by the complexity of
determining factors, and because no standard exists for assessing this repertoire. A multitude of
elements can influence the level of difficulty of a piece, such as range, interval leaps, long
phrases, non-traditional vocal techniques, sustained notes, very slow or very fast tempi, irregular
meters, complex rhythmic figures, extended dynamics, harmonic language, unprepared
modulations, the absence of a prelude, a piano accompaniment that does not support the vocal
line, an exposed or obscured vocal line, a long text, or a text in which the meaning is not evident
upon first reading. The level of difficulty of a piece is an important annotation for singers and
teachers because it guides them in the choice of appropriate-level repertoire, while providing
them with a comparative scale to assess vocal repertoire.
As evidenced by the compilation of forty-two voice guides, there exists a multitude of

annotations used to describe vocal compositions. To better understand the different types of
annotations, I have grouped them into four categories: informative, descriptive, evaluative, and
prescriptive.
Informative annotations help classify and situate a piece within its historical context. They
include the title of the piece, the composer’s name, the composer’s birth and death dates,
information about the composer, the poet’s name, the poet’s birth and death dates, information
about the poet, dedications, language, the year of composition, the premiere, the context in which
the piece was created, the sources of the musical score, authoritative performances of the piece,
and available recordings.
Descriptive annotations relate to the musical score, and describe its content. They include the
range of the vocal line, the tessitura, voice type, brief poetic synopsis, text of the poem,
translation of the poem, the International Phonetic Alphabet equivalency (IPA), musical form,
key signature, tempo and meter indications, melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, piano
accompaniment, and the style of text setting.
Evaluative annotations involve the assessment of components of a piece according to the

author’s own performing and teaching experience, the piece’s performance tradition or on
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concepts drawn from the fields of voice performance and vocal pedagogy. They include the level
of difficulty, the character or mood of the piece, technical demands, pedagogical comments,
errors in the score, and the performance length of the piece.
Prescriptive annotations represent the author’s recommendations regarding the interpretation of a

piece, and may include suggestions for all aspects of performance, including tempo, dynamics,
breath markings, interpretation, prosody adjustments, revisions to the score, as well as lyric
diction elements to consider such as liaisons or elisions.
The wide variety of annotations that exist in voice guides may be explained by the fact that a
vocal composition is a three-way dialogue amongst the poet, the composer, and the performer.
For the performer, all annotations related to the composer and the poet are useful, since his/her
task is to bring both music and poetry to life through his/her own artistic choices: “The singer
becomes a storyteller par excellence: the link between the composer, the poet, and the
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listener.”
In voice guides, there exist three ways of presenting annotations: a systematic approach where
the same list of annotations is repeated for each song in point form, which allows for a quick
overview of important elements to consider; a narrative approach, where the annotations used
can vary and are presented in the form of a continuous narration, which allows for a more in-
depth analysis of important elements to consider; and finally, a combination of systematic and
narrative approaches, in which a few repeated systematic entries are followed by a narrative
description of the piece, allowing for both a quick overview and an in-depth analysis of the song.
The presentation of annotations is usually dependent upon the quantity and types of annotations
used.
3.1.2 Review of Existing Difficulty Level Assessment Methods

To date, no acknowledged standardized method exists to assess the difficulty level of vocal
compositions for solo voice and piano in the fields of voice performance and vocal pedagogy.
This may be due to the fact that the voice is inherently different than other instruments. In her
136
Carol Kimball, Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2013), 9.
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dissertation “A Performer’s Guide to Works for Soprano Voice by Canadian Women

Composers,” Caroline Schiller explains, “There are guidelines in place for rating difficulty levels
in instrumental music . . . Such guides grade music according to parameters such as the number
of years of study, or the range of the work. Vocal works, however, cannot follow a similar
pattern, since the number of years of study and the general range, although possible indicators,
can in no way provide comprehensive methods of evaluating technical proficiency and vocal
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development.” Most voice guides and syllabi do not provide an explanation as to how they
assess the level of difficulty of vocal compositions (e.g., the Royal Conservatory of Music’s
Voice Syllabus; Judith Carman’s “Music Reviews” in the Journal of Singing; Alan Ord’s Songs
for Beginning Bass voice; the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects Voice Syllabus; and the
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Voice Syllabus). A small number of voice
guides provide subjective explanations as to how they assess vocal pieces (e.g., Joan Frey
Boytim’s Solo Vocal Repertoire for Young Singers). However, these guides do not account for
several elements that can influence the level of difficulty of a piece, such dynamics, text length,
and the difficulty of the piano accompaniment. In Solo Vocal Repertoire for Young Singers, Joan
Frey Boytim defines three degrees of difficulty to assess compositions for solo voice and piano:
I-Easy, II-Moderate, and III-Advanced. Boytim explains, “[The degree of difficulty is]
determined by a scale based on the singer’s ability without much previous vocal training. For
instance, III is for the advanced teenager. (This could, however, translate as moderate for the
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college sophomore.)” These definitions are problematic on two levels. First, trying to
determine the degree of difficulty of a vocal piece based on the singer’s ability without much
previous vocal training is unmeasurable and an almost impossible criterion to apply, as each
singer possesses different abilities and a unique training background. Second, trying to correlate
age and level of difficulty is problematic since all voices are unique, and shaped by different
backgrounds. For example, a teenage boy might find a piece difficult because he has just
experienced voice change, while another of the same age might find it easy.
137
Caroline Schiller, "A Performer’s Guide to Works for Soprano Voice by Canadian Women Composers" (DMA
diss., Florida State University, 2001), 7.
138
Joan Frey Boytim, Solo Vocal Repertoire for Young Singers: An Annotated Bibliography (USA: National
Association of Teachers of Singing, 1982), preface.
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One of the voice guides offering a more complete and measurable method to assess the level of
difficulty of vocal compositions is J. Arden Hopkin’s Songs for Young Singers: An Annotated
List for Developing Voices. To determine the level of difficulty of vocal compositions, Hopkin
takes into consideration seven values: melodic contour, phrasing, language, rhythm,
accompaniment, harmonic language, and dynamics. Each value receives a numeric score
associated with its corresponding criteria. For example, to assess melodic contour, a song with a
small range (an octave or less) receives one point, a song with a moderate range (and octave and
a half or less) receives two points, a song with a wide range (more than one and a half octave)
receives 3 points, and if the song has a high tessitura, one point is added. The sum of the scores
of all seven values determine the level of difficulty of the piece: elementary (scores between 7-
11), intermediate (scores between 12-16), and advanced (scores above 17). Even though
Hopkin’s method is more detailed and quantifiable, it does not take into account all elements that
can influence the difficulty level of a piece, such as large interval leaps, ornamentation,
articulation, unprepared modulations, long texts, mature or comical subjects, the use of an old
form of language, and the absence of a prelude.
Following a similar method of numeric ranking, Christopher Arneson presents four sample
rubrics to rate the difficulty level of vocal compositions in Literature for Teaching: A Guide for
Choosing Solo Vocal Repertoire from a Developmental Perspective. Each element of the piece
deemed important when evaluating music receives a numeric ranking from 1 to 4 (Rubric 1) or
from 1 to 5 (Rubrics 2, 3, and 4). The lowest number is applied to beginning skills, and the
highest number to advanced skills. This ranking scale helps take into account the fact that not
every element is equal in a given piece; some elements are more dominant than others. For
example, a song in which the vocal part spans over an octave and a half does not reperesent the
same degree of difficulty than a song in which the vocal part spans over two octaves. As Arneson
explains, the sample rubrics are based on musical elements that an assessor would believe to be
most important when rating the difficulty level of a piece, adding that, “There is no right or
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wrong musical element to include in a rubric.” While it is true that assessing the difficulty
level of a piece is a subjective task, it is also important to seek a comprehensive level of
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difficulty assessment method that can be applied to all compositions for solo voice and piano,
and that can serve as a reference tool to provide a standardized level of difficulty assessment
method across the fields of voice performance and vocal pedagogy.
3.2. Elaboration of a Level of Difficulty Assessment Grid

3.2.1 Components of Compositions for Solo Voice and Piano
In order to define which elements contribute to the difficulty level of a piece, it was important to
first understand which elements are comprised in compositions for voice and piano. In her book
Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature, Carol Kimball offers one of the most exhaustive
descriptions of elements that form an art song, which she divides into five parameters of style:
melody, harmony, rhythm, accompaniment, and poets/texts. Each parameter is broken into
several subsections, for a total of 32 subsections (see Table 6.1A).
Table 2: Carol Kimball’s Components of Style

MELODY
Melodic Contour/Phrase Shape Motives
Phrase Length Vocal Articulation
Range and Tessitura Text Painting
Chromaticism
HARMONY
Harmonic Texture Recurring Harmonies
Tonality Key Scheme/Modulations/Cadences
Tonal vs. Atonal Contrasts of Major/Minor
Dissonance vs. Consonance Text Illustration Through Harmonic Means
RHYTHM
Tempo Rhythms that Unify
Metric Organization Ostinato
Rhytmic Patterns Rhythms that Reinforce the Text
ACCOMPANIMENT
Predominant Accompaniment Figures Text Illustration in Piano Patterns
Prominent Sections Without the Voice Accompaniment Texture
Shared Material with the Voice Distinctive Dramatic Effects
Use of Motives
POETS/TEXTS
Choice of Texts Treatment of Prosody
Prose Settings Response to the Poem
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Kimball’s extensive list of components of style demonstrates that a multitude of elements can be
considered when assessing art song repertoire or in this case, compositions for solo voice and
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piano. Kimball explains that the objective of this list is to “help define the way a composer
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creates the song’s imagery in each component.” Even though Kimball’s list does not focus on
elements adding to the difficulty of a piece, it serves as a starting point to understand which
elements need to be assessed in order to determine the difficulty level of vocal compositions.
3.2.2 Level of Difficulty Assessment Grid for Compositions for Solo

Voice and Piano
By incorporating elements from Carol Kimball’s list of components of style, J. Arden Hopkin’s
methodology, Christopher Arneson’s sample rubrics, and my own teaching and performing
experience, I have devised an assessment grid of twenty-five challenging elements to determine
the level of difficulty of compositions for solo voice and piano (see Table 3). The challenging
elements are grouped within five categories: melody, rhythm, harmony, text, and piano
accompaniment. Each element is assessed according to the level that best represented the degree
of extensiveness or of occurrence of that element in the score: minimal (equivalent to 1 point),
moderate (equivalent to 2 points), and extensive (equivalent to 3 points). For example, a wide
range (indicated as more than one octave and a half) may be judged minimal if it is just above
one octave and a half, moderate if it is approximately two octaves, and extensive if it is more
than two octaves. The three levels help account for the degree of variability of each element
contained in the musical score; thus, a score that contains only one unprepared modulation will
not receive the same number of points than a score that contains multiple unprepared
modulations. Elements that are not present or applicable to a vocal piece are not assessed. After
judging all the elements applicable to a piece, the number of check marks for each column
(minimal, moderate, and extensive) are added up to determine the subtotals of each column.
Each subtotal is then multiplied by its corresponding number of points (minimal = 1 point,
moderate = 2 points, and extensive = 3 points), and the sum of each column is added to
140
See Introduction for the difference between the terminology of “art song” versus “compositions for solo voice
and piano”.
141
Carol Kimball, Art Song: Linking Poetry and Music (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2013), 3.
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determine the total score of the piece, which in turn determines the level of difficulty of the
piece: elementary, intermediate, or advanced (as shown in Table 4).
Table 3: Level of Difficulty Assessment Grid for Compositions for Solo Voice and Piano
Minimal Moderate Extensive
(1 point) (2 points) (3 points)
Wide range (more than one octave and a half)
High tessitura/low tessitura
Through-composed/various sections of new material
Large interval leaps (a minor sixth or larger)/diminished
and augmented intervals
Long phrases/long sustained notes
Melody Ornamentation
Articulation
Extended vocal technique
Extended dynamics/rapid changes of dynamics
Slow tempo (52 BPM or slower)
Fast tempo (120 BPM or faster)
Tempo changes
Rhythm Metric changes
Compound meter/asymmetrical meter/nonmetric meter/
improvisatory meter
Complex rhythms (tuplets, hemiolas, and polyrhythms)
Harmony Unprepared modulations/multiple modulations
Chromatic/modal/atonal
Long text (100 words or longer)
Mature subject
Text Comical subject
Use of dialect/old form of language/texts in which the
meaning is not evident upon first reading
Spoken text/recitative/multiple markings of expression
Absence of prelude/very short prelude/long prelude,
Piano interlude or postlude (20 seconds or longer)
Does not prepare the entrance of the vocal line/creates
Accompaniment dissonances with the vocal line
Light texture/dense texture
Virtuosic piano writing
Subtotal (x1) (x2) (x3)
Total Score
Table 4: Difficulty Levels and Corresponding Grid Scores

Difficulty Levels Grid Score
Elementary 0-14
Intermediate 15-24
Advanced 25 and more
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3.2.2.1 Melody
A wide range was defined as one that exceeds one octave and a half. A range of just above one
octave and a half was judged minimal, a range of approximately two octaves was judged
moderate, and a range of over two octaves was judged extensive.
Tessitura describes the range in which the majority of the pitches of a vocal part lie, and it is
indicative of where one’s voice comfortably sits. A high tessitura is associated with a vocal part
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that lies mostly around the secondo passaggio and higher for women voices, and above the
primo passaggio for male voices. A high tessitura is challenging due to the increased difficulty in
singing specific vowels or consonants at a high range. John Nix explains, “Pieces that have high
notes on the low first formant vowels /i/, /ɪ/, /u/, /ʊ/, and /e/ . . . require significant modification
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in the upper octave of the female voice,” adding that, “voiced consonants can be quite
144
problematic on high pitches.” Richard Miller states that for male voices, “the singer must
learn to bridge areas of lower and upper ranges by means of vowel modification, accomplished
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by resonance balancing, and by adjustment in breath-management levels.” A low tessitura is
associated with a vocal part that lies mostly around the primo passaggio and lower for women’s
voices and in the lower range of the chest voice for men. A low tessitura is challenging for all
voice types since it sits lower than the comfortable tessitura of the given voice, making it
challenging to maintain weight and rich resonance, especially for young voices. In order to
determine high and low tessitura in a composition, one must refer to the vocal ranges of each
voice type. For the level of difficulty assessment grid, the “ideal” vocal ranges for each voice
type were used, as described in James C. McKinney’s book, The Diagnosis & Correction of
Vocal Faults, which represent the “two octaves which will cover ninety to ninety-five percent or
142
See Appendix F – Glossary.
143
144
Ibid.
145
Richard Miller, Securing Baritone, Bass-Baritone, and Bass Voices (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008),
8.
75
146
more of [the literature for that classification].” Figure 3 shows approximate high (H) and low
(L) tessitura for each voice type based on McKinney’s “ideal” vocal ranges.
Figure 3: Approximate High and Low Tessiture for Each Voice Type
The pitch of the high or low tessitura determined the level: for example, a piece with a tessitura
around E5 for a soprano or around C4 for a baritone was judged minimal; a piece with a tessitura
around F#5/G5 for a soprano or around D#4/E4 for a baritone was judged moderate; and a piece
with a tessitura around A5 for a soprano or around F4 for a baritone was judged extensive.
A through-composed composition or a composition containing various sections of new

material is typically more challenging than one with sections of repeated melodic patterns. A
short through-composed piece (e.g., a two or three-minute piece), or a piece containing a small
number of sections of new material was judged minimal, a longer through-composed piece (e.g.,
a four- or five-minute piece) or a piece containing several sections of new material was judged
moderate, and a very long through-composed piece (e.g., more than six minutes) or a piece
containing a large number of sections of new material was judged extensive.
When singing large interval leaps (a minor sixth or larger), vocal fold coordination with ideal
breath pressure may become more difficult. Diminished and augmented intervals are often
non-harmonic tones and may be considered more challenging to the performer. The number of
occurrences of such types of intervals determined the difficulty level: a vocal part with two or
146
James C. McKinney, The Diagnosis & Correction of Vocal Faults: A Manual for Teachers of Singing & for
Choir Directors (Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 2005), 110-111.
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three large intervals or diminished or augmented intervals was judged minimal, a vocal part with
four to seven, moderate, and a vocal part with eight or more, extensive.
Long phrases and long sustained notes (measured in seconds) add to the difficulty of a piece,
as they require a high degree of breath-management technique from the singer. William Vennard
explains, “In the excitement of singing, the lungs burn oxygen faster. This is why in learning a
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piece, long phrases are more difficult than they will be when they are more familiar.” A
longer phrase written with a loud dynamic against a thick piano texture will require more
stamina and tonal intensity from the singer than one written with a softer dynamic against a thin
piano texture. The length of phrases or of sustained notes coupled with the stamina required to
sing them determined the level. For example, a sustained note at a mezzo forte dynamic level was
judged minimal, whereas a piece containing long and lyrical phrases at a ff dynamic level with a
thick piano texture was judged extensive.
Ornamentation may be defined as the embellishment of a vocal melody. Ornaments include

accacciature, appoggiature, cadenzas, trills, and melismas. The amount and occurrence of
ornamentation in the vocal part determined the level. For example, a vocal part with two or three
ornaments was judged minimal, a vocal part with a small number of melismas or four or five
ornaments was judged moderate, and a vocal part with several melismas, ornaments, and
cadenzas was judged extensive.
Articulation denotes the way a specific note or group of notes should be performed, with
regards to duration or stress. Articulation markings include portamenti, staccati, tenuti, accents,
and marcati. The number of articulation markings in the vocal part determined the level: a piece
containing a small number of articulation markings was judged minimal, whereas a piece
containing a large number of articulation markings was judged extensive.
Extended vocal technique may be defined as a vocal technique that extends beyond the basic
voice production associated with opera and recital singing. It includes techniques such as
sprechgesang, glissandi, straight tone, shouting, falsetto, sounds produced upon inhalation,
147
William Vennard, Singing: The Mechanism and the Technic (New York: Carl Fisher, 1967), 34.
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148
reinforced harmonics, ululation, vocal fry, and complex multiphonics. The amount and degree
of difficulty of extended vocal technique determined the level: for example, a piece with two
glissandi was judged minimal, a piece in which a male singer needs to sing in falsetto for several
phrases was judged moderate, and a piece containing complex multiphonics was judged
extensive.
Extended dynamics include dynamics louder than forte and softer than piano (e.g., pp or ff).
Extended dynamics and rapid changes in dynamics can add to the difficulty of a vocal
composition, since they require a skillful and rapid transition in singing. A vocal part containing
two or three extended dynamics or one or two rapid changes of dynamics was judged minimal, a
vocal part containing four or five extended dynamics or three or four rapid changes of dynamics
was judged moderate, and a vocal part containing more than six extended dynamics or five or
more rapid changes of dynamics was judged extensive.
3.2.2.2 Rhythm
A slow tempo requires higher levels of breath management, and a fast tempo requires a higher
degree of stamina and quick vocal articulation. A slow tempo includes tempo markings such as
largo, lento, and grave, which corresponded to approximately 52 beats per minute and slower. A
quick tempo includes tempo markings such as allegro, vivace, and presto, which corresponded to
approximately 120 beats per minute and faster. A composition with a tempo of approximately 52
or 120 BPM was judged minimal, a composition with a tempo marking of approximately 48 or
126 BPM was judged moderate, and a composition with a tempo marking of 44 BPM and
slower, or faster than 132 BPM, was judged extensive.
Tempo changes require further attention from the singer and pianist with regards to ensemble
and interpretation. Tempo changes include such markings as ritenuto, rallentando, ritardando,
accelerando, allargando, mosso (meno and più), rubato, stringendo, and fermatas. A piece
containing two or three markings of tempo changes was judged minimal, a piece containing four
or five markings of tempo changes was judged moderate, and a piece containing six or more
markings of tempo changes was judged extensive.
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78
Metric changes can be challenging, as they alter the pattern of stresses in the pulse of the music.
A piece containing one or two metric changes was judged minimal, a piece containing three or
four metric changes was judged moderate, and a piece containing five or more metric changes
was judged extensive.
Some time signatures are more challenging than others. For example, compound,
asymmetrical, non-metric, and improvisatory meters are considered to be more challenging
than simple meters. Compositions written in common compound or asymmetrical meters (e.g.,
6/8 or 3/8) were judged minimal, compositions written in less common compound meters (e.g.,
12/8 or 11/8) were judged moderate, and compositions written in non-metric and improvisatory
meters were judged extensive.
Complex rhythms included tuplets (triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc.), hemiolas, and
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polyrhythms. A piece was judged minimal if it contained one hemiola or a small number of
tuplets. A piece was judged moderate if it contained several tuplets, or two or three hemiolas or
polyrhythms. A piece was judged extensive if it contained several tuplets, hemiolas or
polyrhythms.
3.2.2.3 Harmony
Unprepared modulations are challenging because they involve an abrupt change to another
tonal center. A piece with multiple modulations may also be challenging since tonal centers
shift frequently. The number of modulations and the way in which the modulations were
prepared determined the level: a piece with one or two modulations or one unprepared
modulation was judged minimal, a piece with three or four modulations, or two to three
unprepared modulations, was judged moderate, and a piece with five or more modulations or
several unprepared modulations was judged extensive.
A chromatic composition can be defined as a composition that uses chromatic intervals and
chromatic chords foreign to the mode or diatonic scale upon which it is based. The number of
chromatic intervals and chords determined the level (e.g., a composition with a small number of
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79
chromatic intervals or chords was judged minimal, and in contrast, a composition with a large
number of chromatic intervals or chords was judged extensive).
A modal composition refers to a composition written in scales other than major and minor, for
example, the whole tone scale or the ancient Greek and medieval Church modes. An atonal
composition refers to a composition that lacks a tonal center, in which the twelve notes of the
octave operate independently from a key center. Compositions containing a short modal passage
were judged moderate, and atonal compositions were judged extensive.
3.2.2.4 Text
Compositions containing long texts typically represent greater challenge in terms of
memorization and interpretation. A composition containing approximately 100 words was
judged minimal, a composition containing approximately 150 words was judged moderate, and a
composition containing approximately 200 words or more was judged extensive.
Vocal pieces that deal with mature or comical subject content usually require a higher degree
of theatrical skills from the singer. Arneson cautions teachers, “Selecting a song that is outside
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the realm of experience for the student can result in difficulty connecting to the lyrics.” The
dramatic requirements to personify a specific character or situation determined the level. For
example, a text referencing a flirtatious situation or a young character experiencing his/her first
breakup was judged minimal, whereas a text filled with humour (including puns and double
entendres) or an old character speaking about death was judged extensive.
Texts that use a form of dialect or an old form of language often require further study and
pronunciation adjustments. Texts in which the meaning is not evident upon first reading,
such as texts filled with metaphors, symbolism, or texts tinged with surrealism or sophisticated
poetry, may require further analysis, and constitute a greater interpretative challenge. A text that
presented a small number of archaic words or metaphors was judged minimal. A text that
presented several metaphors or symbolic imagery was judged moderate. A text that presented
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80
only a symbolist or surrealist language, a dialect, or an old form of language was judged
extensive.
A piece that contains spoken text (including direct quotations of a character that are sung) or
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recitative passages is challenging since it requires the singer to change voice productions
quickly, and apply theatrical declamation skills. A piece containing multiple markings of
expression (e.g., a little nostalgic, tenderly, with warmth, espressivo, and dolce) requires the
performer to be able to quickly shift between emotions and vocal colours. A piece that contained
one or two spoken words, one spoken sentence, or two or three markings of expression was
judged minimal. A piece that contained a small number of spoken words, two spoken sentences,
a short recitative, or four or five markings of expression was judged moderate. A piece that
contained several spoken words, three or more spoken sentences, a long recitative, or six or more
markings of expression was judged extensive.
3.2.2.5 Piano Accompaniment

The absence of a prelude in a composition represents a challenge since the performer needs to
determine the beginning pitch of the vocal line without the help of the piano, while establishing
the accurate tempo upon starting. Compositions that only contain a very short prelude (i.e., one
bar) are also challenging, since the piano does not have time to securely establish the key and
tempo of the piece before the entrance of the voice. Long piano introductions, interludes, or
postludes are interpretively challenging since the performer needs to keep the audience engaged
while not singing. A composition that contained a piano prelude, interlude, or postlude of
approximately twenty seconds was judged minimal. A composition that contained a piano
prelude, interlude, or postlude of approximately twenty-five seconds, or a very short piano
prelude was judged moderate. A composition devoid of a piano prelude or a composition that
contained a piano prelude, interlude, or postlude of thirty seconds or more was judged extensive.
A piano accompaniment that does not prepare the entrance of the vocal line with consonance
or that creates dissonances with the vocal line adds to the difficulty of a piece. Dissonant
intervals include intervals of seconds and sevenths, as well as augmented and diminished
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81
intervals. A piece was judged minimal if the piano accompaniment did not play the entrance note
of the vocal line, but remained in the same key, or if there were one or two dissonances between
the vocal line and the piano accompaniment. A piece was judged moderate if the piano
accompaniment was not in the same key as the vocal line, but presented a chord from which the
entrance note of the vocal line could be easily deduced, or if there were three or four dissonances
between the vocal line and the piano accompaniment. A piece was judged extensive if the piano
accompaniment presented musical material from which the entrance note of the vocal line could
not be easily deduced, or if there were a large number of dissonances between the vocal line and
the piano accompaniment. Compositions devoid of a piano prelude were not assessed in this
category, as they were assessed in the category marked as “Absence of prelude/very short
prelude/long prelude, interlude or postlude (20 seconds or longer).”
A light-texture piano accompaniment exposes the vocal line and provides little support for the
voice while a dense-texture piano accompaniment can obscure the vocal line, and requires the
singer to maintain a full and resonant tone to balance the thickness of the piano texture. A piece
containing a short section with light or dense piano texture was judged minimal. A piece
containing a small number of sections with light or dense piano texture was judged moderate. A
piece containing a large number of sections with light or dense piano texture was judged
extensive.
Virtuosic piano writing requires the mastery of advanced piano skills, and includes musical
elements such as fast scales, arpeggios, repeated intervals, complex chords and rhythmic figures,
and ornamentation. A piece containing virtuosic piano writing may require further attention from
the pianist and singer regarding ensemble. The extent and occurrence of virtuosic piano writing
determined the level. For example, a piece containing a small number of scales and arpeggios
was judged minimal, a piece containing several rich chords and trills was judged moderate, and a
piece containing a large number of scales, complex rhythmic figures, and ornamentation at a fast
tempo was judged extensive.
3.2.2.6 Difficulty Levels

The numeric sum of challenging elements judged as minimal, moderate, and extensive
corresponds to three possible difficulty levels: elementary, which contains mostly minimal
challenging elements; intermediate, which contains mostly moderate challenging elements; and
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advanced, which contains mostly extensive challenging elements. A limitation of this

categorization is the fact that within the same category, the level of difficulty of pieces is
variable. For example, a piece with a score of 16 may not be as challenging to perform as a piece
with a score of 24; however, both pieces are categorized as intermediate level. To address this
limitation, the numeric grid score of each piece is provided in parenthesis beside its difficulty
level.
In order to determine the grid score that corresponds to a specific difficulty level, I subjected
thirty compositions for solo voice and piano judged as elementary, intermediate, and advanced in
existing graded literature to the new level of difficulty assessment grid. The grading systems of
established pedagogues J. Arden Hopkin, Caroline Schiller, Judith Carman, and Christopher
152
Anerson were selected as they are representative of the diversity of grading systems for
compositions for solo voice and piano that are currently found within the fields of vocal
pedadogy and voice performance. Furthermore, Hopkin, Schiller, and Arneson represent the very
few pedagogues to provide a description and explanation of their grading systems. Hopkin’s and
Arneson’s grading systems aim to establish guidelines for choosing standard repertoire that
meets pedagogical objectives for young and developing voices. Carman’s grading system is
found in the Music Review section of the Journal of Singing, which offers a descriptive analysis
of newly published repertoire for singers intended for voice teachers. Schiller developed her
grading system as part of an annotated performance guide to works for soprano voice by
Canadian women composers, intended for the advanced performer. She is the only pedagogue to
offer a grading system of Canadian solo vocal repertoire.
Table 5 lists all grid scores of the thirty compositions assessed with the new level of difficulty
assessment grid, according to their original assessment of level of difficulty. The complete
assessment grids for each composition can be found in Appendix D.
152
J. Arden Hopkin, Songs for Young Singers: An Annotated List for Developing Voices (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow
Press Inc., 2002); Caroline Schiller, "A Performer’s Guide to Works for Soprano Voice by Canadian Women
Composers" (DMA diss., Florida State University, 2001); Judith Carman, “Music Reviews,” Journal of Singing
70, no. 3 (Jan/Feb 2014): 384-5; Judith Carman, “Music Reviews,” Journal of Singing 70, no. 5 (May/June
2014): 629; Judith Carman, “Music Reviews,” Journal of Singing 71, no. 3 (Jan/Feb 2015): 395; Judith Carman,
“Music Reviews,” Journal of Singing 71, no. 5 (May/June 2015): 655; and Christopher Arneson, Literature for
Teaching: A Guide for Choosing Solo Vocal Repertoire from a Developmental Perspective (Delaware, OH:
Inside View Press, 2014).
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Table 5: Level of Difficulty Assessment Grid Scores for Graded Vocal Compositions in Existing
Literature
Original Assessment Source Title Grid Score
Elementary Hopkin 1. “The Daisies” by Samuel Barber 6
Elementary Hopkin 2. “Liebhaber in allen Gestalten” by Franz Schubert 4
Elementary Hopkin 3. “Loveliest of Trees” by John Duke 15
Elementary Hopkin 4. “El Majo Discreto” by Enrique Granados 13
Easy (Elementary) Schiller 5. “The White Rose” by Jean Coulthard 32
Easy (Elementary) Schiller 6. “Long Ago” by Jean Coulthard 24
Easy (Elementary) Carman 7. “Natsu no Omoide” by Yoshinao Nakada 7
Easy (Elementary) Carman 8. “The Lament of Frostina the Snow Woman” 14
Easy (Elementary) Arneson 9. “Sonntag” by Johannes Brahms 10
Easy (Elementary) Arneson 10. “Gruß” by Felix Mendelssohn 4
Intermediate Hopkin 1. “Si mes vers avaient des ailes” by Reynaldo Hahn 16
Intermediate Hopkin 2. “Lied der Mignon” by Franz Schubert 17
Intermediate Hopkin 3. “Charmant papillon” by André Campra 23
Intermediate Hopkin 4. “Orpheus with his Lute” by W. Schuman 16
Medium (Intermediate) Schiller 5. “J’ai fermé mon coeur” by Jean Coulthard 33
Medium (Intermediate) Schiller 6. “Swift Current” by Violet Archer 21
Medium (Intermediate) Carman 7. “Building a House” by Lori Laitman 30
Medium (Intermediate) Carman 8. “O Captain! My Captain” by Kurt Weill 27
Moderate (Intermediate) Arneson 9. “Nun lass uns Frieden Schliessen” by Hugo Wolf 18
Moderate (Intermediate) Arneson 10. “Adieu” by Gabriel Fauré 16
Advanced Hopkin 1.“Absence” by Hector Berlioz 29
Advanced Hopkin 2. “Villanelle” by Eva Dell’Acqua 34
Advanced Hopkin 3. “Silver” by John Duke 23
Advanced Hopkin 4. “A Nun Takes the Veil” by Samuel Barber 23
Difficult (Advanced) Schiller 5. “Contrastes” by Anne Lauber 48
Difficult (Advanced) Schiller 6. “Valzer Musette” by Violet Archer 27
Difficult (Advanced) Carman 7. “Summer Stars” by John Musto 34
Difficult (Advanced) Carman 8. “An Opera House” by Lowell Liebermann 52
Difficult (Advanced) Arneson 9. “Prison” by Gabriel Fauré 19
Difficult (Advanced) Arneson 10. “My German Boyfriend” by Richard Pearson 24
Thomas
Table 5 demonstrates that, to a certain extent, there appears to be a common understanding of

what constitutes elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels of difficulty for solo vocal
pieces, given that, in most cases, the corresponding grid scores increase as the level of difficulty
increases. However, Table 5 also demonstrates that discrepancy exists between the assessments
of difficulty levels in existing literature, as a small number of pieces with high grid scores were
assessed as elementary or intermediate instead of advanced, and pieces with lower grid scores
were assessed as advanced instead of intermediate. For example, Schiller’s assessments of easy
compositions with high corresponding grid scores may be explained by the fact that the author
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dealt primarily with contemporary compositions for voice and piano, a repertoire that is
generally more challenging than nineteenth-century repertoire. The results of Table 5 highlight
the need for a comprehensive and quantifiable level of difficulty assessment method that can be
applied to all repertoire for solo voice and piano across the fields of voice performance and vocal
pedagogy.
To determine the corresponding grid scores for each difficulty level (elementary, intermediate,
and advanced), the highest grid score value for each column (minimal, moderate, and extensive)
was taken into consideration for pieces that seemed to bridge two categories. Thus, a piece with a
higher value of elements judged as minimal belonged to the elementary level category; a piece
with a higher value of elements judged as moderate belonged to the intermediate level category;
and a piece with a higher value of elements judged as extensive belonged to the advanced level
category. For example, “Loveliest of Trees” by John Duke, with a grid score of 15, contained a
sum of 7 for elements judged as minimal, and a sum of 8 for elements judged as moderate;
therefore, the piece belonged to the intermediate level category (See Appendix D). Based on
these values, the score of 15 constituted the demarcation point for the intermediate-level
category. “Long Ago” by Jean Coulthard contained a grid score of 24, with a sum of 10 for
elements judged as minimal, a sum of 2 for elements judged as moderate, and a sum of 12 for
elements judged as extensive (See Appendix D). Given that the value of elements judged as
extensive was the same as the combination of elements judged as minimal and moderate, this
piece still belonged to the intermediate category. As a result, the grid score value of 25
constituted the demarcation point for the advanced-level category (See Table 4).
The three difficulty levels and their corresponding grid scores are not meant to be definitive, but
to offer a quantifiable approach to grading compositions for solo voice and piano. Although the
new assessment grid is dependent upon the assessor’s subjective ratings, its exhaustive list of
challenging elements and three levels of assessment (minimal, moderate, and extensive) provide
a usable framework to grade repertoire with consistency.
The literature review of forty-two guides specific to compositions for solo voice and piano
showed that even if music and text are considered of equal importance in the performance of
vocal repertoire, this parity is not reflected in the annotation of vocal compositions; there are few
annotations related to the text. To address this disparity, the annotations of French Canadian
85
repertoire in Chapter 4 included various annotations related to text, such as International

Phonetic Alphabet equivalency and translation of the text, and French lyric diction elements to
153
observe (e.g., the accent d’insistance, liaisons, and elisions). For the annotations of French
Canadian songs for solo voice and piano in Chapter 4, I chose to use four categories of
annotations (informative, descriptive, evaluative, and prescriptive) in order to offer a
comprehensive assessment of each song, and I used a combination of systematic and narrative
approaches to present the annotations, which allows for both a quick overview and an in-depth
analysis of important elements to consider.
The literature review also demonstrated that useful annotations for teachers and performers, such
as the performance length or the difficulty level, are seldom provided in literature. In this guide,
approximate performance lengths were provided for the annotations of French Canadian songs in
Chapter 4. Equally challenging is determining the difficulty level of a composition for solo voice
and piano. The author’s methodology included the evaluation of thirty graded vocal
compositions in existing literature using the level of difficulty assessment grid. The results
helped to demonstrate the effectiveness and consistency of the assessment grid, especially when
evaluating different vocal genres, and the grid was then used to determine the difficulty level of
French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano.
The level of difficulty assessment grid was designed to serve as a tool for establishing a
standardized level of difficulty assessment within the fields of voice performance and vocal
pedagogy; that is, to aid teachers and performers in evaluating and selecting suitable repertoire,
thus contributing to the development of efficient vocal technique for the student singer. By
providing a comprehensive and systematic method of assessment, the grid constitutes a good
starting point for repertoire evaluation across the fields of voice performance and vocal
pedagogy, saving teachers and singers countless hours of evaluating and re-evaluating scores to
determine their level of difficulty. Of course, choosing appropriate repertoire entails more than
choosing a composition based solely on its level of difficulty. There are other important factors
that teachers need to consider when choosing repertoire, such as age, vocal personality, vocal
153
86
skills, and possible physical limitations. For this reason, the level of difficulty assessment grid
should not constitute the sole tool a teacher or singer uses to choose appropriate-level repertoire.
Chapter 4
Annotations of Selected Nineteenth-Century French Canadian
Songs for Solo Voice and Piano
This chapter serves as a voice guide for performers and teachers, as it presents the annotations
for twenty-two songs discussed in Chapter 1 and 2, which are representative of the different
vocal genres of French Canadian compositions for solo voice and piano present in the nineteenth
century, while offering a detailed assessment of each composition from a performance point of
view. The songs are presented chronologically, according to period divisions of Pre-
Confederation, Confederation, and late nineteenth century. The songs were chosen according to a
variety of moods and occasion (e.g., patriotic, folkloric, comical, and holiday songs), and
according to different musical genres (e.g., the chansonnette, the romance, and the mélodie).
The songs chosen also represent varying difficulty levels, which will appeal to the beginning,
intermediate, and advanced singer. As discussed in Chapter 3, I used all four categories of
annotations to describe French Canadian songs (informative, descriptive, evaluative, and
prescriptive). Informative annotations such as the year of composition, the premiere, and the
context in which the piece was created will help performers situate a piece within its historical
context, and the source information will help performers locate the score. Descriptive
annotations such as the vocal range will help teachers evaluate the suitability of a piece for a
specific voice type, and the brief poetic synopsis will permit a quick assessment of poetic
meaning. Evaluative annotations such as the level of difficulty will help teachers and performers
choose appropriate-level repertoire, and the approximate performance length will guide the
programming of recitals and examinations. Prescriptive annotations such as suggested prosody
adjustments and words to which the accent d’insistance may be applied will guide the singer in
the delivery of a text that is as close as possible to the idiomatic expression of formal and
colloquial forms of French Canadian language.
Each song contains systematic entries for the following annotations: the title of the piece, the
composer’s name, the poet’s name, the poet’s birth and death dates, the composition date, the
publisher, the source of the musical score, the voice type if specified, the vocal range, the
88
difficulty level (elementary, intermediate, or advanced) with its corresponding grid score in
parenthesis (see Appendix E), the approximate performance length, a brief poetic synopsis of the
text (in italics), the text itself, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) equivalency of the text,
underlined words to which the accent d’insistance may be applied, and the translation of the text.
The systematic entries are followed by paragraphs of narrated commentary, which include—if
available and applicable—the source of the poetry, dedications, publishers, different versions
that exist, the context in which the piece was composed, and its first performances. In order to
provide the performer or the teacher with a quick survey of the muscial content of the piece, the
paragraph of narrated commentary also includes some of the following information: musical
form, key, tempo and meter indications, melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, piano
accompaniment, style of text setting, and character or mood of the piece. The last paragraph is
dedicated to pedagogical comments, including vocal challenges, French lyric diction elements
that may be problematic for non-native speakers (e.g., liaisons, elisions, or colloquial
pronunciation), pedagogical concepts that may be addressed through the piece, typographical
errors found in the score, and possible prosody adjustments.
The majority of nineteenth century French Canadian songs follow a strophic form, in which one
stanza of the poetry is set to music, and the following stanzas are repeated to the same music. As
a result, the word stress in the following stanzas may sometimes be awkward, and may require
adjustment to offer a more natural rendition of the text. Prosody adjustments are suggested for
pieces containing typographical mistakes or imprecisions in the score or for compositions of
strophic form in which the text is at the forefront and the music plays an ancillary role.
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a tool widely used by performers to guide them in
the pronounciation of foreign languages. For the purposes of these annotations, the IPA will
guide non-native French speakers in the accurate pronounciation of French Canadian formal and
colloquial forms of language. For the English translations, the objective was to stay as close as
possible to the “word-by-word” meaning of the text, as opposed to providing a poetic translation.
The “word-by-word” translation is particularly useful to performers as it helps them achieve a
precise understanding of the text, and identify important words to highlight for expression.
89
4.1 The Accent d’insistance

The accent d’insistance (accent of insistence) is a non-mandatory stress in French that allows the
speaker to emphasize a particular word, to orient the meaning of a statement, or to add
expressivity. It is generally made by increasing the intensity and duration of either the first
syllable, the first consonant, or the first vowel of a word. Linguist Pierre Léon explains that there
154
are five ways to perform the accent d’insistance. For certain words, the first syllable is louder.
For example, in “L’absence,” in the line “Tu m’apparais, pressant encor ma main” the first
syllable pres [prɛ] of the word pressant is emphasized in order to perform the accent
155
d’insistance. When the first consonant is a sibilant, the consonant is stretched out. For
example, in “Sol canadien,” in the line “Salut, ô sublimes montagnes,” one will need to stretch
out the initial s of the word sublimes (sssublimes) in order to perform the accent d’insistance.
156 157
When the first consonant is a plosive, the consonant is preceded by a glottal stop. For
example, in “Laissez-moi dormir,” in order to perform the accent d’insistance in the line “Ni
désespoir, ni larme amère !” the d of the word désespoir is preceded by an glottal stop. When the
word begins with a vowel, the vowel is preceded by a glottal stop. For example, in
“Épanchement,” in order to perform the accent d’insistance on the word errante in the line
“Sais-tu que ma pauvre âme, errante et solitaire,” the singer will need to produce a glottal stop
before the initial vowel e. In cases where a word begins with a vowel and is part of a liaison or
an elision with the preceding word, the consonant of the preceding word used for the liaison or
the elision is emphasized and it follows the same rules as a word beginning with a consonant. For
example, in “Le jour de l’an à la campagne,” in the line “Cette autre jeunesse du cœur,” the
singer should pronounce the t of cette with the syllable au of the word autre, and precede it by an
glottal stop.
Using the accent d’insistance is important when singing in French, as it adds expressivity and
meaning to the text, and provides relief in an otherwise unstressed language. The accent
154
Pierre Léon, Phonétisme et prononciations du français, 6e édition (Paris: Armand Colin, 2011), 158-159.
155
156
Ibid.
157
Ibid.
90
d’insistance may be challenging for non-native French speakers, as the rules for French word
stress differ from that of many languages. Suggestions of words to which the accent d’insistance
may be applied are underlined in the text of the songs. A footnote identifies uncommon cases of
accent d’insistance, namely when the second syllable of a word is emphasized instead of the first
syllable.
4.2 French Canadian Pronunciation

In Quebec, there are two forms of French Canadian language: colloquial and formal. The
colloquial form, which contains many vowel diphthongs and word contractions, is used in
informal situations. It is perceived as a language of lesser quality, and it can be linked to socio-
158
economic factors. For example, linguists Luc Ostiguy and Claude Tousignant note that, “In
Montreal, the diphthongized pronunciation of the vowel a . . . characterizes a speaker who is less
educated or a speaker who does not work in a position requiring daily communication with the
159
public.” In contrast, the French Canadian formal form of language, which is equivalent to the
formal French language used in France, is considered more proper, and up until the middle of the
twentieth century, was taught by members of the clergy, who were in charge of education in
Quebec, and used pronunciation textbooks and dictionaries created in France. As the majority of
French Canadian songs for voice and piano of the nineteenth century were composed for French
Canadians with a certain degree of education, the pronunciation of these songs follows the
formal form of the French Canadian language. The colloquial form of the French Canadian
language is only found in pieces of folkloric influence, such as “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre,”
arranged by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin, which features word contractions, indicating its
association with the colloquial form of the French Canadian language. As represented in Table 6,
there are a few characteristics governing the pronunciation of the colloquial form of the French
Canadian language in the nineteenth century.
158
Ostiguy and Tousignant, Les prononciations du français québécois: Normes et usages, 2e édition mise à jour
(Montreal: Guérin universitaire 3e millénaire, 2008), 17-18.
159
Ostiguy and Tousignant, 19.
91
160
Table 6: Pronunciation Characteristics of the Colloquial Form of French Canadian Language
Formal French French Canadian

Pronunciation Pronunciation
1. Laxing of closed vowels to near-closed [i], [y], [u] [ɪ], [ʏ], [ʊ]
vowels
2. Darkening of the vowel a [a] [ɑ]
3. Fronting of the nasal [ɑ̃] [ɑ̃] [ã]
4. Closing of the nasal [ɛ]̃ [ɛ]̃ [ẽ]
5. Diphthongization of longer vowels [ɑː] [eː] [ɛː] [øː] [au] [ej] [ae] [ø y]
[œː] [oː] [ɔː] [aœ] [ɔo] [au]
6. Diphthongization of nasal vowels [œ̃ ] [ɔ̃] [œ̃ ɥ] [ɔ̃w]
[ɛ]̃ [ɑ̃] [ɛj̃ ] [ɑ̃w]
Interestingly, the affrication of consonants d and t in front of vowels i and u, a characteristic of

today’s pronunciation of the colloquial form of the French Canadian language, is absent from
early twentieth century recordings of French Canadian folkloric songs. It appears that the
affrication of consonants d and t began after the early twentieth century. Since the affrication of
consonants d and t is absent from vocal performances of French Canadian folkloric songs in the
early twentieth century recordings, this characteristic has not been included. As per the uvular r
[ʁ], another characteristic of today’s pronunciation of the colloquial form of the French Canadian
language, Ostiguy and Tousignant observe that the flipped r [r] was used in Montreal until the
161
1930s, at which point it was slowly replaced by the uvular r [ʁ]. Recordings of French
Canadian folkloric songs made in the 1920s by French Canadian singers such as Charles
Marchand, Alexandre Desmarteaux, and Conrad Gauthier corroborate this statement, as they all
160
See Annie Brasseur, “Les marqueurs phonétiques de la perception de l’accent québécois” (MA thesis, Université
Laval, Québec, 2009), 34; Ostiguy and Tousignant, 94; Reinke, “La langue à la télévision québécoise: aspects
sociophonétiques” (Quebec: Gouvernement du Québec, 2005), 21, https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/
bibliotheque/sociolinguistique/etude6_compl.pdf; Douglas C. Walker, The Pronunciation of Canadian French
(Ottawa, ON: University of Ottawa Press, 1984), 62, http://people.ucalgary.ca/~dcwalker/PronCF.pdf.
161
Ostiguy and Tousignant, 167.
92
use the flipped r [r] for the pronunciation of the colloquial form of the French Canadian
162
language. Since all French Canadian songs presented in this chapter were composed in the
nineteenth century, only the flipped r [r] has been used.
4.3 Pre-Confederation
4.3.1 “Sol canadien” (Canadian Soil) arranged by Theodore Frederic
Molt (1795-1856)
Text by Isidore Bédard (1806-1833)
163
Composition date: ca. 1833
Publisher: Version 1: Theodore Frederic Molt Difficulty level: Version 1: Elementary (8);
(ca. 1833); Version 2: Journal de l’Instruction Version 2: Elementary (12)
Publique (Feb. 1859)

Length: Version 1: ca. 4’20;
Source: BAnQ
Version 2: ca. 5’20
Voice type: Not specified
162
See Oscar O’Brien, arr. La grand’ demande, Charles Marchand, Columbia, ca. 1925, mp3,
http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/923; Anonymous, Je prie ma mie, Alexandre Desmarteau, Starr, Gennett,
ca. 1925, mp3, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/1009; Anonymous, Mon père y m’a marié, Conrad Gauthier,
His Master’s Voice Victor, ca. 1925, mp3, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/1187.
163
See Lucien Porier, ed., The Canadian musical heritage / Le Patrimoine musical canadien: Vol. 7. Songs II to
French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français (Ottawa : Canadian Musical Heritage Society / Société pour le
patrimoine musical canadien, 1987), xiv; Le Solitaire, “Romance,” L’Ami du peuple, de l’ordre et des lois 8, no. 57
(5 February 1840): 1, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2031501. Poirier states possible years of compostition
1833 or between 1841 and 1849. A “Romance” by Le Solitaire published in 1840 was intended to be sung on the air
“Sol Canadien, terre chérie,” helping corroborate a date of composition prior to 1840.
93
Inhabitant of our beloved Canadian soil founded by our brave French fathers, with beautiful
countrysides, sublime mountains, and superb Saint-Lawrence, you can walk with your head held
high. Respect the protective hand of Albion (Great Britain), which watches over your rights, but
if one day Albion ceases to protect you, stand up for yourself and despise a foreign help.
I II
Sol Canadien, terre chérie ! Qu’elles sont belles nos campagnes
[sɔl kanadjɛ̃ tɛr+ ʃeri+ kɛl+ sɔ̃ bɛl+ no kɑ̃paɲ+
Canadian soil, beloved land! How beautiful are our countrysides
Par des braves tu fus peuplé, En Canada qu’on vit content !
par dɛ brav+ ty fy pœple ɑ̃ kanada ɔ̃ vi kɔ̃tɑ̃
By braves you were populated, In Canada how we live happily!
Ils cherchaient loin de leur patrie Salut, ô sublimes montagnes
il ʃɛrʃɛ lɛ̃ d+ lœr patri+ saly o syblim! mɔt̃ aɲ+
They sought far from their motherland Hail, o sublime mountains
Une terre de liberté. Bords du superbe Saint-Laurent
yn+ tɛr+ d+ libɛrte bɔr dy syperb+ sɛ̃ lɔrɑ̃
A land of freedom. Banks of the superb Saint Lawrence
Nos pères sortis de la France, Habitant de cette contrée
no pɛr+ sɔrti d+ la frɑ̃s+ habitɑ̃ d+ sɛt+ kɔt̃ re+
Our fathers who left France, Inhabitant of this region
Étaient l’élite des guerriers, Que nature veut embellir
etɛ lelit+ dɛ gerje k+ natyr+ vø tɑ̃bɛlir
Were the elite of warriors, Which nature wants to embellish
Et leurs enfants de leur vaillance Tu peux marcher tête levée,
e lœr zɑ̃fɑ̃ d+ lœr vajɑ̃s+ ty pø marʃe tɛt+ l+ve+
And their children with their valiance You can walk with your head held high,
94
N’ont jamais flétri les lauriers. Ton pays doit t’enorguellir.
nɔ̃ ʒamɛ fletri lɛ lɔrje tɔ̃ pei dwa tɑ̃nɔrgœjir
Have never withered the laurels. Your country must make you proud.
III IV
Respecte la main protectrice Si d’Albion la main chérie
rɛspɛkt+ la mɛ̃ prɔtɛktris+ si dalbiɔ̃ la mɛ̃ ʃeri+
Respect the protective hand If of Albion the dear hand
D’Albion ton digne soutien, Cesse un jour de te protéger,
dalbiɔ̃ tɔ̃ diɲ+ sutjɛ̃ sɛ sœ̃ ʒur d+ t+ prɔteʒe
Of Albion your worthy support, Ceases one day to protect you,
Mais fais échouer la malice Soutiens-toi seule, ô ma patrie !
mɛ fɛ zeʃue la malis+ sutjɛ̃ twa sœl o ma patri+
But thwart the malice Stand up for yourself, o my motherland!
D’ennemis nourris dans ton sein. Méprise un secours étranger.
dɛn+mi nuri dɑ̃ tɔ̃ sɛ̃ mepri zœ̃ s+ku retrɑ̃ʒe
Of enemies fed in your breast. Despise a foreign help.
Ne fléchis jamais dans l’orage, Nos pères sortis de la France,
n+ fleʃi ʒamɛ dɑ̃ lɔraʒ+ no pɛr+ sɔrti d+ la frɑ̃s+
Never bend in a storm, Our fathers who left France,
Tu n’as pour maître que tes lois, Étaient l’élite des guerriers,
ty nɑ pur mɛtr+ k+ tɛ lwa etɛ lelit+ dɛ gerje
You have for master only your laws, Were the elite of warriors,
Tu n’es point fait pour l’esclavage, Et leurs enfants de leur vaillance
ty nɛ pwɛ̃ fɛ pur lɛsklavaʒ+ e lœr zɑ̃fɑ̃ d+ lœr vajɑ̃s+
You are not made for slavery, And their children with their valiance
Albion veille sur tes droits. Ne flétriront pas les lauriers.
albiɔ̃ vɛj+ syr tɛ drwa n+ fletrirɔ̃ pɑ lɛ lɔrje]
Albion watches over your rights. Will not wither the laurels.
95
Two stanzas of the poem “Sol canadien! Terre chérie!” by Joseph-Isidore Bédard were published
in the Gazette de Québec on 6 August 1827, and the four-stanza poem was published in the same
newspaper, on 1 January 1829. The original score published by Theodore F. Molt is undated,
leaving its exact date of composition unknown. The score indicates that “the music is arranged
by T. F. Molt,” which suggests that the melody could be attributed to Joseph-Isidore Bédard.
“Sol canadien” is dedicated to composer Frederick Glackermeyer, Molt’s father-in-law. The
second oldest traceable score of “Sol canadien” was published by the Journal de l’Instruction
Publique (February 1859), and bears little resemblance to the original score, except for the four-
stanza poem by Bédard, which remains the same. The first page of the Journal de l’Instruction
Publique of February 1859 offers an explanation for the dissimilarity between the two first
scores of “Sol canadien,” which states, “it was impossible for us to find the music composed by
Mr. Molt, which has become very rare. . . . We owe it to the memory and ability of Mrs. Ophelia
Bell, born Cowan, well-known for her artistic successes, to be able to publish the air of ‘Sol
164
canadien,’ which she has agreed to note down for our newspaper.” The subsequent
publications of the song in the periodical Le Passe-Temps (29 September 1900, 22 June 1901, 26
June 1909, 23 May 1914) all featured Mrs. Bell’s version of the song, but attributed the music to
Theodore F. Molt.
Theodore F. Molt’s original version of “Sol canadien” in G major features a simple and
accessible melody contained in a one-octave range. Mrs. Bell’s version of “Sol canadien” in D
major features a slightly more intricate melody, with larger interval leaps, larger range (an octave
and a half), melisma, and slower tempo. With the exception of the unstressed e of the second
vaillance, set to an ascending sixth interval, Molt’s version offers a more favourable prosody
treatment of Bédard’s text. In contrast, Bell’s treatment of the prosody is less favourable, as
several weak syllables are emphasized and set on strong musical beats. In addition, there is a foot
of poetry missing in the fifth line of the first stanza, namely the res of pères (mm. 12-13). To
address this omission, one might consider changing the half note of pères to a dotted quarter note
followed by an eighth note, as shown in Example 15.
164
Journal de l’instruction publique 3, no. 2 (February 1859): 17, http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06257.
96
Example 15: Theodore F. Molt, “Sol canadien,” prosody omission and solution, bars 12-13
4.3.2 “Le drapeau de Carillon” (The Flag of Carillon) by Charles Wugk

Sabatier (1819-1862)
Text by Octave Crémazie (1827-1879)
Composition date: 1858
Difficulty level: Intermediate (18)

Publisher: For solo voice: Le Canada Musical
(1 June 1875) Length: ca. 7’00
Source: BAnQ
O Carillon, the flag which Montcalm placed in my hand on the great day of battles, I come to
you when my soul succumbs and my courage weakens. Carrying the memory of your glorious
past into my grave, I come to die here for my flag.
I II
O Carillon, je te revois encore, Mes compagnons d’une vaine espérance,
[o karijɔ̃ ʒ+ t+ r+vwa zɑ̃kɔr+ mɛ kɔ̃paɲɔ̃ dyn+ vɛ nɛsperɑ̃s+
O Carillon, I see you again, My companions with vain hope,
Non plus hélas ! comme en ces jours bénis, Berçant encor leurs cœurs toujours Français,
nɔ̃ ply elɑs kɔ mɑ̃ sɛ ʒur beni bɛrsɑ̃ tɑ̃kɔr lœr kœr tuʒur frɑ̃sɛ
Alas no more! As I did in those blessed days, Soothing still their hearts forever French,
97
Où dans tes murs la trompette sonore Les yeux tournés du côté de la France
u dɑ̃ tɛ myr la trɔ̃pɛt+ sɔnɔr+ lɛ zjø turne dy kote d+ la frɑ̃s+
Where within your walls the resounding trumpet Eyes turned in the direction of France
Pour te sauver nous avait réunis. Diront souvent : reviendront-ils jamais ?
pur t+ sove nu zavɛ reyni dirɔ̃ suvɑ̃ r+vjɛd̃ rɔ̃ til ʒamɛ
To save you had reunited us. Will say often: will they ever come back?
Je viens à toi quand mon âme succombe, L’illusion consolera leur vie ;
ʒ+ vjɛ̃ za twa kɑ̃ mɔ̃ nɑm+ sykɔb̃ + lillyzjɔ̃ kɔ̃sɔl+rɑ lœr vi+
I come to you when my soul succumbs, The illusion will comfort their life;
Et sent déjà son courage faiblir. Moi, sans espoir, quand mes jours vont finir,
e sɑ̃ deʒɑ sɔ̃ kuraʒ+ fɛblir mwa sɑ̃ zɛspwar kɑ̃ mɛ ʒur vɔ̃ finir
And already feels its courage weakening. I, without hope, when my days will end,
Oui, près de toi, venant chercher ma tombe, Et sans attendre une parole amie,
wi prɛ d+ twa v+nɑ̃ ʃɛrʃe ma tɔ̃be e sɑ̃ zatɑ̃ dryn+ parɔ lami+
Yes, close to you, seeking my grave, And without waiting for a friendly word,
Pour mon drapeau je viens ici mourir. Pour mon drapeau je viens ici mourir.
pur mɔ̃ drapo ʒ+ vjɛ̃ zisi murir pur mɔ̃ drapo ʒ+ vjɛ̃ zisi murir
For my flag I come to die here. For my flag I come to die here.
III IV
Cet étendard qu’au grand jour des batailles, Qu’ils sont heureux ceux qui dans la mêlée
sɛ tetɑ̃dɑr ko grɑ̃ ʒur dɛ bataj+ kil sɔ̃ tørø sø ki dɑ̃ la mɛle+
This flag which on the great day of battles, How happy are the ones who in the fray
Noble Montcalm, tu plaças dans ma main, Près de Lévis moururent en soldats !
nɔbl+ mɔk̃ alm ty plasɑ dɑ̃ ma mɛ̃ prɛ d+ levi muryr+ tɑ̃ sɔldɑ
Noble Montcalm, you placed in my hand, Close to Lévis died as soldiers!
Cet étendard qu’aux portes de Versailles, En expirant leur âme consolée,
sɛ tetɑ̃dɑr ko pɔrt+ d+ vɛrsaj+ ɑ̃ nɛkspirɑ̃ lœ rɑm+ kɔ̃sɔle+
This flag which at the gates of Versailles, Breathing out their comforted soul,
98
Naguère, hélas ! je déployais en vain, Voyait la gloire adoucir leur trépas.
nagɛr elɑs ʒ+ deplwajɛ zɑ̃ vɛ̃ vwayɛ la glwa radusir lœr trepɑ
Once, alas! I deployed in vain, Saw glory soften their demise.
Je le remets aux champs où de ta gloire Vous qui dormez dans votre froide bière,
ʒ+ l+ r+mɛ zo ʃɑ̃ u d+ ta glwar+ vu ki dɔrme dɑ̃ vɔtr+ frwad+ bjɛr+
I give it back to the fields where from your glory You who sleep in your cold coffin,
Vivra toujours l’immortel souvenir. Vous que j’implore à mon dernier soupir,
vivrɑ tuʒur limmɔrtɛl suv+nir vu k+ ʒɛp̃ lɔ ra mɔ̃ dɛrnje supir
The immortal memory will always live. You whom I implore at my last sigh,
Et dans ma tombe emportant ta mémoire Réveillez-vous. Apportant ma bannière,
e dɑ̃ ma tɔ̃ bɑ̃pɔrtɑ̃ ta memwar+ reveje vu apɔrtɑ̃ ma banjɛr+
And in my grave, carrying your memory Wake-up. Bringing my banner,
Pour mon drapeau je viens ici mourir. Sur vos tombeaux, je viens ici mourir.
pur mɔ̃ drapo ʒ+ vjɛ̃ zisi murir sur vo tɔb̃ o ʒ+ vjɛ̃ zisi murir]
For my flag I come to die here. On your graves, I come to die here.
“Le drapeau de Carillon” was premiered in May 1858 by singer Alfred Paré and the composer
165
himself. To mark the occasion of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, 24 June 1858, the Saint-Jean-
Baptiste Society organized performances of the song in Montreal and in Quebec City. Sabatier
set to music four stanzas of the thirty-two-stanza poem by Octave Crémazie, which
commemorates the 100th anniversary of Montcalm’s victory over the British troops at Fort
Carillon (today Ticonderoga, NY) on 8 July 1758. J. O. Crémazie first published the song in
1858 for two voices (alto and baritone in unison). The subsequent publications of the song
featured one voice only. “Le drapeau de Carillon” is written in the style of a solemn march in the
165
See Bourget Célestin Lavigueur, 83; The Canadian Encyclopedia, “Le drapeau de Carillon: légende canadienne”
(Historica Canada, 2013), www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/le-drapeau-de-carillon-legende-canadienne-
emc. According to Bourget, the song was premiered on 4 May 1858, and according to The Canadian Encyclopedia,
the song was premiered on 15 May 1858.
99
key of A minor, which modulates to A major. The arpeggiated piano accompaniment helps
support the lyrical phrases of the voice, and the repeated double-octaves in the bass help create a
steady and ceremonial pulse.
Even though the vocal range of “Le drapeau de Carillon” is contained within an octave, making
it vocally accessible, the song requires the performer to sing long and sustained phrases. The
singer should emphasize the double consonants in the words illusion and immortel for added
expressivity.
4.3.3 “À la claire fontaine” (At the Clear Fountain) arranged by Antoine

Dessane (1826-1873)
Text: source unknown
Difficulty level: Elementary (13)

Publisher: Typesetting by Eusèbe Senécal
(1861) Length: ca. 6’25
Source: BAnQ
Returning from a wedding, I was tired and rested beside a fountain. Sing nightingale, your heart
is merry and mine is weepy. I still wait for the one I love and I wish I had not lost him.
I II
M’en revenant des noces Auprès d’une fontaine,
[mɑ̃ r+v+nɑ̃ dɛ nɔs+ oprɛ dyn+ fɔ̃tɛn+
Returning from a wedding Beside a fountain
J’étais bien fatiguée, Je me suis reposée ;
ʒetɛ bjɛ̃ fatige ʒ+ m+ sɥi r+pose
I was very tired, I rested;

100
Auprès d’une fontaine J’ai trouvé l’eau si claire,
oprɛ dyn+ fɔ̃tɛn+ ʒe truve lo si klɛr+
Beside a fountain I found the water so clear,
Je me suis reposée. Que je m’y suis baignée.
ʒ+ m+ sɥi r+pose k+ ʒ+ mi sɥi beɲe
I rested. That I bathed in it.
III IV
J’ai trouvé l’eau si claire, Puis au pied d’un grand chêne,
ʒe truve lo si klɛr+ pɥi zo pje dœ̃ grɑ̃ ʃɛn+
I found the water so clear, Then at the foot of a large oak tree,
Que je m’y suis baignée ; Je me suis fait sécher ;
k+ ʒ+ mi sɥi beɲe ʒ+ m+ sɥi fɛ seʃe
That I bathed in it; I dried myself;
Puis au pied d’un grand chêne, Sur la plus haute branche,
pɥi zo pje dœ̃ grɑ̃ ʃɛn+ syr la ply ot+ brɑ̃ʃ+
Then at the foot of a large oak tree, On the highest branch,
Je me suis fait sécher. Le rossignol chantait.
ʒ+ m+ sɥi fɛ seʃe l+ rɔsiɲɔl ʃɑ̃tɛ
I dried myself. The nightingale was singing.
V VI
Sur la plus haute branche, Chante, rossignol, chante,
syr la ply ot+ brɑ̃ʃ+ ʃɑ̃t+ rɔsiɲɔl ʃɑ̃t+
On the highest branch, Sing, nightingale, sing,
Le rossignol chantait ; Toi qui as le cœur gai ;
l+ rɔsiɲɔl ʃɑ̃tɛ twa ki ɑ l+ kœr ge
The nightingale was singing. Your heart is merry;

101
Chante, rossignol, chante, Tu as le cœur à rire,
ʃɑ̃t+ rɔsiɲɔl ʃɑ̃t+ ty ɑ l+ kœ ra rir+
Sing, nightingale, sing, Your hearts feels like laughing,
Toi qui as le cœur gai. Moi je l’ai à pleurer.
twa ki ɑ l+ kœr ge mwa ʒ+ le a plœre
You who has a merry heart. Mine feels like crying.
VII VIII
Tu as le cœur à rire, J’ai perdu mon amant,
ty ɑ l+ kœ ra rir+ ʒe pɛrdy mɔ̃ namɑ̃
Your hearts feels like laughing, I lost my lover,
Moi je l’ai à pleurer ; Mon amant adoré ;
mwa ʒ+ le a plœre mɔ̃ namɑ̃ adɔre
Mine feels like crying. My beloved lover;
J’ai perdu mon amant, Pour un bouquet de roses,
ʒe pɛrdy mɔ̃ namɑ̃ pu rœ̃ bukɛ d+ roz+
I lost my lover, For a bouquet of roses,
Mon amant adoré. Que je lui refusai.
mɔ̃ namɑ̃ adɔre k+ ʒ+ lɥi r+fyse
My beloved lover. That I refused him.
IX X
Pour un bouquet de roses, Je voudrais que la rose,
pu rœ̃ bukɛ d+ roz+ ʒ+ vudrɛ k+ la roz+
For a bouquet of roses, I wish that the rose,
Que je lui refusai ; Fût encore au rosier ;
k+ ʒ+ lɥi r+fyse fy tɑ̃kɔ ro rozje
That I refused him. Was still on the rose bush;

102
Je voudrais que la rose, Et que le rosier même,
ʒ+ vudrɛ k+ la roz+ e k+ l+ rozje mɛm+
I wish that the rose, And even that the rose bush
Fût encore au rosier. Fût encore à planter.
fy tɑ̃kɔ ro rozje fy tɑ̃kɔ ra plɑ̃te
Was still on the rose bush. Still had to be planted.
XI Refrain
Et que le rosier même, Ah ! j’l’attends, j’l’attends, j’l’attends,
e k+ l+ rozje mɛm+ ɑ ʒlatɑ̃ ʒlatɑ̃ ʒlatɑ̃
And even that the rose bush, Ah! I wait for him, I wait for him, I wait for him,
Fût encore à planter ; Celui que j’aime, que mon cœur aime.
fy tɑ̃kɔ ra plɑ̃te s+lɥi k+ ʒɛm+ k+ mɔ̃ kœr ɛm+
Still had to be planted; The one I love, whom my heart loves.
Et que mon amant tendre, Ah ! j’l’attends, j’l’attends, j’l’attends,
e k+ mɔ̃ namɑ̃ tɑ̃dr+ ɑ ʒlatɑ̃ ʒlatɑ̃ ʒlatɑ̃
And that my tender lover, Ah! I wait for him, I wait for him, I wait for him,
Fût encore à mes pieds. Celui que mon cœur aime tant.
fy tɑ̃kɔ ra mɛ pje s+lɥi k+ mɔ̃ kœr ɛm+ tɑ̃]
Was still at my feet. The one whom my heart loves so.
“À la claire fontaine” is a folksong found in both Canada and France. In 1861, French composer
Antoine Dessane, who had immigrated to Canada in 1849, published an arrangement of the
166
folksong “as it is sung in France.” Dessane’s arrangement of “À la claire fontaine” is quite
different from the version sung in French Canada: the French version is set to a 6/8 meter instead
of a 4/4 meter, the stanzas and refrain are eight measures each instead of four measures each, the
166
Antoine Dessane, arr., À la claire fontaine: comme on la chante en France (Montreal, QC: Eusèbe Senécal,
1861).
103
refrain is poetically different, and it is sung from a woman’s perspective instead of a man’s
167
perspective.
Overall, Dessane’s arrangement of “À la claire fontaine” is simple and accessible. Challenging

elements for the beginning singer might include two ascending major sixth intervals at the
beginning of the vocal line, and a long note value on F5. Interestingly, Dessane set to music six
of the seven feet of the first line of each stanza, omitting the last unstressed ‘e’, which he sets on
a note elsewhere. This stylistic choice appears to be driven by the shape of the melody, which is
based on a repetition of three eighth notes, followed by three dotted quarter notes.
4.3.4 “La huronne” (The Huron Woman) by Célestin Lavigueur (1831-

1885)
Text by Pierre-Gabriel Huot
168
Publisher: Version 1: Écho du cabinet de

lecture paroissial (3 Jan. 1862); Version 2:
Length: ca. 3’00
Lavigueur & Hutchison (1894)
Source: ECO and BAnQ
Voice type: Version 1: male voice;
Version 2: Alto
167
Dessane’s version has been compared to the French Canadian version of “À la claire fontaine” found in Josette
Desbarats, arr., Chants canadiens avec accompagnement de piano (Quebec City: J. & O. Crémazie, 1856), 10-11.
168
Bourget, Célestin Lavigueur, 84-88. “La huronne” was sung by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin on 28
November 1861 with Célestin Lavigueur at the piano.
104
The kind Huron woman has the blood of her fathers in her veins. She dictates gentle laws,
recounts ancient times, and gives her heart and faith to the ancient dust. Long live Huron women
who are so proud of their warriors and of their large woods.
I II
Brune et gentille est la huronne, La voyez-vous, dans l’onde pure,
[bry ne ʒɑ̃ti jɛ la yrɔn+ la vwaje vu dɑ̃ lɔ̃d+ pyr+
Brown and kind is the Huron woman, Do you see her, in the pure water,
Quand au village on peut la voir ; Chercher son front brun et poli ;
kɑ̃ to vila ʒɔ̃ pø la vwar ʃɛrʃe sɔ̃ frɔ̃ brœ̃ e pɔli
When in the village one can see her; Searching her brown and smooth forehead;
Perles au col, mante mignonne, Et la fleur qu’à sa chevelure
pɛrl+ zo kɔl mɑ̃t+ miɲɔn+ e la flœr ka sa ʃ+v+lyr+
Pearls on her neck, charming mantle, And the flower, which on her hair
Et le cœur dans son grand œil noir, Suspendit un frère chéri ?
e l+ kœr dɑ̃ sɔ̃ grɑ̃ tœj nwar syspɑ̃di tœ̃ frɛr+ ʃeri
And her heart in her big black eye, was hung by a dear brother?
Sa veine a du sang de ses pères, Son œil tout chargé de lumière
sa vɛ nɑ dy sɑ̃ d+ sɛ pɛr+ sɔ̃ nœj tu ʃarʒe d+ lymjɛr+
Her vein has the blood of her fathers, Her eye full of light
Les maîtres du sol d’autrefois. Dicte alors de suaves lois.
lɛ mɛtr+ dy sɔl dotr+fwa di ktalɔr d+ syav+ lwa
The masters of the ancient land. Dictates gentle laws.
Vivent les Huronnes si fières Vivent les Huronnes si fières
viv+ lɛ yrɔn+ si fjɛr+ viv+ lɛ yrɔn+ si fjɛr+
Huron women live so proud Huron women live so proud,
De leurs guerriers de leur grand bois. De leurs guerriers de leur grand bois.
d+ lœr gerje d+ lœr grɑ̃ bwa d+ lœr gerje d+ lœr grɑ̃ bwa
Of their warriors, of the large woods. Of their warriors, of the large woods.
105
III
De sa tribu presqu’effacée,
d+ sa triby prɛ skefase+
Of her tribe almost erased,
Sous ce beau ciel qu’elle aime tant,
su s+ bo sjɛl kɛ lɛm+ tɑ̃
Under the beautiful sky that she likes so much,
Elle redit l’heure passée,
ɛl+ r+di lœr+ pɑse+
She recounts ancient times,
Auprès d’un sépulcre béant :
oprɛ dœ̃ sepylkr+ beɑ̃
Next to a wide-open sepulcher.
Sans cesse, aux antiques poussières,
sɑ̃ sɛ so zɑ̃tik+ pusjɛr+
Repeatedly, to the ancient dust,
Elle donne son cœur, sa foi :
ɛl+ dɔn+ sɔ̃ kœr sa fwa
She gives her heart, her faith:
Vivent les Huronnes si fières
viv+ lɛ yrɔn+ si fjɛr+
Huron women live so proud
De leurs guerriers de leur grand bois.
d+ lœr gerje d+ lœr grɑ̃ bwa]
Of their warriors, of the large woods.

106
“La huronne” may have been inspired “by a pleasure excursion to the picturesque village of
169
Lorette, close to Quebec City” that Huot and Lavigueur undertook, and perhaps also, as
Magdeleine Bourget suggests, by the novel La Huronne de Lorette by Henri-Émile Chevalier
170
published in 1854-1855. On 28 November 1861, Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin sang “La
huronne” accompanied by the composer at the piano, as part of a performance organized by the
171
Club dramatique des amateurs canadiens. Soon after, “La huronne” was published, and
several groups performed the song on different occasions—it was even adopted for a short period
172
as the national anthem of the tribe of Ancienne-Lorette (today the Huron-Wendat). In 1894,
Lavigueur & Hutchison obtained the copyright for “La huronne” and published the score,
making a few modifications to the vocal line and piano accompaniment. “La huronne” has all the
characteristics of a national song, with its confident rhythm and melody, and celebratory subject.
In the prelude, the piano part establishes a cheerful and confident mood with its syncopated
repeated chords and doubling of the bass line. The sixth line of the stanza and the repeat of
“Vivent les Huronnes . . .” create a contrast in texture, which is brought by a change to a thicker
and more lyrical piano accompaniment.
“La huronne” is better suited to lower voices, as several phrases begin on middle C or lower. The
singer will need to maintain the legato of the phrasing against the syncopated piano
accompaniment. The score of “La huronne” published in the Écho du cabinet de lecture
paroissial contains a small number of typographical mistakes: in measure 4, the fourth beat
should begin with a B-flat and a G natural; in measure 9, the fourth beat of the vocal line should
be a dotted eighth note; in measure 16, the fourth beat should be a G sharp in the right hand of
the piano; and in measure 23, the third note of the vocal line should be an eighth note.
169
“La huronne,” Écho du cabinet de lecture paroissial IV, no. 1 (3 January 1862): 9,
170
171
Bourget, Célestin Lavigueur, 88. Blain de Saint-Aubin’ vocal abilities were described as “a tenor, as light as his
entire being . . . A song, on his lips, would become a clear tale; it would narrate itself.” Benjamin Sulte,
“Biographies: Blain de Saint-Aubin,” Canada-Revue II, no. 4 (April 1891): 53, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.
qc.ca/ view/oocihm.8_06562.
172
107
4.4 Confederation
173
4.4.1 “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” (O Canada, My Country,
My Love) by Jean-Baptiste Labelle (1825-1898)
Text by Sir G. E. Cartier
Composition date: pre-1868

Publisher: Le Passe-Temps (1 Oct. 1898)
Length: ca. 2’40 (2 first stanzas)

Source: BAnQ
Voice type : Not specified
As the old saying goes, nothing is more beautiful than one’s country and to sing about it is
natural. The Canadian is gentle, polite, gallant, and hospitable. Our Canadian women are kind
and sincere, and have grace and charm. O Canada, my country, my love.
I II
Comme le dit un vieil adage, Le Canadien, comme ses pères,
[kɔm+ l+ di tœ̃ vjɛ jadaʒ+ l+ kanadjɛ̃ kɔm+ sɛ pɛr+
As the old saying goes, The Canadian, like its fathers,
Rien n’est si beau que son pays, Aime à chanter, à s’égayer,
rjɛ̃ nɛ si bo k+ sɔ̃ pei ɛ ma ʃɑ̃te a segeje
Nothing is more beautiful than one’s country, Likes to sing, to amuse himself,
Et de le chanter c’est l’usage, Doux, aisé, vif en ses manières,
e d+ l+ ʃɑ̃te sɛ lyzaʒ+ du eze vif ɑ̃ sɛ manjɛr+
And to sing it is natural, Gentle, easy, with sharp manners,
173
Another version of this song exists, with piano accompaniment by Ernest Gagnon. See Poirier, ed., Songs II to
French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, 29-31.
108
Le mien je chante à mes amis. Poli, galant, hospitalier.
l+ mjɛ̃ ʒ+ ʃɑ̃ ta mɛ zami pɔli galɑ̃ ɔspitalje
Mine I sing it to my friends. Polite, gallant, hospitable,
L’étranger voit avec un œil d’envie, À son pays il ne fut jamais traître,
letrɑ̃ʒe vwa tavɛk œ̃ nœj dɑ̃vi+ a sɔ̃ pei il n+ fy ʒamɛ trɛtr+
The foreigner sees with an envious eye, To his country he was never a traitor,
Du Saint-Laurent le majestueux cours, À l’esclavage il résista toujours,
dy sɛ̃ lɔrɑ̃ l+ maʒɛstyø kur a lɛsklava ʒil rezistɑ tuʒur
The majestic course of the Saint Lawrence River To slavery he always resisted,
À son aspect, le Canadien s’écrie : En sa maxime est la paix, le bien-être
a sɔ̃ naspɛ l+ kanadjɛ̃ sekri+ ɑ̃ sa maksi mɛ la pɛ l+ bjɛ̃ nɛtr+
Upon its appearance, the Canadian exclaims: At the heart of his maxim is peace, well-being
Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours. Du Canada, son pays, ses amours.
o kanada mɔ̃ pei mɛ zamur dy kanada sɔ̃ pei sɛ zamur
O Canada, my country, my love. Of Canada, his country, his love.
III
Chaque pays vante ses belles,
ʃak+ pei vɑ̃t+ sɛ bɛl+
Each country praises its beautiful women,
Je crois bien que l’on ne ment pas.
ʒ+ krwa bjɛ̃ k+ lɔ̃ n+ mɑ̃ pɑ
I surely think that we do not lie.
Mais nos Canadiennes, comme elles,
mɛ no kanadjɛn+ kɔ mɛl+
But our Canadian women, likes them,
Ont des grâces et des appas.
ɔ̃ dɛ grɑs+ e dɛ zapɑ
Have grace and charm.

109
Chez nous la belle est aimable174 et sincère,
ʃe nu la bɛ lɛ tema ble sɛs̃ ɛr+
Here the beautiful woman is kind and sincere,
D’une Française elle a tous les atours,
dyn+ frɑ̃sɛ zɛ lɑ tu lɛ zatur
Of a French woman, she has all the attires,
L’air moins coquet, pourtant assez pour plaire,
lɛr mwɛ̃ kɔkɛ purtɑ̃ tase pur plɛr+
The appearance less stylish, but enough to please,
Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours.
o kanada mɔ̃ pei mɛ zamur
O Canada, my country, my love.
During the second banquet of the St-Jean-Baptiste Association (later Society) on 24 Jun 1835,
Sir George-Étienne Cartier sang his poem “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” to the tune of the
175
French song “Je suis Français, mon pays avant tout.” Jean-Baptiste Labelle later put the poem
to music, and the song was performed at the premiere of his Cantate: La Confédération on 7 Jan
176
1868 at City Hall in Montreal in front of 4000 people. In 1925, Le Passe-Temps published the
scores of Labelle’s “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” along with Lavallée’s “Ô Canada,” and
Charles Wugk Sabatier’s “Le drapeau de Carillon,” under the title “3 Patriotic Songs: The Most
177
Popular.” In its issues of June and July 1926, October 1927, and July 1928, Le Passe-Temps
174
In this case, the accent d’insistance should be applied to the second syllable of the word instead of the first
syllable (aimable).
175
Stephen C. Willis, “Ô Canada! mon pays! mes amours!,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada,
2013), www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/o-canada-mon-pays-mes-amours-emc.
176
Ibid.
177
“3 Chants Patriotiques,” Le Passe-Temps XXXI, no. 766 (June 1925): 89, 103. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/
ark:/52327/2272561.
110
published a fourteen-part orchestral arrangement of “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” by

Louis-Philippe Laurendeau.
“Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” is a lyrical anthem set to the key of F major. The song
features a simple piano accompaniment, which does not double the vocal line (except for two
bars towards the end of the song). In the vocal line, the interval leaps require some attention in
order to maintain a legato phrasing (bars 11-13). The strong ending of the song with its two
ascending lines in the passaggio area of the voice might represent a challenge for beginning
singers. A degree of vowel modification may be necessary to keep a full resonance on the u
vowel of amours on F5. Existing recordings of “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” by renowned
178
baritones Joseph Saucier and Albert Viau include only the first two stanzas of the song. The
singer may consider performing only the two first stanzas of the song, as the third stanza
contains stereotypical judgments of women.
4.4.2 “Écho malin” (Devious Echo) by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin

(1833-1883) with piano accompaniment by Antoine Dessane (1826-1873)
Text by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin
179
Composition date: ca. 1864-1871
Difficulty level: Advanced (27)

Publisher: Georges F. Desbarats
Length: ca. 4’00

Source: CMH
178
See Jean-Baptiste Labelle, Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours, Joseph Saucier, Columbia, ca. 1916, mp3,
http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/1228; Jean-Baptiste Labelle, Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours, Albert Viau
with string ensemble, Bluebird, 1941, mp3, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/530.
179
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xxi; “New Music Received,” The
Canadian Illustrated News IV, no. 27 (30 December 1871): 426, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/
oocihm.8_06230. The original score is undated, however Poirier estimates a date of composition between 1864-
1873. The listing of “Écho malin” under “New Music Received” in 1871 suggests that the song was composed in or
prior to 1871.
111
The echo from our village is a dangerous echo: when these gentlemen tell their torments to the
echo with an inappropriate voice, the echo answers: “You are lying!” Yesterday, a love quarrel
took place: “I know that you are unfaithful, and yet I loved you!” said a beautiful woman,
“Never!” answered the echo. Devious echo, mock well the discourse of lovers, for I will always
laugh about it!
I II
L’écho de notre village En amour on se querelle ;
[leko d+ nɔtr+ vilaʒ+ ɑ̃ namu rɔ̃ s+ k+rɛl+
The echo from our village In love, we quarrel;
Est un écho dangereux ; - Vous ne saviez pas cela ?
ɛ tœ̃ neko dɑ̃ʒørø vu n+ savje pɑ s+lɑ
Is a dangerous echo; - You did not know that?
Vous ne savez pas, je gage, Apprenez-en la nouvelle,
vu n+ save pɑ ʒ+ gaʒ+ apr+ne zɑ̃ la nuvɛl+
You do not know, I gather, Learn this news,
Ce qu’il dit des amoureux ? Hier la chose arriva.
s+ kil di dɛ zamurø jɛr la ʃo zarivɑ
What it says of lovers? Yesterday it happened.
Quand ces messieurs, à la brune, - « Je sais, disait une belle,
kɑ̃ sɛ mɛsjø a la bryn+ ʒ+ sɛ dizɛ tyn+ bɛl+
When these gentlemen, at twilight, - “I know, said a beautiful woman,
Vont, d’une voix importune, « Que vous êtes infidèle,
vɔ̃ dyn+ vwa ɛp̃ ɔrtyn+ k+ vu zɛt+ zɛf̃ idɛl+
Go, with an inappropriate voice, “That you are unfaithful,
Lui raconter leurs tourments, « Et pourtant je vous aimais ! »
lɥi rakɔt̃ e lœr turmɑ̃ e purtɑ̃ ʒ+ vu zɛmɛ
Tell to the echo their torments, And yet I loved you!

112
L’Écho répond « Tu mens ! Tu mens ! » L’Écho répond : « Jamais, jamais ! »
leko repɔ̃ ty mɑ̃ ty mɑ̃ leko repɔ̃ ʒamɛ ʒamɛ
The echo answers: “You are lying! You are lying!” The echo answers: “Never! Never!”
III Refrain
L’amour est une folie ; Écho malin, qui répétez sous le bocage
lamu rɛ tyn+ fɔli+ eko malɛ̃ ki repete su l+ bɔkaʒ+
Love is madness; Devious echo, who repeats under the bocage
- Vous saviez cela ? – Vraiment ! Des amoureux le doux langage,
vu savje s+lɑ vrɛmɑ̃ dɛ zamurø l+ du lɑ̃gaʒ+
- You knew that?- Really! Of the lovers, the sweet language,
- Mais on se réconcilie Moquez-vous bien de leur discours,
mɛ zɔ̃ s+ rekɔ̃sili+ mɔke vu bjɛ̃ d+ lœr diskur
- But we reconcile Mock their speech,
C’est la suite du roman. Pour moi, j’en rirai toujours !
sɛ la sɥit+ dy rɔmɑ̃ pur mwa ʒɑ̃ rire tuʒur]
It is the sequel to the novel. For I will always laugh about it!
- « Jamais, jamais, ô ma belle,
ʒamɛ ʒamɛ o ma bɛl+
- “Never, never, oh my sweetheart,
« Je ne veux être infidèle,
ʒ+ n+ vø zɛ trɛf̃ idɛl+
Do I want to be unfaithful
« Ni changer en mes amours ! »
ni ʃɑ̃ʒe rɑ̃ mɛ zamur
Or change in my love!”
- L’Écho répond : « Toujours, toujours ! »
leko repɔ̃ tuʒur tuʒur
The echo answers: “Always, always!

113
« Ah ! oui, tu changeras toujours ! »
ɑ wi ty ʃɑ̃ʒ+rɑ tuʒur
Oh! Yes, you will always change!”
In the periodical L’Opinion publique journal illustré (28 Dec. 1871), “Écho malin” and “Près
d’un berceau” with text and music by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin were presented as “two
pretty gifts for Christmas and New Year’s,” adding that “[these songs] have been printed and
lithographed by M. Desbarats; all the arts have united to embellish them and seem to compete for
180 181
the honours.” “Écho malin” is dedicated to Mrs. Blain de Saint-Aubin, and was considered
182
to be one of the popular songs by the composer. The score published by Desbarats contains an
English translation of the poem. There is reason to believe that the song was translated by Saint-
Aubin himself, who was an English translator by profession. “Écho malin” was one of the first
comical songs to be composed in Quebec. In this song, the lively piano accompaniment shares
the storytelling duties with the voice: the devious echo is portrayed in a staccato-arpeggiated
style, and the piano echoes the melody of the voice (see Example 16).
180
“Avis aux musiciens et artistes,” L’Opinion publique journal illustré II, no. 52 (28 December 1871): 629,
181
Charlotte-Euphémie Rhéaume, musician and daughter of the lawyer Jacques-Phillipe Rhéaume, provincial
deputy of Quebec-East.
182
“Nos reproductions,” L’Album musical (March 1882): 15, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/
view/oocihm.8_04149.
114
Example 16: Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin, “Écho malin,” bars 34-36
Since the song’s subject is a malicious rumor, the focus of the interpretion lies in the delivery of
the text and its numerous effects, created by several rallentandi, a tempi, and sudden contrasts in
dynamics, as well as the portrayal of different characters. Care should be taken to avoid
emphasizing the mute e of langage set on A5 (bar 33). For the singer in training, leaning on the
previous syllable ga and then releasing the voice on the ge may help to avoid emphasizing the
mute e.
115
4.5 Late Nineteenth Century

4.5.1 “En m’ouvrant ton coeur” (Opening Your Heart to Me) by Joseph
Vézina (1849-1924)
183
Text by Arthur Sasseville
184
Publisher: none identified
Length: ca. 3’00
Source: CMH
Do you remember on a beautiful summer eve, you had promised me your entire affection, and I
was happy to taste joy, but this joy did not last long! One day, I felt a pain in my heart; touched
by my tears, and imploring you with confidence, you reassured me by opening your heart.
I II
Te rappelles-tu par un beau soir d’été Cette voix qui répond, est une voix amie
[t! rapɛl! ty pa rœ̃ bo swar dete sɛt" vwa ki repɔ̃ ɛ tyn" vwa ami"
Do you remember on a beautiful summer eve This voice that answers, is a friendly one
Lorsque l’astre du jour retirant sa lumière À tes genoux pardonne-moi je t’en conjure
lɔrsk" lastr" dy ʒur r"tirɑ̃ sa lymjɛr" a tɛ ʒ#nu pardɔn# mwa ʒ# tɑ̃ kɔ̃ʒyr#
While the sun withdrawing its light At your feet forgive me I entreat you
183
Little is known about Arthur Sasseville. He appears to have been a school commissioner in Sainte-Anne-des-
Monts, in the Gaspé county. See “Commissaires d’écoles,” Journal de l’instrustion publique XII, no. 12 (December
1868): 155, https://archive.org/details/journaldelinstru1218queb.
184
The score is undated and Poirier indicates that the date of composition may be earlier than 1879. Poirier, ed.,
Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xxiii.
116
De ce bocage où l’on s’était rencontré185 Mes serments trahis dans un éternel oubli
d! s! bɔka ʒu lɔ̃ setɛ rɑ̃kɔ̃tre mɛ sɛrmɑ̃ trai dɑ̃ zœ̃ netɛrnɛl ubli
From the bocage where we had met My promises betrayed in an eternal oblivion
Tu m’avais juré ton amitié toute entière Et mon âme meurtrie, ne sera plus parjure
ty mavɛ ʒyre tɔ̃ namitje tu tɑ̃tjɛr& e mɔ̃ nɑm$ mœrtri n$ s$rɑ ply parʒyr$
You had promised me your entire affection And my wounded soul, will not be perjury anymore
Et j’étais heureux de goûter le bonheur Puis nos lèvres dans un baiser d’ivresse
e ʒetɛ zørø d+ gute l+ bɔnœr pɥi no lɛvr# dɑ̃ zœ̃ beze divrɛs#
And I was happy to taste joy Then our lips in an exhilarating kiss
Et moi croyant toujours en ton amour ardent Réveillent en nos cœurs en termes plein
e mwa krwajɑ̃ tuʒu rɑ̃ tɔ̃ namur ardɑ̃ revɛj+ tɑ̃ no kœ rɑ̃ tɛrm$ plɛ̃
And still believing in your passionate love Awake in our hearts, in words full of
Je te confiais tous les secrets de mon cœur d’ardeur
ʒ" t" kɔf̃ jɛ tu lɛ s"krɛ d" mɔ̃ kœr dardœr
I confided in you all the secrets of my heart ardour
Mais enfin cette joie ne dura pas longtemps ! Les doux serments d’amour et de tendresse
mɛ zɑ̃fɛ̃ sɛt$ ʒwa n$ dyrɑ pɑ lɔ̃tɑ̃ lɛ du sɛrmɑ̃ damur e d$ tɑ̃drɛs$
But finally this joy did not last long! The sweet promises of love and tenderness
En recouvrant à deux la paix et le bonheur.
ɑ̃ r#kuvrɑ̃ ta dø la pɛ e l# bɔnœr
Both regaining peace and happiness.
Refrain Refrain
Hélas un jour, je sentis au cœur une souffrance. Ne sentant plus au cœur cette amère souffrance
elɑs œ̃ ʒur ʒ$ sɑ̃ti zo kœr yn$ sufrɑ̃s$ n! sɑ̃tɑ̃ ply zo kœr sɛ tamɛr! sufrɑ̃s!
Alas one day, I felt a pain in my heart. Not feeling anymore this bitter pain in my heart
185
The score indicates “De ce bocage où l’on s’étaient rencontrés,” which is a grammatical mistake.
117
Lorsque j’aperçus dans tes yeux l’éclat trompeur J’aperçus dans tes yeux, un rayon de bonheur
lɔrsk" ʒapɛrsy dɑ̃ tɛ zjø lekla trɔ̃pœr ʒapɛrsy dɑ̃ tɛ zjø œ̃ rɛjɔ̃ d& bɔnœr
When I saw in your eyes the deceptive sparkle I saw in your eyes a ray of happiness
Touchée186 par mes larmes et t’implorant avec Et touchée par mes larmes, et reçu avec
tuʃe par mɛ larm# e tɛp̃ lɔrɑ̃ avɛk e tuʃe par mɛ larm+ e r+sy avɛk
Touched by my tears and imploring you with And touched by my tears, and received with
confiance confiance
kɔ̃fjɑ̃s$ kɔ̃fjɑ̃s$
confidence confidence
Tu revins me rassurer en m’ouvrant ton cœur. Tu vins me rassurer en m’ouvrant ton cœur.
ty r!vɛ̃ m! rasyre ɑ̃ muvrɑ̃ tɔ̃ kœr ty vɛ̃ m# rasyre ɑ̃ muvrɑ̃ tɔ̃ kœr]
You reassured me by opening your heart. You reassured me by opening your heart.
Little is known about the poet Arthur Sasseville and this particular song. The printed score of
“En m’ouvrant ton coeur” indicates “romance sentimentale” (sentimental romance), which
reflects the feelings of tenderness, sadness, and nostalgia present in the poem. This romance is
unique in the fact that it begins with an almost recitative-like vocal line, accompanied by rolled
chords at the piano. The couplet section set to a 2/4 time signature features a widely varied piano
accompaniment, which helps convey the different moods of the poety. The song begins with
sparse half note rolled chords, which suggest the recollection of a distant memory, then the piano
accompaniment changes to staccato eighth note chords, denoting the playful and light memory of
the day the lovers first met. Tremolos in the piano’s right hand mirror the happiness of the
character. Soon after, however, the harmony changes to minor, indicating that the joy did not
last. In contrast, the refrain section contains less musical variety, featuring a slow waltz from
beginning to end.
186
The score indicates touché instead of touchée, which is a mistake since touchée is used for the second stanza.
118
A distinctive feature of this song is the fact that the protagonist is directly speaking to his
beloved, which may explain why Vézina set the poem to a musical setting reminiscent of the
recitative and aria form. Given the speech-like nature of the vocal line in the couplet section, it
would be preferable not to pronounce the e of joie and instead, tie the two notes as indicated in
Example 17.
Example 17: Joseph Vézina, “En m’ouvrant ton coeur,” bars 34-35
4.5.2 “Espagne” (Spain) by Count of Premio-Real (1840-1888)
Text by Count of Premio-Real
187

Publisher: Arthur Lavigne
Length: ca. 2’30

Source: BAnQ
Come quickly young girls start our celebrations, our dances, and our songs. In our Spain, I have
a beloved and happiness always follows my steps. I like her soft voice in the evening, but I like
even more the frank gaiety and the pure liberty of the village.
187
Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le Comte de Premio-Real, 4. Calixa Lavallée’s commentary of Premio-
Real’s songs (including “Espagne”), which constitutes the preface of the song collection Seize mélodies, was
completed on 25 September 1878, indicating that all songs were composed prior to that date.
119
I II
Accourez jeunes fillettes Dans notre Espagne
[akure ʒœn+ fijɛt+ dɑ̃ nɔ trɛspaɲ&
Come quickly young girls In our Spain
Beau rêve de mes passions J’ai ma compagne
bo rɛv" d" mɛ pasjɔ̃ ʒe ma kɔp

̃ aɲ%
Beautiful dream of my passions I have my beloved
Venez commencer nos fêtes Qui de loin vers moi tend les bras
v!ne kɔmɑ̃se no fɛt! ki d! lɛ̃ vɛr mwa tɑ̃ lɛ brɑ
Come start our celebrations Who from afar welcomes me
Nos danses et nos chansons. Je suis rieux188
no dɑ̃s# ze no ʃɑ̃sɔ̃ ʒ+ sɥi riø
Our dances and our songs. I am cheerful
III Insoucieux
J’aime, j’adore une simple toilette ɛs̃ usiø
ʒɛm# ʒadɔ ryn# sɛp̃ l# twalɛt# Carefree
I like, I adore a simple outfit Et la joie suit toujours mes pas.
La bouche riante une fleur sur la tête e la ʒwa sɥi tuʒur mɛ pɑ
la buʃ" riɑ̃t" yn" flœr syr la tɛt" And happiness always follows my steps.
The mouth laughing a flower on the head IV
Ou bien le soir sous le balcon J’aime davantage
u bjɛ̃ l# swar su l# balkɔ̃ ʒɛm# davɑ̃taʒ#
Or in the evening under the balcony I like even more
188
The common form of the word is rieur.
120
De ta douce voix entendre le son. La franche gaieté
d! ta dus! vwa ɑ̃tɑ̃dr! l! sɔ̃ la frɑ̃ʃ$ gete
Hear the sound of your soft voice. The franc gaiety
J’aime vos rivages aux âcres senteurs J’aime du village
ʒɛm# vo rivaʒ# o zɑkr# sɑ̃tœr ʒɛm+ dy vilaʒ+
I like your coastlines with acrid smells I like of the village
J’aime vos ombrages parfumés de fleurs. La pure liberté.
ʒɛm# vo zɔ̃braʒ# parfyme d# flœr la pyr+ libɛrte]
I like your shades perfumed with flowers. The pure liberty.
“Espagne” is part of the Count of Premio-Real’s Seize mélodies pour chant et piano, published
by Arthur Lavigne in 1879, which represented the largest collection of songs of the time. A
highly educated and wealthy aristocrat, the Count of Premio-Real wrote the texts of his songs in
many languages, including Spanish, French, English, and Italian. “Espagne” was one of the only
songs in the collection written solely in French. Strongly influenced by Premio-Real’s Spanish
roots, the song is written in the form of a waltz and features an upbeat tempo and joyful mood.
As his fellow composer Calixa Lavallée described, “The song full of national colour is very
rhythmic. We seem to be attending one of these celebrations where every one forgets, for a
moment, their worries and troubles, and fully surrenders to the enjoyment of a light and gracious
189
dance.”
As is the case in several Spanish songs, the vocal line is highly ornamented with such figures as
trills and melismas, and the rhythm is accentuated in onomatopoeic passages of the vocal line
(e.g., “la la la”). Given the Spanish character of the music, the singer should keep the rhythmic
figures of the vocal line sharp and clear. In “Espagne,” there is little room for any rubato, except
for the fermata at the end of the vocal line. The singer should maintain the forward tempo
momentum throughout; however, a change in colour or mood is necessary for the section
189
Calixa Lavallée, “Préface,” in Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le Comte de Premio-Real (Québec: Arthur
Lavigne, 1879), 2, http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2480671.
121
beginning by con gracia (with grace). In bar 62, there is an accent on the unaccentuated e of
j’aime. As indicated in Example 18, in order to keep both the organic delivery of the French
language and the musical accent, the singer should apply an accent d’insistance on the j’ai of
j’aime.
Example 18: The Count of Premio-Real, “Espagne,” bar 62
4.5.3 “Amour!” (Love) by Célestin Lavigueur (1831-1885)
Text by Célestin Lavigueur (1831-1885)

Publisher: Bernard & Allaire
Length: ca. 6’25 (with second section

Source: CMH
repeat)
190
“The sea is calm and beautiful, I would like to go in your wherry with you.” “To your lover
give a kiss, I want to love you under this beautiful sky.” “Oh my beautiful mariner, I want to
always love you.” Go young lady; govern his heart, for you will be the most beautiful for your
mariner.
190
A small row boat.
122
I II
La mer est calme et belle, Parfois sur le rivage
[la mɛ rɛ kal me bɛl+ parfwa syr l+ rivaʒ+
The sea is calm and beautiful, From time to time on the shore
Je voudrais m’en aller Où l’écho vient mourir
ʒ+ vudrɛ mɑ̃ nale u leko vjɛ̃ murir
I would like to go away Where the echo comes to die
Sur l’eau dans ta nacelle On surprend leur language
syr lo dɑ̃ ta nasɛl+ ɔ̃ syrprɑ̃ lœr lɑ̃gaʒ+
On the water in your wherry We perceive their language
Mon joli marinier Leur rêve d’avenir
mɔ̃ ʒɔli marinje lœr rɛv+ dav+nir
My pretty mariner Their dreams of future.
Beppo lui dit, ma belle Redoublant de tendresse
bɛpo lɥi di ma bɛl+ r+dublɑ̃ d+ tɑ̃drɛs+
Beppo told her, my sweetheart Increasing his tenderness
Il te faudra donner Et de touchants aveux
il t+ fodrɑ dɔne e d+ tuʃɑ̃ zavø
You will have to give And his touching confessions
Ce qu’une jouvencelle L’amant à sa maîtresse
s+ kyn+ ʒuvɑ̃sɛl+ lamɑ̃ a sa mɛtrɛs+
What a young lady The lover to his mistress
Donne à son marinier. Prend un baiser ou deux.
dɔ na sɔ̃ marinje prɑ̃ tœ̃ beze u dø
Gives to her mariner. Takes one kiss or two.
L’heure est charmante Puis leur gondole
lœ rɛ ʃarmɑ̃t+ pɥi lœr gɔ̃dɔl+
The hour is charming Then their gondola

123
O mon amante S’élance, vole
o mɔ̃ namɑ̃t+ selɑ̃s+ vɔl+
Oh my beloved Soars, flies
À ton amant donne un baiser, Rasant les flots sous le ciel bleu,
a tɔ̃ namɑ̃ dɔ nœ̃ beze razɑ̃ lɛ flo su l+ sjɛl blø
To your lover give a kiss, Skimming the waves under the blue sky,
Ta voix m’inspire, La jeune amante,
ta vwa mɛs̃ pir+ la ʒœ namɑ̃t+
Your voice inspires me The young lover
Avec délire Rêveuse amante
avɛk delir+ rɛvø zamɑ̃t+
With rapture Dreaming lover
Sous ce beau ciel je veux t’aimer. Redit tout bas, sous l’œil de Dieu,
su s+ bo sjɛl ʒ+ vø teme r+di tu bɑ su lœj d+ djø
Under this beautiful sky I want to love you. Repeats quietly, under the eye of God,
Beppo, reprend la belle, Je suis ta jouvencelle,
bɛpo r+prɑ̃ la bɛl+ ʒ+ sɥi ta ʒuvɑ̃sɛl+
Beppo, continues the pretty girl, I am your young lady,
Je veux bien te donner O mon beau marinier.
ʒ+ vø bjɛ̃ t+ dɔne o mɔ̃ bo marinje
I will very well give you Oh my beautiful mariner.
Ce qu’une jouvencelle Je serai la plus belle,
s+ kyn+ ʒuvɑ̃sɛl+ ʒ+ s+re la ply bɛl+
What a young lady I will be the most beautiful,
Donne à son marinier. Je veux toujours t’aimer.
dɔ na sɔ̃ marinje ʒ+ vø tuʒur teme
Gives to her mariner. I want to always love you.

124
III
Tout nous dit un adage,
tu nu di tœ̃ nadaʒ+
As the saying goes,
Est bien qui finit bien.
ɛ bjɛ̃ ki fini bjɛ̃
All’s well that ends well.
Cette maxime est sage,
sɛt+ maksi mɛ saʒ+
This maxim is wise,
C’est leur avis, le mien.
sɛ lœ ravi l+ mjɛ̃
It is their opinion, and mine.
Fidèle à sa promesse,
fidɛ la sa prɔmɛs+
Faithful to her promise,
La belle doit donner,
la bɛl+ dwa dɔne
The pretty girl must give,
Sa main et sa richesse
sa mɛ̃ e sa riʃɛs+
Her hand and her wealth
À son beau marinier.
a sɔ̃ bo marinje
To her beautiful mariner.
Le mariage
l+ mariaʒ+
Marriage
125
Est chose sage
ɛ ʃoz+ saʒ+
Is a wise choice
Pour un époux tendre et constant
pu rœ̃ nepu tɑ̃ dre kɔs̃ tɑ̃
For a husband that is loving and faithful.
Pour un volage
pu rœ̃ vɔlaʒ+
For a fickle man
C’est le mirage
sɛ l+ miraʒ+
It is the illusion
D’un bonheur qui dure un instant !
dœ̃ bɔnœr ki dy rœ̃ nɛs̃ tɑ̃
Of happiness that lasts an instant!
Mais va ma jouvencelle
mɛ vɑ ma ʒuvɑ̃sɛl+
But go my young lady
Va sur son cœur régner
vɑ syr sɔ̃ kœr reɲe
Govern his heart
Tu seras la plus belle
ty s+rɑ la ply bɛl+
For you will be the most beautiful
Pour ton beau marinier.
pur tɔ̃ bo marinje]
For your mariner.

126
Little is known about this song—only that it was dedicated to Letitia Guay, who attended the Ste
191
Ursule School in Quebec City in 1872-73. “Amour!” by Célestin Lavigueur is a lighthearted
chansonnette that describes a love story between a young girl and a mariner. The title page of the
Bernard & Allaire publication (ca. 1880) presents the song as a romance, while the first page of
the score presents the song as a chansonnette. Nonetheless, the simple language, the light subject,
the short feet of the poetry, the waltz form, and the clear division of sections are characteristics
of the chansonnette. Lavigueur’s poetry is simple, with short feet and straightforward language.
The poem is set to a lively waltz in F major that features a simple piano accompaniment.
The score published by Bernard & Allaire contains two repeats: one at the end of bar 48 and one
at the end of bar 63. As Lucien Poirier suggests, the first repeat should belong to the following
192
bar, which marks the beginning of the second section. This would make sense since the
second section of the song is the shortest with 16 measures, and with the repeat, it would share
the same length as the first and third sections of the song, which are 32 measures each. “Amour!”
is a song that can teach vocal flexibility, as the vocal line contains several ornaments and
intervals of major fourths, perfect fifths, and minor and major sixths to be sung at a moving
tempo. Towards the end of the song, the vocal line sits near the passaggio area, which requires
the singer to address vowel modification in order to maintain a consistent resonance. “Amour!”
also addresses the singer’s storytelling skills with three featured characters: the young girl, the
mariner, and the narrator.
191
Souvenirs de Ste. Ursule (Québec: C. Darveau, 1873), 6, https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100305801.
192
Poirier, ed., Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur des textes français, xxi.
127
193
4.5.4 “Ô Canada” (O Canada) by Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891)
Text by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier

194
Publisher: Ed. Archambault (ca. 1960)
Length: ca. 2’55

Source: BAnQ
O Canada! Land of our ancestors, your history is an epic of the most brilliant achievements. The
Canadian grows up hoping, always guided by the light of the sky, he will keep the honour of his
flag. Enemy of tyranny, his wishes to keep in harmony, his proud liberty. Let’s be a people of
brothers and repeat, like our fathers: “For Christ and for the King.”
I III
Ô Canada ! Terre de nos aïeux, De son patron, précurseur du vrai Dieu,
[o kanada tɛr+ dɛ no zajø d+ sɔ̃ patrɔ̃ prekyrsœr dy vrɛ djø
O Canada! Land of our ancestors, Of his patron saint, precursor of the real God,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux ! Il porte au front l’auréole de feu.
tɔ̃ frɔ̃ ɛ sɛ̃ d+ flœrɔ̃ glɔrijø il pɔr to frɔ̃ lɔreɔl+ d+ fø
Your forehead is girded by glorious flowers! He wears around his head the aureole of fire.
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée, Ennemi de la tyrannie
kar tɔ̃ brɑ sɛ pɔrte lepe+ ɛn+mi d+ la tirani+
Since your arm knows how to carry the sword, Enemy of tyranny
193
Also known as “Chant national.”
194
One of the first editions for solo voice and piano accompaniment. Archambault also published a version in Eb
major during the same period.
128
Il sait porter la croix ! Mais plein de loyauté,
il sɛ pɔrte la krwa mɛ plɛ̃ d+ lwajote
It knows how to carry the cross! But full of loyalty,
Ton histoire est une épopée Il veut garder dans l’harmonie,
tɔ̃ nistwa rɛ ty nepɔpe+ il vø garde dɑ̃ larmɔni+
Your history is an epic He wishes to keep in harmony,
Des plus brillants exploits. Sa fière liberté ;
dɛ ply brijɑ̃ zɛksplwa sa fjɛr+ libɛrte
Of the most brilliant achievements. His proud liberty;
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée, Et par l’effort de son génie,
e ta valœr d+ fwa trɑ̃pe+ e par lɛfɔr d+ sɔ̃ ʒeni+
And your merit, immersed in faith, And by the work of his genius,
Protègera nos foyers et nos droits. Sur notre sol asseoir la vérité,
prɔtɛʒ+rɑ no fwaje ze no drwa syr nɔtr+ sɔl aswar la verite
Will protect our homes and our rights. On our soil establish truth.
II IV
Sous l’œil de Dieu, près du fleuve géant. Amour sacré du trône et de l’autel,
su lœj d+ djø prɛ dy flœv+ ʒeɑ̃ Amur sakre dy tro ne d+ lotɛl
Under the eye of God, close to the giant river. Sacred love of the throne and altar,
Le Canadien grandit en espérant. Remplit nos cœurs de ton souffle immortel !
l+ kanadjɛ̃ grɑ̃di tɑ̃ ɛsperɑ̃ rɑ̃pli no kœr d+ tɔ̃ su flimmɔrtɛl
The Canadian grows up hoping. Fill our hearts with your immortal breath!
Il est né d’une race fière, Parmi les races étrangères,
i lɛ ne dyn+ ras+ fjɛr+ parmi lɛ ras+ zetrɑ̃ʒɛr+
He was born from a proud race, Among the foreign races,
Béni fut son berceau. Notre guide est la loi :
beni fy sɔ̃ bɛrso nɔtr+ gi dɛ la lwa
Blessed was his cradle. Our guide is the law:

129
Le ciel a marqué sa carrière Sachons être un peuple de frères,
l+ sjɛl ɑ marke sa karjɛr+ saʃɔ̃ zɛ trœ̃ pœpl+ d+ frɛr+
The sky has marked his career Let’s be a people of brothers,
Dans ce monde nouveau. Sous le joug de la foi.
dɑ̃ s+ mɔd̃ + nuvo su l+ ʒug d+ la fwa
In this new world. Under the yoke of faith.
Toujours guidé par sa lumière, Et répétons, comme nos pères,
tuʒur gide par sa lymjɛr+ e repetɔ̃ kɔm+ no pɛr+
Always guided by its light, And let’s repeat, like our fathers,
Il gardera l’honneur de son drapeau. Le cri vainqueur : « Pour le Christ et le roi. »
il gard+rɑ lɔnœr d+ sɔ̃ drapo l+ kri vɛk̃ œr pur l+ krist e l+ rwa]
He will keep the honour of his flag. The victorious cry: “For Christ and for the King.”
On 15 March 1880, the organizers of the National Convention of French Canadians appointed a
music planning committee, whose mission was to find a national anthem for the National
Convention that was to be held during the Saint-Jean-Baptiste festivities of 23-25 June 1880.
Ernest Gagnon, president of the committee, convinced fellow committee member Calixa
195
Lavallée and Judge A. B. Routhier to compose the national song. Lavallée finished the
composition of “Chant national” (“Ô Canada”) in the beginning of April 1880. The first
performance of “Ô Canada” took place at the skaters’ pavilion in Quebec City on 24 June 1880,
and the song was performed the following day in front of 6,000 people during an afternoon
196
concert hosted by Lieutenant-Governor Robitaille at Spencer Wood. The current bilingual
version was officially adopted as Canada’s national anthem on 27 June 1980, under the National
Anthem Act. Lavallée’s original score was composed for a four-part choir in G Major, and was
195
Gilles Potvin and Helmut Kallmann. “O Canada,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada, 2013),
accessed May 23, 2016, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/o-canada.
196
The former official residence of the Lieutenant Governors of Quebec.
130
first published by Arthur Lavigne. It is not clear when the song was first performed with solo
voice. In the 1960s, Ed. Archambault published scores of “Ô Canada” for solo voice and piano in
F or Eb major with only the first two stanzas of Routhier’s four-stanza poem. The Government
of Canada’s current website features three versions of “Ô Canada” for solo voice (French,
English, and bilingual), which are set to the key of F major, and only include the first stanza of
197
the original poem.
“Ô Canada” is, as the score suggests, a “maestoso e risoluto” (majestic and resolute) anthem that
follows a strophic form. The poem is set to an uncommon rhyme scheme (AABCBCBC), and
speaks of the glory of Canada while describing universal values of loyalty, harmony, and truth.
The use of the future verb tense, which had not been seen in previous national songs, brings forth
a sense of timelessness.
“Ô Canada” contains few vocal challenges, although the chromaticism in the vocal line often
leads amateur singers to be out of tune. In the ending melody line, an ascending interval of a
perfect fourth that leads to F5, and a descending interval of a minor sixth may require some extra
attention from the singer in training. The prosody is well addressed with the mute e set on a
descending melody line. The piano accompaniment doubles the vocal line from beginning to
end, which helps make the song accessible; however, the singer needs to work to keep a legato
line over the strong chordal piano accompaniment. The singer may choose to double the m of the
word immortel for added expression.
197
Government of Canada, “Anthems of Canada” (Government of Canada, 2016), www.canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/
1443808632931/1443808632934.
131
4.5.5 “Laissez-moi dormir” (Let Me Sleep) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume (1839-

1899)
Text by Louis Fréchette (1839-1908)
198
Difficulty level: Version 1: Intermediate (19);

Publisher: Version 1 : D. Olivier (1881);
Version 2: Intermediate (24)
Version 2: Bruxelles, Schott Frères (ca. 1899)
Length: version 1: ca. 4’30;
Source: BAnQ
version 2: ca. 2’45
I feel the slumber of the grave setting its veil on my eyes. I want to rest under an oak tree, where
the birds will build their nest during the next season, and where at dawn, I will hear the warbler
sing. Tell the ones that have loved me to come pray on my closed tomb from time to time.
Farewell! Let me sleep! Let me sleep!
I II
Laissez-moi dormir : la nuit tombe ; Vous me mettrez ma robe blanche,
[lese mwa dɔrmir la nɥi tɔ̃b+ vu m+ metre ma rɔb+ blɑ̃ʃ+
Let me sleep: night falls; You will dress me in my white dress,
Voici le soir silencieux, Mes dentelles, mes bijoux d’or,
vwasi l+ swar silɑ̃siø mɛ dɑ̃tɛl+ mɛ biʒu dɔr
Here is the silent eve, My lace, my gold jewelry,
198
See Fréchette, Jehin-Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste, 280; Jaccques Blais, Répertoire analytique et bibliographique
des poèmes de Louis Fréchette (Québec: Codicille éditeur, 2014), 132.
132
Je sens le sommeil de la tombe Une rose à mon front qui penche :
ʒ+ sɑ̃ l+ sɔmɛj d+ la tɔ̃b+ yn+ ro za mɔ̃ frɔ̃ ki pɑ̃ʃ+
I feel the slumber of the grave A rose on my forehead that tilts:
Poser son voile sur mes yeux. Je voudrais être belle encor,
poze sɔ̃ vwal+ syr mɛ zjø ʒ+ vudrɛ zɛtr+ bɛ lɑ̃kɔr
Setting its veil on my eyes. I would like to be beautiful again,
Je vais partir ; à ceux que j’aime, Ni désespoir, ni larme amère !
ʒ+ vɛ partir a sø k+ ʒɛm+ ni dezɛspwar ni lar mamɛr+
I will depart; to those whom I love, No despair, no bitter tear!
Ma lèvre que je sens blêmir, Que le vent soit seul à gémir,
ma lɛvr+ k+ ʒ+ sɑ̃ blɛmir k+ l+ vɑ̃ swa sœl a ʒemir
My lip that I feel turn pale, May the wind be the only one to moan,
A donné le baiser suprême . . . Et comme une enfant sur sa mère,
ɑ dɔne l+ beze syprɛm+ e kɔ my nɑ̃fɑ̃ syr sa mɛr+
Has given the supreme kiss… And like a child on her mother,
Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir !
lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir
Let me sleep! Let me sleep! Let me sleep! Let me sleep!
III IV
Je veux reposer sous un chêne Alors, sur la tombe fermée
ʒ+ vø r+poze su zœ̃ ʃɛn+ alɔr syr la tɔb

̃ # fɛrme+
I want to rest under an oak tree Then, on the closed tomb
Penché sur un tertre bénit, Où je serai seule et sans voix,
pɑ̃ʃe sy rœ̃ tɛrtr+ beni u ʒ+ s+re sœ le sɑ̃ vwa
Inclined on a blessed hummock, Where I will be alone and without a voice,
Où, durant la saison prochaine, Dites à ceux qui m’ont aimée
u dyrɑ̃ la sɛzɔ̃ prɔʃɛn+ dit+ za sø ki mɔ̃ teme+
Where, during the next season, Tell the ones that have loved me
133
Les oiseaux bâtiront leur nid. De venir prier quelque fois
lɛ zwazo bɑtirɔ̃ lœr ni d+ v+nir prie kɛlk+ fwa
The birds will buidl their nest. To come pray from time to time
Là, dès l’aurore, sur ma tête, On dit que les âmes entendent
lɑ dɛ lɔrɔr+ syr ma tɛt+ ɔ̃ di k+ lɛ zɑm+ zɑ̃tɑ̃d+
There, at dawn, on my head, It is said that the souls hear
J’entendrai la feuille frémir, La sainte voix du souvenir…
ʒɑ̃tɑ̃dre la fœj+ fremir la sɛt̃ + vwa dy suv+nir
I will hear the leaf quiver, The holy voice of memory…
Et chanter la brune fauvette . . . Adieu199 ! j’en vois deux qui m’attendent :
e ʃɑ̃te la bryn+ fovɛt+ adjø ʒɑ̃ vwa dø ki matɑ̃d+
And the brown warbler sing… Farewell! I see two of them who are waiting for me:
Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir ! Laissez-moi dormir !
lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir lese mwa dɔrmir]
Let me sleep! Let me sleep! Let me sleep! Let me sleep!
“Laissez-moi dormir” is dedicated to the memory of Rosita Jéhin-Prume (born del Vecchio), the
wife of violinist and composer Frantz Jehin-Prume. Mrs. Jéhin-Prume died at the young age of
35 of bronchial pneumonia after a stillbirth a few days earlier. Her mother, Mrs. del Vecchio,
200
died a few hours before her, in the same house, and they were given a joint funeral at the
201
Saint-Jacques Church in Montreal. More than ten thousand people came to pay their respects,
199
The accent d’insistance should be placed on the second syllable of the word (adieu), instead of the first syllable.
200
Fréchette, Jehin-Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste, 249.
201
“Feu Madame F. Jehin-Prume,” Le Canada Musical 7, no. 11 (1 March 1881): 180,
134
202
and as noted by Sylvain Laforest, “never any woman, in Canada, had had such a funeral.”
Mrs. Jéhin-Prume was an established singer, whose voice was described as “soft, pure and
203 204
pleasing,” and whose “first talent was for the romance and the chansonnette.” She was
Emma Albani’s classmate at the Couvent des Dames du Sacré Coeur. She studied with, among
others, Francesco Lamperti in Nice, and Charles Gounod “held her in esteem, and liked having
205
her sing his romances.” “Laissez-moi dormir” were the last words spoken by Mrs. Jéhin-
Prume, and these words inspired homonymous poems by Louis Fréchette (set to music by Mr.
Jéhin-Prume) and by Tancrède Trudel (set to music by Ernest Lavigne). Both poets were
pallbearers at Mrs. Jéhin-Prume’s funeral.
In 1881, D. Olivier published “Laissez-moi dormir” in Montreal; it was published again by

206
Schott Frères in Brussels, as part of a collection of songs by the composer ca. 1899. It appears
that Jéhin-Prume revised the score after its first publication in 1881, since the later publication of
the song contained a more intricate piano accompaniment, and featured only verses 1 and 3 of
the poem. Anne Bouthillier performed “Laissez-moi dormir” at the Windsor Hotel on 19
207
November 1939, at the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Louis Fréchette.
The first version of “Laissez-moi dormir” is a strophic romance that contains four verses
repeated to the same music. In contrast, the second version of the song draws closer to the
mélodie genre, as it features a richer harmonic language and piano accompaniment, an extended
binary form (ABAB), and limited verses (only two out of the four that were written).
202
Sylvain Laforest, “Biographies: Mme Rosita Jehin-Prume,” Le Canada artistique 1, no. 3 (March 1890): 51,
203
Joseph Marmette, “Chronique de Québec,” (18 November 1875): 541, in Brian Christopher Thompson, Anthems
and Minstrel Shows: The Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891 (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s
University Press, 2015), 164.
204
“Feu Madame F. Jehin-Prume,” 180.
205
Laforest, “Biographies: Mme Rosita Jehin-Prume,” 50.
206
The collection of songs Mélodies par F. Jéhin-Prume published by Schott Frères in Brussels is undated. The last
song in the collection, “Chant du berceau,” was composed in 1899, according to Louis Fréchette (Fréchette, Jehin-
Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste, 281). It is likely that the collection of songs was published the year of Jéhin-Prume’s
death, in 1899, as a tribute to the composer.
207
Blais, Répertoire analytique et bibliographique des poèmes de Louis Fréchette, 132.
135
In this song, a possible challenge is the text setting. In the beginning of the vocal line, the singer
will need to avoid emphasizing the mute e that is set to an ascending melody, by emphasizing the
preceding syllable and by releasing the voice on the mute e, in order to maintain an organic
delivery of the language. When executing the ritardandi, the singer should take care to maintain
the rhythmic essence of the double appoggiatura, to avoid the double appoggiatura sounding like
a triplet. Furthermore, after executing the ritardando, the singer should come back to the initial
tempo for the following line, to restore the musical shaping of the phrasing.
4.5.6 “L’absence” (Absence) by Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891)
Text by Rémi Tremblay (1847-1926)

Publisher: L’Album musical (1 Dec 1881)
Length: ca. 3’20

Source: CMH
Do you remember when your dear presence aroused my senses, elated my love? Do you
remember the avowal of my love and how I constantly searched for that look in your eyes?
Ephemeral joy! It is in vain that my distraught glance still searches for you. I remain alone,
sorry, sad, and dejected.
I II
Te souvient-il quand ta chère présence Te souvient-il de l’aveu de ma flamme ?
[t+ suvjɛ̃ til kɑ̃ ta ʃɛr+ prezɑ̃s+ t+ suvjɛ̃ til d+ lavø d+ ma flɑm+
Do you remember when your dear presence Do you remember the avowal of my love?
Troublait mes sens, exaltait mon amour ? Nous étions seuls, c’était par un beau soir.
trublɛ mɛ sɑ̃s ɛgzaltɛ mɔ̃ namur nu zetjɔ̃ sœl setɛ pa rœ̃ bo swar
Aroused my senses, elated my love? We were alone, it was on a beautiful eve.

136
Seul, aujourd’hui, je pleure ton absence, D’un long regard incendiant mon âme,
sœl oʒurdɥi ʒ+ plœr+ tɔ̃ napsɑ̃s+ dœ̃ lɔ̃ r+gar ɛs̃ ɑ̃diɑ̃ mɔ̃ nɑm$
Alone, today, I weep over your absence, With a long gaze firing up my soul,
Jetant ma plainte aux échos d’alentour. Tes yeux si beaux me versèrent l’espoir.
ʒ+tɑ̃ ma plɛ̃ to zeko dalɑ̃tur tɛ zjø si bo m+ vɛrsɛr+ lɛspwar
Throwing my plaint at the surrounding echos. Your beautiful eyes gave me hope.
Ô toi que j’aime Rayon céleste,
o twa k+ ʒɛm+ rɛjɔ̃ selɛt+
O you whom I love Celestial ray,
Plus que moi-même, Regard modeste,
ply k+ mwa mɛm+ r+gar mɔdɛst+
More than myself, Modest glance,
Puisse ton cœur garder le souvenir Trouble de l’âme et pudique candeur,
pɥis+ tɔ̃ kœr garde l+ suv+nir trubl+ d+ lɑ me pydik+ kɑ̃dœr
May your heart keep the memory Infatuation of the soul and reserved innocence,
Des jours d’ivresse, Tendre délire,
dɛ ʒur divrɛs+ tɑ̃dr+ delir+
Of the days of exhilaration, Tender excitation,
Où ta tendresse Je croyais lire
u ta tɑ̃drɛs+ ʒ+ krwajɛ lir+
In which your tenderness I thought I was reading
Me promettait un heureux avenir ! Dans ton œil noir l’arrêt de mon bonheur !
m+ prɔmɛtɛ tœ̃ nørø zav+nir dɑ̃ tɔ̃ nœj nwar larɛ d+ mɔ̃ bɔnœr
Promised me a happy future! In your black eye the end of my happiness!
III IV
Te souvient-il avec quelle constance Souvent, la nuit, je crois revoir tes charmes,
t+ suvjɛ̃ til avɛk kɛl+ kɔ̃stɑ̃s+ suvɑ̃ la nɥi ʒ+ krwa r+vwar tɛ ʃarm+
Do you remember with how much insistance Often, at night, I believe seeing your charms again,
137
Je recherchais ce regard de tes yeux ? Tu m’apparais, pressant encor ma main.
ʒ+ r+ʃɛrʃɛ s+ r+gar d+ tɛ zjø ty maparɛ prɛsɑ̃ tɑ̃kɔr ma mɛ̃
I searched for that look in your eyes? You appear to me, still pressing my hand.
Pour le revoir, vers toi mon cœur s’élance, Puis, dans mon cœur renaissent les alarmes,
pur l+ r+vwar vɛr twa mɔ̃ kœr selɑ̃s+ pɥi dɑ̃ mɔ̃ kœr r+nɛs+ lɛ zalarm+
To see it again, for you my heart soars, Then, the alarms come back in my heart,
Et je me sens brûler des mêmes feux. Et je crains le réveil du lendemain,
e ʒ+ m+ sɑ̃ bryle dɛ mɛm+ fø e ʒ+ krɛ̃ l+ revɛj dy lɑ̃d+mɛ̃
And I feel myself burning of the same fires. And I am scared of waking up the next day,
Joie éphémère ! Le jour m’enlève
ʒwa efemɛr+ l+ ʒur mɑ̃lɛv+
Ephemeral joy! The day denies me
Pensée amère ! Un si doux rêve ;
pɑ̃se amɛr+ œ̃ si du rɛv+
Bitter thought! Such a sweet dream;
Je ne pourrai donc jamais te franchir, C’est en vain que mon regard éperdu
ʒ+ n+ pure dɔ̃ ʒamɛ t+ frɑ̃ʃir sɛ tɑ̃ vɛ̃ k+ mɔ̃ r+gar epɛrdy
I will never be able to reach you, It is in vain that my distraught glance
Longue distance ! Te cherche encore
lɔg̃ + distɑ̃s# t+ ʃɛr ʃɑ̃kɔr+
Long distance! Still searches for you
Mon existence Après l’aurore.
mɔ̃ nɛgzistɑ̃s+ aprɛ lɔrɔr+
My existence After dawn.
Je donnerais, Destin, pour te fléchir ! Je reste seul, navré, triste, abattu.
ʒ+ dɔn+rɛ dɛstɛ̃ pur t+ fleʃir ʒ+ rɛst+ sœl navre trist abaty]
I would give, Destiny, to sway you! I remain alone, sorry, sad, dejected.
138
On 30 July 1881, Rémi Tremblay completed his poem “L’absence,” which Calixa Lavallée set to
208
music for the first issue of L’Album musical. In his musical setting, Calixa Lavallée altered
three lines of Tremblay’s original poem: instead of “Ah! si du moins je pouvais te franchir” (Ah!
if only I could reach you), he wrote “Je ne pourrai donc jamais te franchir” (I will never be able
to reach you); instead of “Et je me dis : La verrai-je demain ?” (And I tell myself: Will I see her
tomorrow?), he wrote “Et je crains le réveil du lendemain” (And I am scared of waking up the
next day); and instead of “Tu disparais : mon regard éperdu” (You disappear: my distraught
glance), he wrote “C’est en vain que mon regard éperdu” (“It is in vain that my distraught
glance). Lavallée appears to have made these changes to emphasize the desperation of the
character. Mrs. Flor Blanchard sang “L’absence” during a commemorative concert of Lavallée’s
209
compositions on 13 July 1933 at the Parc Lafontaine. Written in 4/4 time signature, the
romance “L’absence” features a sustained and lyrical melody with a sentimental subject,
accompanied by markings con dolore and con espressione. The last two bars of the piano
prelude, which are the same as the last two bars of the song, share much resemblance to
Lavallée’s “Nuit d’été,” published a year earlier.
A challenging aspect of “L’absence” is its strophic form, wherein four verses are repeated to the
same music. The singer and pianist should emphasize elements that are distinctive in each verse,
in order to avoid monotony. The singer should take care not to emphasize the mute e of tendre
and délire (bar 18), set to a longer note value in verses 2 and 3. Lavallée’s vocal line is
accessible, as he places eighth note rests in between phrases for breathing. In the first half of the
song, the vocal line always enters after the beat, which helps convey the nostalgia and sadness of
the character. In the second half of the song, the voice enters on the beat, which highlights the
passion and fervour of the character.
208
Rémi Tremblay, Caprices poétiques et chansons satiriques (Montreal: A. Filliatreault & Cie, 1883), 72-73,
http://books.google.com..
209
“Concerts,” Le Passe-Temps XXXIX, no. 864 (August 1933): 39. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/
52327/2272561. Blanchard is also known for having written the libretto of the opera Princess Nadia by French-
Canadian composer Albertine Morin-Labrecque.
139
4.5.7 “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” (Tack, My Friend Pierre) arranged
by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin (1833-1883)
Text by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin
(1833-1883)
Composition date: 1882 Difficulty level: Advanced (26)
Publisher: Album musical (1882) Length: ca. 2’55
Source: CMH
You all know master Pierre, a brave and good man. He became infatuated with a blond, the most
beautiful girl in the world to imprecate a lover. “Tack, my friend Pierre, because there is still
time,” but he barely listened to me; you shall see that he was very wrong.
I II
Vous connaissez tous maître Pierre, La créature était adroite,210
[vu kɔnese tʊs maetr+ pjaer+ la kreaty retɛ tadrwat+
You all know master Pierre, The creature was skillful,
Un brave, un excellent garçon ; Et pour vous lancer un coup d’œil,
œ̃ ɥ brav œ̃ ɥ nɛksɛlã garsɔ̃w e pʊr vu lɑ̃wse rœ̃ ɥ ku dœj
A brave, a very good young man; And to throw a glance at you,
Je le regarde comme un frère Tantôt de gauche, tantôt de droite,
ʒ+ l+ r+gard! kɔ mœ̃ ɥ fraer+ tɑ̃to d# gɔoʃ tɑ̃to d$ drwat+
I see him as a brother Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right,
210
The accent d’insistance should be performed on the second syllable of the word instead of the first syllable
(adroite).
140
Et je lui parle sans façon. Aussi vive qu’un écureuil.
e ʒ+ lɥi parl+ sã fasɔ̃w osi vɪv! kœ̃ ɥ nekʏrœj
And I talk to him unpretentiously. As quick as a squirrel.
Il s’amouracha d’une blonde, À ce jeu-là le pauvre Pierre
il samuraʃɑ dʏn! blɔw

̃ d! a s+ ʒø lɑ l+ pɔovr+ pjaer+
He became infatuated with a blond, At this game the poor Pierre
Coquette, avec de grands yeux bleus, Se laissa surprendre un beau soir ;
kɔkɛt avɛk d+ grã zjø blø s+ lɛsɑ syrprã drœ̃ ɥ bo swɑr
Pretty, with big blue eyes, Let himself be caught by surprise one nice evening;
La plus belle fille du monde Et la fillette était-elle fière !
la ply bɛl+ fɪj+ dy mɔ̃wd# e la fɪjɛ tetɛ tɛl fjaer+
The most beautiful girl in the world And the young girl, how proud she was!
Pour endiabler un amoureux. Ah ! c’était ben aisé à voir !
pʊ rãdjɑble œ̃ ɥ namurø y ɑ setɛ bɛj̃ nejze a vwɑr
To imprecate a lover. Ah! This was easy to see!
Moi qui ne fais rien à demi, Puis l’on disait, par-ci par là :
mwa ki n+ fɛ rjɛj̃ na d#mi pɥi lɔ̃w dizɛ par si par lɑ
Since I don’t do anything half way, Then we were saying, here and there:
Je m’en fus dire à mon ami : Comment c’que va r’virer tout ça ?
ʒ+ mã fy di ra mɔ̃w nami kɔmã sk+ vɑ rvire tu sɑ
I told my friend: How will this all unfold?
III IV
Un jour au bord de la rivière, - « Mad’moisell’, je voulais vous dire
œ̃ ɥ ʒʊr o baur d+ la rivjaer+ madmwazɛl ʒ+ vulɛ vu dɪr+
One day on the riverbank, “ Miss, I wanted to tell you
Par un beau soleil de printemps, Que, depuis environ un an,
pa rœ̃ ɥ bo sɔlɛj d% prɛj̃ tã k+ d+pɥi zãvirɔ̃w œ̃ ɥ nã
As the beautiful sun of spring was shining, That, for about one year,
141
La fillette rencontra Pierre Pour vos beaux yeux mon cœur soupire
la fɪjɛt+ rɑ̃kɔ̃wtrɑ pjaer+ pʊr vo bo zjø mɔ̃w kœr supɪr+
The young girl encountered Pierre For your beautiful eyes my heart sighs
Qui se dit : « Ben sûr v’là l’bon temps ! » Et qu’c’t’amour-là fait mon tourment !
ki s! di bɛj̃ sʏr vlɑ lbɔw

̃ tã e k+ stamur lɑ fɛ mɔw
̃ tʊrmã
Who told himself: “Of course this is the right time!” And that this love is my torment!
- « Ah ! bonjour, mad’moisell’ Thérèse, Si votre cœur daignait m’entendre,
ɑ bɔ̃wʒʊr madmwazɛl teraez+ si vɔtr+ kœr dɛɲɛ mɑ̃tɑ̃wdr+
“Oh! Hello, Miss Thérèse, If your heart would deign to listen,
(c’était son nom) le temps est beau ; Ah ! sapristi ! que j’s’rais heureux !
setɛ sɔ̃w nɔ̃w l$ tã ɛ bo ɑ saprɪsti k+ ʒsrɛ ø yrø y
(it was her name) the weather is nice; Oh! Heavens! I would be so happy!
Le soleil, ça met l’cœur à l’aise : J’deviendrais l’époux le plus tendre,
l+ sɔlɛj sa mɛ lkœr a laez+ ʒd"vjɛj̃ drɛ lepu l" ply tɑ̃wdr+
The sun makes my heart feel at ease: I would become the most loving husband,
On est-y ben au bord de l’eau ! » Le vrai modèl’ des amoureux ! »
ɔ̃w nɛ tɪ bɛj̃ o baur d+ lo l+ vrɛ mɔdɛl dɛ zamurø
Aren’t we well on the edge of the water! The true role model of lovers!”
La fillette, en baissant les yeu’, - « Ah ! ben, dit la fill’, pour le cou’,
la fɪjɛt ã bejsã lɛ zjø ɑ bɛj̃ di la fɪj pʊr l+ ku
The young girl, lowering her eyes, Oh! Well, says the girl, really,
Lui dit : « Je n’comprends pas, monsieu’. » Monsieu’ Pierr’, êt’-vous dev’nu fou ? »
lɥi di ʒ# nkɔw
̃ prã pɑ m+sjø m+sjø pjaer ɛt vu d+vny fu
Says to him: “I don’t understand sir.” Mr. Pierre, have you become mad?”
142
V Refrain
- « Sachez donc211 ici, monsieur Pierre, « Vir’ de bord,
saʃe dɔ̃wk isi m+sjø pjaer+ vɪr d+ bɔr
- “Know here, Mr. Pierre, “Tack,
Que j’aime Jean, votre cousin, Mon ami Pierre,

e
k+ ʒɛm+ ʒã vɔtr! kuzɛj̃ mɔw
̃ nami pja r+
That I love Jean, your cousin, My friend Pierre,
Et que la noce va se faire Car il en est temps encor. »
e k+ la nɔs+ vɑ s+ faer+ ka rɪ lɑ̃w nɛ tã zɑ̃kaur
And that the wedding will be held Because there is still time.”
Dès qu’on aura fini les foin’. Mais il ne m’écouta guère :
dɛ kɔ̃w nɔrɑ fini lɛ fwɛj̃ mɛ zɪl n+ mekutɑ gaer+
As soon as the harvesting of the hay will be done. But he barely listened to me:
Vous croyez qu’à r’garder les filles, Vous verrez (voyez)212 qu’il eut grand tort.
vu krwaje ka rgarde lɛ fɪj+ vu vere (vwaje) kɪ ly grã taur]
You believe that by looking at girls, You shall see (see) that he was very wrong.
Ça leur donn’ tout d’suit’ de l’amour ;
sa lœr dɔn tʊ dsɥit d+ lamʊr
It makes them love straightaway;
Ces façons-là n’sont pas gentilles,
sɛ fasɔw
̃ lɑ nsɔw
̃ pɑ ʒɑ̃tɪj+
Such ways aren’t nice,
211
The expression “Sachez donc” should be pronounced as one entity.
212
For the last verse.
143
Et vous joueront queuq mauvais tour.
e vu ʒurɔ̃w kœk mɔvɛ tʊr
And it will play some bad trick on you.
Maint’nant, pour piquer au p’us court,
mɛj̃ tnã pur pike ro py kʊr
Now, to sum up,
Prenez c’t avis-là et bonjour213 ! »
pr!ne stavi lɑ e bɔ̃wʒʊr
Take that notice and goodbye!”
“Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” is dedicated to the lawyer F. Bouthillier, and the score indicates
“chansonnette canadienne” (Canadian chansonnette). The text and music are attributed to a
“Canadien des vieux pays” (a Canadian from the old country), which refers to Blain de Saint-
214
Aubin himself, who had emigrated from France to French Canada in 1858 or 1859. “Vir’ de
bord, mon ami Pierre” is written in the style of a folksong, with colloquial language and a
repeated refrain. The song is set to an allegretto tempo in simple meter, marked “gaiement”
(joyfully). With the exception of a small number of appogiaturas, the text setting is syllabic.
In “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre,” the singer must take charge, especially since the piano part
indicates “suivez” (“follow”). This is a storytelling song par excellence, based on an ongoing
dialogue between Pierre, Thérèse, and the narrator. There are a variety of expressive effects to
observe: ritenuto, rallentando, fermata, a tempo, staccato passages, dynamics and accents. As
indicated in the beginning of this chapter, the pronunciation of the colloquial form of French
Canadian language contains unique characteristics, such as the laxing of closed vowels [i], [y],
213
In the score, the line is “Prenez c’t avis-là, M. Pierre, et bonjour !”, but it appears that “M. Pierre” is a mistake,
as it exceeds the feet of the poetry line.
214
Philippe Sylvain, “Blain de Saint-Aubin, Emmanuel-Marie,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol.11
(1881-1890) (University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003 –), http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/
blain_de_saint_aubin_emmanuel_marie_11E.html.
144
[u] to near-closed vowels [ɪ], [ʏ], [ʊ], the darkening of the vowel [a] to [ɑ], the fronting the nasal
[ɑ̃] to [ã], as well as the diphthongization of long vowels and nasals.
4.5.8 “Épanchement” (Outpouring) by Guillaume Couture (1851-1915)
Text by Édouard Turquety (1807-1867)

Publisher: autograph manuscript
Length: ca. 1’20
Source: CMH
Oh! Tell me, do you know that my poor wandering soul perceived in your soul a hidden rose,
blooming in the wind of the sky; and that through you I saw love coming down across the shade,
like the star in the night?
Oh ! dis-moi, le sais-tu, mon seul bien, mon seul rêve,
[o di mwa l+ sɛ ty mɔ̃ sœl bjɛ̃ mɔ̃ sœl rɛv+
Oh! Tell me, do you know, my only possession, my only dream,
Sais-tu que sur le sol où j’allais dépérir,
sɛ ty k+ syr l+ sɔl u ʒalɛ deperir
Do you know that on the ground where I was going to perish,
Un rayon de tes yeux a réchauffé la sève
œ̃ rɛjɔ̃ d+ tɛ zjø ɑ reʃofe la sɛv+
A ray from your eyes has warmed the sap
De l’arbuste prêt à mourir ?
d+ larbyst+ prɛ ta murir
Of the shrub ready to die?

145
II
Sais-tu que ma pauvre âme, errante et solitaire,
sɛ ty k+ ma po vrɑm+ ɛrɑ̃ te sɔlitɛr+
Do you know that my poor soul, wandering and solitary,
Devina dans ton âme, à ses parfums de miel,
d+vinɑ dɑ̃ tɔ̃ nɑ ma sɛ parfœ̃ d+ mjɛl
Perceived in your soul, with its perfumes of honey,
Une rose cachée, une fleur de mystère
yn+ roz+ kaʃe yn+ flœr d+ mistɛr+
A hidden rose, a flower of mystery
Épanouie215 au vent du ciel ;
epanui o vɑ̃ dy sjɛl
Blooming in the wind of the sky;
III
Et que j’ai vu par toi descendre à travers l’ombre
e k+ ʒe vy par twa desɑ̃ dra travɛr lɔ̃br+
And that, through you, I saw coming down accross the shade
L’amour, chaste lueur qu’aucun mortel ne fuit,
lamur ʃast+ lyœr kokœ̃ mɔrtɛl n+ fɥi
Love, faithful glimmer that no mortal flees,
Et qui vient se poser sur un visage sombre,
e ki vjɛ̃ s+ poze sy rœ̃ vizaʒ+ sɔ̃br+
And that sets down on a somber face,
215
The score contains évanouie (“fainted”) instead of épanouie (blooming). This appears to be a typographical
mistake since évanouie does not make sense in this context, as it would go against the original meaning of the
poetry.
146
Comme l’étoile sur la nuit?
kɔm+ letwal+ syr la nɥi]
Like the star in the night?
“Épanchement” is the twelfth poem of Édouard Turquety’s Amour et foi, a collection of poems
216
published in France in 1833. Couture’s musical setting of “Épanchement” was completed in
Montreal on 13 July 1884. It is dedicated to Couture’s second wife, Mercédès Papineau,
217
grandniece of politician Louis-Joseph Papineau. “Épanchement” is a mélodie that combines
strophic and ternary forms. The vocal line is strophic as it is repeated three times with minor
modifications. In contrast, the piano accompaniment follows a ternary form: in the A section, the
piano plays eighth-note descending scale patterns; in the B section, it plays ascending sixteenth-
note scale patterns; and at the return of the A section, the descending scale patterns reappear, but
with a faster rhythm of sixteenth-note sextuplets. In addition to combining strophic and ternary
forms, Couture’s piano accompaniment demonstrates a linear approach as he uses a progressive
diminuation of rhythm for every section, from eighth notes to sixteenth notes to sixteenth-note
sextuplets. “Épanchement” is characterized by the absence of a piano introduction, and by the
use of countrapuntal writing for the piano accompaniment.
In “Épanchement,” challenges may include the exposed vocal line at the beginning of the piece,
countrapuntal writing in the piano accompaniment, dissonances between the vocal line and the
piano accompaniment, chromaticism, and quick modulations. In this mélodie, the prosody is
quite successful: important syllables are set to strong musical beats and the mute e is set to
weaker beats. “Épanchement” can help address legato, breath energy, and stamina.
216
Édouard Turquety, Amour et Foi (Rennes: Molliex, 1833), 91-94, http://books.google.com.
217
Leader of the Parti canadien (later Parti patriote), and member of the Assembly, Louis-Joseph Papineau is
considered to be the first effective political leader of French Canadians.
147
218
4.5.9 “Andalouse” (Andalusian Woman), op. 38, by Calixa Lavallée
(1842-1891)
Text by Alfred de Musset (1810-1857)
219
Publisher: White Smith & Co. (1886) Difficulty level: Advanced (42)
Source: CMH Length: ca. 5’00
Voice type: Soprano
A man has a young Spanish mistress with an impish eye. She sleeps on his heart and he cradles
her until morning. When he is with her, he forgets about his worries.
Vous connaissez que j’ai pour mie Oh ! Viens ! Dans mon âme froissée
[vu kɔnese k+ ʒe pur mi+ o vjɛ̃ dɑ̃ mɔ̃ nɑm+ frwase+
You know that I a mistress keep Oh, come into my wounded soul
Une Andalouse à l’œil lutin, Qui saigne encor d’un mal bien grand,
y nɑ̃dalu za lœj lytɛ̃ ki sɛ ɲɑ̃kɔr dœ̃ mal bjɛ̃ grɑ̃
A Spanish girl with an impish eye, Still bleeding from a great pain,
Et sur mon cœur, tout endormie, Viens verser ta blanche pensée,
e syr mɔ̃ kœr tu tɑ̃dɔrmi+ vjɛ̃ vɛrse ta blɑ̃ʃ+ pɑ̃se+
And on my heart, asleep, Come pour your white pansy,
218
Also known as “Bolero.”
219
The song was performed by Maud Nichols in Boston in 1885; Boston Home Journal (14 March 1885): 3, in
Brian Christopher Thompson, Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891
(Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015), 281. It was published by White Smith & Co in
1886.
148
Je la berce jusqu’au matin. Comme un ruisseau dans un torrent !
ʒ+ la bɛrse ʒysko matɛ̃ kɔ mœ̃ rɥiso dɑ̃ zœ̃ tɔrɑ̃
I rock her until morning. Like a brook in a torrent!
Gais chérubins ! Veillez sur elle, Restons ! L’étoile vagabonde
ge ʃerybɛ̃ veje sy rɛl+ rɛstɔ̃ letwal+ vagabɔ̃d+
Gay cherubs! Watch over her, Let us remain! The vagabond star
Planez, oiseaux, sur votre nid ; Dont les sages ont peur de loin
plane wazo syr vɔtr+ ni dɔ̃ lɛ saʒ+ zɔ̃ pœr d+ lwɛ̃
Glide, birds, over your nest; Of which the wise man are afraid of from afar
Dorez du reflet de votre aile Peut-être en emportant le monde,
dɔre dy r+flɛ d+ vɔ trɛl+ pø tɛtrɑ̃ nɑ̃pɔrtɑ̃ l+ mɔ̃d+
From the reflection of your wing gild Perhaps, carrying away the world,
Son sommeil, que Dieu bénit !220 Nous laissera dans notre coin.
sɔ̃ sɔmɛj k+ djø beni nu lɛs+ra dɑ̃ nɔtr+ kwɛ̃
Her sleep, which God blesses! Will leave us in our corner.
Vous connaissez que j’ai pour mie Donne-moi, ma belle maitresse,
vu kɔnese k+ ʒe pur mi+ dɔn+ mwa ma bɛl+ mɛtrɛs+
You know that I a mistress keep Give me, my beautiful mistress,
Une Andalouse à l’œil lutin, Un beau baiser, car je le veux
y nɑ̃dalu za lœj lytɛ̃ œ̃ bo beze kar ʒ+ l+ vø
A Spanish girl with an impish eye, A beautiful kiss, because I want it
Et sur mon cœur, tout endormie, Raconter ma longue détresse,
e syr mɔ̃ kœr tu tɑ̃dɔrmi+ rakɔt̃ e ma lɔ̃g+ detrɛs+
And on my heart, asleep, To recount my long distress
220
In the original poem: “Son doux sommeil que Dieu bénit!”
149
Je la berce jusqu’au matin. En caressant tes beaux cheveux.
ʒ+ la bɛrse ʒysko matɛ̃ ɑ̃ karɛsɑ̃ tɛ bo ʃ+vø
I rock her until morning. Caressing your beautiful hair.
Car toute chose nous convie Vous connaissez que j’ai pour mie
car tut+ ʃoz+ nu kɔṽ i+ vu kɔnese k+ ʒe pur mi+
Since all things invite us You know that I a mistress keep
D’oublier tout, fors notre amour : Une Andalouse à l’œil lutin,
dublie tu fɔr nɔ tramur y nɑ̃dalu za lœj lytɛ̃
To forget everything; except our love: A Spanish girl with an impish eye,
Nos plaisirs, d’oublier la vie ; Et sur mon cœur, tout endormie,
no plɛzir dublie la vi+ e syr mɔ̃ kœr tu tɑ̃dɔrmi+
Our pleasures, to forget life; And on my heart, asleep,
Nos rideaux, d’oublier le jour. Je la berce jusqu’au matin.
No rido dublie l+ ʒur ʒ+ la bɛrse ʒysko matɛ]̃
Our curtains, to forget daylight. I rock her until morning.
Lavallée composed “Andalouse” for the American soprano Emma Juch (1863-1939) while he
was living in Boston. For this piece, Lavallée used six of the original twelve verses of Alfred de
Musset’s poem entitled “Madame la Marquise,” which had previously been set to music by
221
Jaume Saint-Hilaire in Paris in 1857. “Andalouse” is written in the style of a bolero, a popular
Spanish dance derived from the seguidilla, characterized by a triple meter and a sharp rhythmic
pattern at the piano. The vocal line evokes the sensuality of the text with its unexpected turns and
chromaticism. For example, in bars 77-78, there is a secondary dominant progression that moves
from the dominant to the lowered tonic. This creates an unexpected harmonic motion and
contributes to the sensual motion of the vocal line. The song was performed by soprano Maud
221
Journal général de l’imprimerie et de la librairie, vol. 7, 2nd ed. (Paris: Au cercle de l’imprimerie, de la librairie
et de la papeterie, 1864), 161, http://books.google.com.
150
Nichols, a student of Ellen D. Barett at the Petersilea Academy (where Calixa Lavallée also
taught), in a recital of compositions by American and resident composers, organized by Calixa
Lavallée at Union Hall in Boston on 10 March 1885. The Boston Home Journal reported that,
“[The Bolero] is not only admirable in suggesting the piquant and elastic step of the most
popular of Spanish dances, but unusual skill has been shown in its vocal adaptation,” adding that,
“Miss Maud Nichols rendered it with charming effect, the intricate melismas in which the piece
222
abounds being delivered with rare clearness and nicety.” “Andalouse” was also performed by
soprano Elizabeth Johnson and pianist Arthur J. Bassett in a musical soirée organized by Miss
223
Grace Anne Munroe at Chickering Hall in Boston in 1889.
“Andalouse” is vocally challenging due to large interval leaps, a wide range, long phrases,
melismas, coloratura, sustained notes, and substantial overall length. The piece requires quick
articulation of text in coloratura passages, efficient breath management, staccato and sostenuto
singing, vowel modification, and equalization of registers. Singers may consider vocalic
harmonization for the words baiser [beze] and cheveux [ʃøvø] to maintain a consistent resonance.
“Andalouse” is most appropriate for the advanced singer.
4.5.10 “Le jour de l’an à la campagne” (New Year’s Day in the Country)
by Nazaire LeVasseur (1848-1927)
Text by Napoléon Legendre (1841-1907)

Publisher: L. J. Demers & Frère
Length: ca. 5’50

Source: BAnQ
222
Boston Home Journal (14 March 1885): 3, in Brian Christopher Thomson, Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The
Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891 (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015), 281.
223
The Folio XXXIV, no. 7 (July 1889): 242, http://books.google.com.
151
On the fields covered with gaunt grass winter extends its cold coat. It is a time of long stories,
proud tales, and merry tunes that recount our past glories and the battles of ancient days. It is a
time of joyful celebrations, of long meals, and pleasant leisures. It is a time when children
spread joy everywhere. In these fortunate hours think of the ones who cry in mourning and
poverty. May your doors always remain open to charity!
I II
Sur les champs couverts d’herbe grêle C’est le temps des longues histoires,
[syr lɛ ʃɑ̃ kuvɛr dɛrb+ grɛl+ sɛ l+ tɑ̃ dɛ lɔg̃ + zistwar+
On the fields covered with gaunt grass It is a time of long stories,
L’hiver tend sa froide toison ; Des fiers récits, des gais refrains,
livɛr tɑ̃ sa frwad+ twazɔ̃ dɛ fjɛr resi dɛ ge r+frɛ̃
Winter extends its cold coat; Proud tales, merry tunes,
Le moineau vient frapper de l’aile Qui redisent nos vieilles gloires
l+ mwano vjɛ̃ frape d+ lɛl+ ki r+dis+ no vjɛj+ glwar+
The sparrow comes to flap its wings That recount our past glories
Aux fenêtres de la maison. Et les combats des jours anciens.
o fenɛtr+ d+ la mɛzɔ̃ e lɛ kɔ̃bɑ dɛ ʒur zɑ̃sjɛ̃
At the window of the house. And the battles of ancient days.
Autour de l’âtre qui flamboie L’œil éclatant, le conteur tonne,
otur d+ lɑtr+ ki flɑ̃bwa lœj eklatɑ̃ l+ kɔ̃tœr tɔn+
Around the hearth that blazes With sparkling eyes, the storyteller roars,
S’éveillent les doux souvenirs, Ou prend un ton mystérieux,
sevɛj+ lɛ du suv+nir u prɑ̃ tœ̃ tɔ̃ misteriø
Sweet memories awake, Or takes a mysterious tone,

152
Car chaque saison a sa joie, Et souvent, plus d’un cœur frissonne
kar ʃak+ sɛzɔ̃ ɑ sa ʒwa e suvɑ̃ ply dœ̃ kœr frisɔn+
For every season has its joy, And often, more than one heart shudders
Comme chaque âge a ses plaisirs. À ses accents victorieux.
kɔm+ ʃa kɑ ʒɑ sɛ plezir a sɛ zaksɑ̃ viktɔriø
Like each age has its pleasures. At its victorious accents.
III IV
C’est le temps des fêtes joyeuses, Et c’est le temps où la jeunesse,
sɛ l+ tɑ̃ dɛ fɛt+ ʒwajøz+ e sɛ l+ tɑ̃ u la ʒœnɛs+
It is a time of joyful celebrations, It is a time when youth,
Des longs repas, des doux loisirs, Et les enfants au front rieur,
dɛ lɔ̃ r+pɑ dɛ du lwazir e lɛ zɑ̃fɑ̃ zo frɔ̃ riœr
Of long meals, pleasant leisures, And children with a cheerful look,
Le temps des heures paresseuses Vont, semant partout l’allégresse,
l+ tɑ̃ dɛ zœr+ parɛsøz+ vɔ̃ s+mɑ̃ partu lallegrɛs+
The time of lazy hours Go, spreading everywhere joy,
Qui passent entre deux plaisirs. Cette autre jeunesse du cœur.
ki pɑs+ tɑ̃tr+ dø plɛzir sɛ totr+ ʒœnɛs+ dy kœr
Which pass between two enjoyments. The other youth of the heart.
Sous son épais manteau de givre, O doux souvenirs d’un autre âge !
su sɔ̃ nepɛ mɑ̃to d+ ʒivr+ o du suv+nir dœ̃ no trɑʒ+
Under its thick coat of frost, O sweet memories of another age!
La terre se repose et dort, Enfants, profitez des beaux jours ;
la tɛr+ s+ r+po ze dɔr ɑ̃fɑ̃ prɔfite dɛ bo ʒur
The earth rests and sleeps, Children, make the most of these beautiful days;
Et les hommes se laissent vivre Mais, armez vos cœurs de courage,
e lɛ zɔm+ s+ lɛs+ vivr+ mɛ arme vo kœr d+ kuraʒ+
And people unwind But arm your hearts with courage,

153
Doucement bercés par le sort. Le soleil ne luit pas toujours.
dus+mɑ̃ bɛrse par l+ sɔr l+ sɔlɛj n+ lɥi pɑ tuʒur
Gently lulled by fate. The sun does not always shine.
Ah ! dans ces heures fortunées
ɑ dɑ̃ sɛ zœr+ fɔrtyne+
Ah! In these fortunate hours
Où tout sourit à vos désirs,
u tu suri ta vo dezir
Where everything smiles to your desires,
Vous pour qui les longues années
vu pur ki lɛ lɔ̃g+ zane+
You for whom the long years
N’ont que de riants souvenirs,
nɔ̃ k+ d+ riɑ̃ suv+nir
Have only but cheerful memories,
Pensez, pensez à ceux qui pleurent
pɑ̃se pɑ̃se za sø ki plœr+
Think, think of the ones who cry
Dans le deuil et la pauvreté :
dɑ̃ l+ dœ je la povr+te
In mourning and poverty:
Que toujours vos portes demeurent
k+ tuʒur vo pɔrt+ d+mœr+
May your doors always remain
Ouvertes à la charité !
uvɛrt+ za la ʃarite]
Open to charity!
154
“Le jour de l’an à la campagne” by Nazaire LeVasseur was composed as a tribute to the
subscribers of the morning newspaper Le Canadien and the evening newspaper L’Évènement,
owned by brothers Louis-Joseph and Alphonse Eugène Demers in Quebec City. The score was
published in the issues of 1 January 1889. As Nazaire LeVasseur and Napoloéon Legendre
attended the same intellectual circles in Quebec City, it is not surprising that four years after the
publication of “Le jour de l’an à la campagne,” they became founding members of the Cercle des
224
Dix. “Le jour de l’an à la campagne” is a strophic song in which the stanzas are separated by a
ritornello. The simple melody with light ornamentation is set to the key of G major, with a brief
incursion into the key of D major.
Although the song was composed for the newspaper subscribers of the time, it contains elements
that could be challenging for beginning singers. For the most part, the piano accompaniment
does not double the vocal line, and on a few occasions, it even creates dissonances with it.
Furthermore, the range of the vocal line is quite extensive; there are a small number of wide
interval leaps in the voice (e.g., mm. 19), and quick ornaments. The occasionally awkward
setting of the prosody requires the singer to be careful not to emphasize the mute e or
unimportant words such as articles. The pronunciation of a double l can be performed in the
word allégresse for added expressivity. “Le jour de l’an à la campagne” is a rewarding song for
the singer, as it can address concepts of breath management, vowel modification, equalization of
registers, as well as story-telling skills.
224
Founded in Ottawa in 1894, the Cercle des Dix was a society of writers, musicians, and journalists, whose
objective was to discuss questions of history, culture, politics, and religion during weekly meetings at each other’s
residences. Members included, among others, Benjamin Sulte, Alfred-Duclos De Celles, Joseph Marmette, Alfred
Garneau, and Achille Fréchette.
155
4.5.11 “Philosophie” (Philosophy) by Achille Fortier (1864-1939)
Text by Armand Silvestre (1837-1901)

225
Publisher : Les Éditions Doberman-Yppan
(1993) Length: ca. 2’00
Source: CMC
I reprimanded my sad heart, which never wants to fall in love again, from letting itself be caught
by surprise. It said to me: “Someone has killed me with a mocking laugh.”I forgave my sad
heart, but alas! I die from a tender voice and my heart dies from a mocking laughter!
I II
J’avais grondé mon triste coeur Et j’ai grondé mon triste cœur
[ʒavɛ grɔ̃de mɔ̃ trist+ kœr e ʒe grɔ̃de mɔ̃ trist+ kœr
I had reprimanded my sad heart And I reprimanded my sad heart
Qui ne veut plus jamais s’éprendre ; De s’être ainsi laissé surprendre.
ki n+ vø ply ʒamɛ seprɑ̃dr+ d+ sɛ trɛs̃ i lese syrprɑ̃dr+
Which never wants to fall in love again; From letting itself be caught by surprise.
Il m’a dit, douloureux et tendre : Il m’a dit : sa voix était tendre,
il mɑ di dulurø e tɑ̃dr+ il mɑ di sa vwa etɛ tɑ̃dr+
It said to me, painful and tender: It said to me: its voice was tender,
225
Réjean Coallier, ed., Achille Fortier: Douze mélodies pour voix et piano (Saint-Nicolas, QC: Les Éditions
Doberman-Yppan, 1993). This may constitute the first publication of the song, as it was previously known only as a
hand-written manuscript by the composer.
156
On m’a tué d’un ris moqueur. Je n’ai pas vu son ris moqueur.
ɔ̃ mɑ tye dœ̃ ri mɔkœr ʒ+ ne pɑ vy sɔ̃ ri mɔkœr
Someone has killed me with a mocking laugh. I did not see his/her mocking laugh.
III
J’ai pardonné mon triste cœur.
ʒe pardɔne mɔ̃ trist+ kœr
I forgave my sad heart.
Aujourd’hui je sais le comprendre :
oʒurdɥi ʒ+ sɛ l+ kɔ̃prɑ̃dr+
Today I know how to understand it:
Hélas ! je meurs d’une voix tendre,
elɑs ʒ+ mœr dyn+ vwa tɑ̃dr+
Alas! I die from a tender voice,
Ainsi que lui d’un ris moqueur !
ɛs̃ i k+ lɥi dœ̃ ri mɔkœr]
As does my heart from a mocking laughter!
“Philosophie” is dedicated to Achille Fortier’s friend Albert Saléza, a French tenor who sang at
the Paris Opera. Armand Silvestre’s poem, marked number XIII, is part of “Philosophie,” which
226
is found in Silvestre’s Premières poésies. Set to the key of G minor, “Philosophie” is a
reflective mélodie that speaks of love and dejection, which is highlighted throughout Fortier’s
musical setting. For example, in measure 19, “ris moqueur” is set to a pointed rhythm to
accentuate the bitterness of the mocking laughter. Fortier also exposes the vocal line to
accentuate dramatic words in the poetry. “Philosophie” was performed by the tenor Édouard
226
Armand Silvestre, Premières poésies (Paris: G. Charpentier & Cie, 1887), 74, http://books.google.com.
157
LeBel, a student of Achille Fortier and Guillaume Couture, during a concert dedicated to
227
Fortier’s compositions at the Association Hall in November of 1893.
Example 19: Achille Fortier, “Philosophie,” bars 13-14
In “Philosophie,” there are several dynamic changes to complement the different emotions of the
poetry. Thus, a change of tonal colour should be observed in the section marked dolce (bar 20),
and at the return of the A section, marked pp (bar 25). In this mélodie, there is room for rubato,
as the writing belongs to the Romantic period. Challenges may include dissonances between the
vocal line and the piano accompaniment, quick modulations, and the occasionally exposed vocal
line. No liaison should be heard between the words douloureux and et, as douloureux and the
following adjective tendre constitute separate ideas.
227
Marie-Thérèse Lefevbre, “Qu’a-t-il manqué à Guillaume Couture? Portrait d’un personnage controversé dans le
milieu musical montréalais de la fin du XIXe siècle,” Les Cahiers des dix no. 58 (2004): 54,
https://www.erudit.org/revue/cdd/2004/v/n58/1008117ar.pdf. In this document, there is a mistake in the dating of
Fortier’s concert, which should be dated 1893, and not 1894.
158
4.5.12 “Sérénade mélancolique” (Melancholic Serenade) by Ernest

Lavigne (1851-1909)
Text by Armand Silvestre (1837-1901)

Publisher: Le Canada artistique (Feb.
1890) Length: ca. 3’30
Source: ECO
Come hear under the foliage the last song of the nests; listen to the passing hour in which the
day flees! Come intoxicate yourself with the last perfume of the prairie flowers; breathe the
breath of the day that flees! Come contemplate the last sparkle of the setting sun; look at the
ascending vapor of the faded day!
I II
Viens entendre sous la feuillée Viens t’enivrer, dans la prairie,
[vjɛ̃ zɑ̃tɑ̃dr+ su la fœje vjɛ̃ tɑ̃nivre dɑ̃ la prɛri
Come hear under the foliage Come intoxicate yourself, in the prairie,
La dernière chanson des nids Du dernier parfum de ses fleurs.
la dɛrnjɛr+ ʃɑ̃sɔ̃ dɛ ni dy dɛrnje parfœ̃ d+ sɛ flœr
The last song of the nests Of the last perfume of its flowers.
Et les murmures infinis Quand l’aube y posera ses pleurs
e lɛ myrmyr+ zɛf̃ ini kɑ̃ lo bi poz+rɑ sɛ plœr
And the infinite murmurs When daybreak will set down its tears
159
De la forêt ensommeillée. Plus d’une, hélas! sera flétrie.
d+ la fɔrɛ ɑ̃sɔmɛje ply dy nelɑs s+rɑ fletri
Of the sleepy forest. More than one, alas! Will be withered.
Tout se taira dans un instant, Sur l’herbe où l’insecte s’endort
tu s+ tɛrɑ dɑ̃ zœ̃ nɛs̃ tɑ̃ syr lɛr bu lɛs̃ ɛkt+ sɑ̃dɔr
Everything will quiet in an instant, On the grass where the insect falls asleep
Sous la grande aile du silence L’ombre étend ses premières toiles.
su la grɑ̃dɛl+ dy silɑ̃s+ lɔ̃ bretɑ̃ sɛ pr+mjɛr+ twal+
Under the big wing of silence Shade extends its first webs.
Qui, dans l’air tiède encor, balance Quand aux cieux s’ouvrent les étoiles,
ki dɑ̃ lɛr tjɛ dɑ̃kɔr balɑ̃s+ kɑ̃ to sjø suvr+ lɛ zetwal+
Which, in the air still tepid, sways As for the skies the stars open up,
Des doux rêves l’essaim flottant. Se referment les boutons d’or.
dɛ du rɛv+ lɛsɛ̃ flɔtɑ̃ s+ r+fɛrm+ lɛ butɔ̃ dɔr
The flotting swarm with sweet dreams. The buttercups close up.
Dans la brise qui pleure Au versant de la plaine
dɑ̃ la briz+ ki plœr o vɛrsɑ̃ d+ la plɛn+
In the breeze that weeps On the hill of the plain
O mon amour, Où vient la nuit,
o mɔ̃ namur u vjɛ̃ la nɥi
O my love, Where the night comes,
Écoute passer l’heure Respire encor l’haleine
ekut+ pɑse lœr+ rɛspi rɑ̃kɔr lalɛn+
Listen to the passing hour Breathe again the breath
Où fuit le jour ! Du jour qui fuit !
u fɥi l+ ʒur dy ʒur ki fɥi
In which the day flees! Of the day that flees!

160
III
Viens contempler dans la vallée
vjɛ̃ kɔ̃tɑ̃ple dɑ̃ la vale+
Come contemplate in the valley
Le dernier éclat du couchant.
l+ dɛrnje rekla dy kuʃɑ̃
The last sparkle of the setting sun.
La lune, à l’horizon penchant,
la ly na lɔrizɔ̃ pɑ̃ʃɑ̃
The moon, in the tilting horizon,
De blanches vapeurs est voilée
d+ blɑ̃ʃ+ vapœr ɛ vwale
Is veiled with white vapours
Et, parmi l’extase228 du soir,
e parmi lɛkstɑz+ dy swar
And, among the rapture of eve,
On dirait qu’au bord de la nue
ɔ̃ dirɛ ko bɔr d+ la ny
It is as if on the edge of the skies
Une main divine est venue
yn+ mɛ̃ divi nɛ v+ny
A divine hand has come
Allumer un large encensoir.
alyme rœ̃ lar ʒɑ̃sɑ̃swar
To light a large censer
228
The accent d’insistance should be performed on the second syllable of the word (extase), instead of the first
syllable.
161
Regarde, bien-aimée,
r+gard+ bjɛ̃ neme
Look, beloved,
Au ciel lointain,
o sjɛl lwɛt̃ ɛ̃
In the far sky
Remonter la fumée
r+mɔt̃ e la fyme+
The ascending vapor
Du jour éteint !
dy ʒur etɛ]̃
Of the faded day!
Armand Silvestre’s poem “Sérénade mélancolique” was published in 1880, in his collection Les
229
Ailes d’or, dedicated to his mentor and friend Théodore de Banville. The musical setting of
the poem by Ernest Lavigne was published in 1890 in Le Canada artistique, a Montreal-based
periodical dedicated to arts. “Sérénade mélancolique” is a romance of strophic form written in
6/8 meter. The music contains an upbeat allegretto section with strong waltz influence, followed
by a short lento section that is more lyrical and sustained. The two last measures of the lento
section indicate a return to the allegretto with triple piano dynamic, which helps convey the idea
of a distant memory. A distinctive feature of “Sérénade mélancolique” is the ornamentation of
the vocal line with upper mordents that occur on the second beat of the measure, which help
bring forth the light and gracious atmosphere of the poem.
In “Sérénade mélancolique,” attention should be given to the various tempo changes brought by
several rallentandi, a tempi, and an accelerando. The singer and pianist will need to coordinate in
229
Armand Silvestre, Les Ailes d’or: Poésies nouvelles 1878-1880 (Paris: G. Charpentier, 1880), 137-139,
http://books.google.com.
162
order to ensure a flexible and organic delivery of the text. The third line of each verse (bars 8-9),
which is indicated by a rallentando, requires the singer to display a different tonal colour or
intention.
4.5.13 “Rêverie” (Daydream) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume (1839-1899)
Text by Napoléon Legendre (1841-1907)
230

Publisher: Piano-Canada (15 Nov. 1893)
Length: ca. 4’00

Source: ECO
231
Under the fading sun, our wherry rocks with the caressing breeze in the middle of the
immense sea. When the evening falls, a mysterious chant murmurs and rises like an incense
towards the vault of heaven!
Sur le sein de la mer immense,
[syr l+ sɛ̃ d+ la mɛr immɑ̃s+
In the middle of the immense sea,
Au gré d’un souffle caressant,
o gre dœ̃ sufl+ karɛsɑ̃
Following a caressing breeze,
Notre nacelle se balance
nɔtr+ nasɛl+ s+ balɑ̃s+
Our wherry rocks
230
Fréchette, Jehin-Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste, 280.
231
A small row boat.
163
Sous le beau soleil palissant.
su l+ bo sɔlɛj pɑlisɑ̃
Under the beautiful fading sun.
Viens, voici l’heure du mystère,
vjɛ̃ vwasi lœr+ dy mistɛr+
Come, here is the hour of mystery,
Le calme renait dans le port
l+ kalm+ r+nɛ dɑ̃ l+ pɔr
Calm returns in the port
Et bientôt l’ombre solitaire
e bjɛt̃ o lɔ̃br+ sɔlitɛr+
And soon the solitary shade
Va couvrir le flot qui s’endort.
vɑ kuvrir l+ flo ki sɑ̃dɔr
Will cover the waves that are falling asleep.
Quand le soir tombe sur la grève
kɑ̃ l+ swar tɔ̃b+ syr la grɛv+
When the evening falls on the shore
Du fond des nids un chant mystérieux,
dy fɔ̃ dɛ ni œ̃ ʃɑ̃ mysteriø
From the bottom of the nests a mysterious chant,
Suave, murmure et s’élève
syav+ myrmyr e selɛv+
Smooth, murmurs and rises
Comme un encens vers la voûte des cieux !
kɔ mœ̃ nɑ̃sɑ̃ vɛr la vut+ dɛ sjø
Like an incense towards the vault of heaven!

164
“Rêverie” is dedicated to the wife of poet Louis Fréchette, the latter being Jéhin-Prume’s friend,
232
dining companion, and relative. A rêverie refers to a passive state of mind in which one is
captivated by an impression, a memory, a sentiment or a thought, and in which one’s imagination
233
wanders among random associations of ideas. Musical compositions written in the style of a
rêverie were popular amongst both French and French Canadian composers of the nineteenth
century. Jéhin-Prume’s “Rêverie” follows a rondo form (ABACA), and is exemplary of the
Romantic period, with constant rubato, varied dynamics, and search for rich harmonies and tonal
colours. The characteristic ascending perfect fourth interval of the C section is repeated at the
end of the piece, as if to suggest that the daydream is gradually fading away. Jéhin-Prume also
set to music “Mater dolorosa” by Napoléon Legendre.
“Rêverie” requires the singer to display different vocal colours to match the changing harmonies
of the piano accompaniment, to secure dissonant intervals in the vocal line, and to perform the
numerous rubato sections according to the expression of the text. “Rêverie” is an excellent piece
to work on legato singing, given the long lyrical phrases of the vocal line, and the arpeggiated
and sustained piano accompaniment. The periodical Piano-Canada of 15 December 1893
mentions that there are typographical mistakes in the score of “Rêverie” by Jéhin-Prume,
234
published in their previous issue. However, the mistakes are not described. They may include
the misalignment of the vocal and piano parts in bars 37, 41, and 45, a missing G natural in the
third beat of the vocal part (bar 51), as well as a possible wrong chord in the left hand of the
piano (bar 52), which perhaps should be a C major chord, instead of an F major 7 sus 2 (as
shown in Example 20).
232
Fréchette, Jehin-Prume: Une Vie d’Artiste, preface.
233
Centre National de Resources Textuelles et Lexicales, “Rêverie” (Centre National de Resources Textuelles et
Lexicales, 2012), www.cnrtl.fr/definition/rêverie.
234
Piano-Canada 1, no. 11 (15 December 1893): 2, http://eco.canadiana.ca.res.banq.qc.ca/view/oocihm.8_06430.
165
Example 20: Frantz Jéhin-Prume, “Rêverie,” prosody omission and solution, bar 52
Possible mistake Possible solutions
4.5.14 “L’âme d’un ange” (The Soul of an Angel) by Alexis Contant

(1858-1918)
Text by Théodore de Banville (1823-1891)

Publisher: Piano-Canada (15 Dec. 1893)
Length: ca. 3’45

Source: ECO
Voice type: Mezzo, soprano, or baritone
They say, my dove, that you dream still dead under the stone of a grave. No, you live because I
adore you! I caress your long veils; I breathe your divine blond braids! Your pure and smooth
235
voice brushes the waves on the water like a swan lamenting itself.
235
Expression found in the poem “La Mort de Socrate” by French poet Alphonse de Lamartine, in which he writes,
“The poets have said that before its last hour / With harmonious sounds the swan laments itself.” Œuvres de
Lamartine de l’Académie Française (Bruxelles: J. P. Meline, 1836), 587.
166
I II
Ils se disent, ma colombe, Par les blanches nuits d’étoiles,
[il s+ dis+ ma kɔlɔb̃ + par lɛ blɑ̃ʃ+ nɥi detwal+
They say, my dove, On white starry nights,
Que tu rêves morte encore Dans la brise qui murmure
k+ ty rɛv+ mɔr tɑ̃kɔr+ dɑ̃ la briz+ ki myrmyr+
That you dream still dead In the murmuring breeze
Sous la pierre d’une tombe Je caresse tes longs voiles,
su la pjɛr+ dyn+ tɔb̃ + ʒ+ karɛs+ tɛ lɔ̃ vwal+
Under the stone of a grave I caress your long veils,
Non tu vis, car je t’adore236 Ta mouvante chevelure,
nɔ̃ ty vi kar ʒ+ tadɔr+ ta muvɑ̃t+ ʃ+v+lyr+
No you live, because I adore you Your swaying hair,
Tu t’éveilles ranimée, Et tes ailes demi-closes
ty tevɛj+ ranime+ e tɛ zɛl+ d+mi kloz+
You wake up revived, And your half-closed wings
Ô pensive bien-aimée ! Qui voltigent sur les roses !
o pɑ̃siv+ bjɛ̃ neme+ ki vɔltiʒ+ syr lɛ roz+
O pensive beloved! Which flutter about on the roses!
III
Ô délices ! je respire
o delis+ ʒ+ rɛspir+
O pleasures! I breathe
236
In the original poem, the line is “Mais pour l’âme qui t’adore.”
167
Tes divines tresses237 blondes ;
tɛ divin+ trɛs+ blɔ̃d+
Your divine blond braids;
Ta voix pure, cette lyre,
ta vwa pyr+ sɛt+ lyr+
Your pure voice, this lyre,
Suit la vague sur les ondes
sɥi la vag+ syr lɛ zɔ̃d+
Follows the wave on water
Et, suave, les effleure,
e syav+ lɛ zeflœr+
And, smooth, brushes them,
Comme un cygne qui se pleure.
kɔ mœ̃ siɲ+ ki s+ plœr+]
Like a swan lamenting itself.
238
Théodore de Banville wrote the poem “L’énamourée” in October 1859. In 1864, a musical
239
setting by Charles Gounod was published under the title “L’âme d’un ange.” In his version,
Gounod modified the fourth line of the first verse from “Mais, pour l’âme qui t’adore” (“But, for
the soul that adores you”) to “Non tu vis, car je t’adore” (“No you live, because I adore you”).
For his musical setting, Alexis Contant kept Gounod’s title and modifications of Banville’s
poetry. Contant dedicated “L’âme d’un ange” to Mr. Léopold Laflamme, a Montreal lawyer who
237
The score contains tresse, which is a grammatical mistake: it should be the plural form tresses.
238
Théodore de Banville, Les Exilés (Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1867), 169-170, http://books.google.com.
239
Vingt mélodies pour chant et piano par Ch. Gounod, 1er recueil (Paris: Choudens, n.d. [1864]), 98-101,
http://imslp.org/wiki/L'âme_d'un_ange_(Gounod,_Charles).
168
240
was a member of the choir of the Gesù. The score indicates a metronome marking of 54 for
the quarter note, but in fact it should be for the eighth note, given the 6/8 time signature and the
marking posément (calmly). At the beginning of the song, the vocal line is accompanied by rich
chords, evoking sentiments of tenderness with nostalgic undertones. In the following section
marked un peu animé (a little animated), the voice and piano become more lively, the texture
becomes denser, and the piano doubles the vocal line, all of which help convey the character’s
vivid memories of his beloved.
“L’âme d’un ange” displays a musical language and poetry that are most suitable for advanced
musicians. In the beginning of the song, the exposed vocal line requires the singer to lead the
musical gesture while maintaining a poised delivery of the text. “L’âme d’un ange” requires the
singer to possess a full and resonant low-middle range, given the tessitura of the vocal line and
the thick texture of the piano in the second part of the song.
4.5.15 “Premier rayon” (First Ray) by Ernest Lavigne (1851-1909)

241
Text: source unknown

Publisher: Le Passe-Temps (2 May 1896)
Length: ca. 2’30
Source: BAnQ
240
“Nouvelles musicales du Canada,” Le Canada musical 3, no. 9 (1 January 1877): 138,
241
The two existing scores of the song, both published in Le Passe-Temps, fail to mention the author of the poetry;
the scores only indicate “music by Ernest Lavigne.” As it is the case with a few other chansonnettes by Ernest
Lavigne, the authorship of the poetry was omitted (e.g., “L’hirondelle,” “Le petit baiser,” “Mariette,” “Le petit doigt
de la maman,” “Gertrude,” “Ô ma charmante,” and “Je t’aimerai”).
169
It was Sunday! I was watching my sweetheart, who, at my jokes, was becoming as red as the
cherries of her hat. While bending her waist, she was making her silk bodice burst open.
Glorious sound! She said: “If you knew how much I love you,” and he replied the same. O the
foolish one!
I II
C’était dimanche ! Elle était belle !
[setɛ dimɑ̃ʃ+ ɛ letɛ bɛl+
It was Sunday! She was beautiful!
Avril avait sur chaque branche À l’ombre de sa verte ombrelle,
avril avɛ syr ʃak+ brɑ̃ʃ+ a lɔ̃br+ d+ sa vɛr tɔb̃ rɛl+
April had on each branch In the shade of her green umbrella,
Chargé de fleurs son premier jour. Elle papillotait des yeux.
ʃarʒe d+ flœr sɔ̃ pr+mje ʒur ɛl+ papijɔtɛ dɛ zjø
Loaded of flowers its first day. Her eyes were blinking.
Au travers des bois, sur les plaines, Faisant sur sa taille qui ploie,
o travɛr dɛ bwa syr lɛ plɛn+ f+zɑ̃ syr sa taj+ ki plwa+
Through the woods, on the plains, While bending her waist, she was making
Du printemps les chaudes haleines, Craquer son corsage de soie,
dy prɛt̃ ɑ̃ lɛ ʃod+ zalɛn+ krake sɔ̃ kɔrsaʒ+ d+ swa+
Of spring the warm breaths, Her silk bodice burst open,
Soufflaient l’amour ! Bruit radieux !
suflɛ lamur brɥi radiø
Exhaled love! Glorious sound!
Je regardais mon amoureuse Sur l’or d’une poussière fine,
ʒ+ r+gardɛ mɔ̃ namurøz+ syr lɔr dyn+ pusjɛr+ fin+
I was watching my sweetheart On the golden fine dust,

170
Qui me suivait toute peureuse Les petits pieds de sa bottine,
ki m+ sɥivɛ tut+ pørøz+ lɛ p+ti pje d+ sa bɔtin+
Who was following me nervously The small feet of her ankle boot,
Au bord de l’eau, Elle traçait !
o bɔr d+ lo ɛl+ trasɛ
To the edge of the water, She drew!
Et devenait à mes bêtises, Et si léger que l’hirondelle,
e d+v+nɛ ta mɛ bɛtiz+ e si leʒe k+ lirɔ̃dɛl+
And who, at my jokes, was becoming And as light as a swallow,
Aussi rouge que les cerises En frôlant le sol de son aile,
osi ruʒ+ k+ lɛ s+riz+ ɑ̃ frolɑ̃ l+ sɔl d+ sɔ̃ nɛl+
As red as the cherries Brushing the earth with its wing,
De son chapeau. Les effeçait.
d+ sɔ̃ ʃapo lɛ zefasɛ
Of her hat. She erased them.
III
Elle était folle !
ɛ letɛ fɔl+
She was wild!
Sans échanger une parole,
sɑ̃ zeʃɑ̃ʒe ryn+ parɔl+
Without exchanging a word,
Elle prit des sentiers couverts.
ɛl+ pri dɛ sɑ̃tje kuvɛr
She continued along the covered paths.
C’était manquer à nos promesses
setɛ mɑ̃ke ra no prɔmɛs+
This was breaking our promises

171
Mais les abris de nos jeunesses
mɛ lɛ zabri d+ no ʒœnɛs+
But the covers of our youth
Étaient si verts !
etɛ si vɛ
Were so green!
Qu’au fond de notre nid de mousse
ko fɔ̃ d+ nɔtr+ ni d+ mus+
That at the bottom of our nest of moss
Nous fûmes et d’une voix douce
nu fym+ e dyn+ vwa dus+
We found ourselves and with a soft voice
Elle me dit :
ɛl+ m+ di
She said to me:
Si tu savais comme je t’aime,
si ty savɛ kɔm+ ʒ+ tɛm+
If you knew how much I love you,
Et l’écho répondit de même,
e leko repɔ̃di d+ mɛm+
And the echo replied the same,
Ah ! l’étourdi.
ɑ leturdi]
Oh! The foolish one.

172
Lavigne’s “Premier rayon” was published in the 1896 issue of Le Passe-Temps, where spring
was described as a time “when sidewalks are filled with walkers searching for distractions;
242
philanderers, who with raffish eye, look scrupulously at women.” “Premier rayon” is a playful
chansonnette about spring and love that combines two popular dance forms of the time, the waltz
and the polka. The song begins with a lively polka piano prelude and transitions almost
instantaneously into a lyrical waltz when the voice enters. The polka returns when the voice
sings the refrain, creating a folksy, comical effect, which contrasts the preceding polished waltz.
The rapid transition between the waltz and the polka may prove to be challenging, especially due
to the fact that these are contrasting dance forms in terms of meter and musical phrasing. The
singer and pianist will need to work out the timing of the fermata, ritardando, and tempo di
polka, with regard to text interpretation. Given the comical aspect of the song, the singer should
feel free to exaggerate musical effects, characterization, and the accent d’insistance on
expressive words such as rouge, radieux, folle, and l’étourdi.
4.5.16 “À genoux” (Kneeling Down) Paul-Émile Prévost (1864-1908)
Text by Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

243
Publisher: Edmond Hardy
Length: ca. 4’20

Source: IA (microform from the Toronto
Reference Library)
242
Nada Mas., “Chronique de quinzaine,” Le Passe-Temps II, no. 31 (2 May 1896): 103.
243
Paul-Émile Prévost’s song collection Mes Rêves (Montreal: Edmond Hardy, 1897), 7-10.
173
Since here on earth every soul gives its music or its love to someone, I give you at this hour the
best thing that I have in me. Receive my countless vows and all the caresses of my songs. Receive
my heart of which nothing is left; its love, taken away!
I II
Puisqu’ici bas toute âme Reçois donc ma pensée
[pɥiskisi bɑ tu tɑm+ r+swa dɔ̃ ma pɑ̃se+
Since here on earth every soul Please receive my thought
Donne à quelqu’un Triste d’ailleurs
dɔ na kɛlkœ̃ trist+ dajœr
Gives to someone For that matter, sad,
Sa musique ou sa flamme244 Qui comme une rosée
sa myzi ku sa flɑ ki kɔ myn+ roze
Its music or its love Which like a dew
Ou son parfum T’arrive en pleurs
mu sɔ̃ parfœ̃ tari vɑ̃ plœr
Or its perfume Comes to you in tears
Puisqu’ici toute chose Reçois mes vœux sans nombre,
pɥiskisi tut+ ʃoz+ r+swa mɛ vø sɑ̃ nɔ̃br+
Since here on earth everything, Receive my countless vows,
Donne toujours O mes amours
dɔn+ tuʒur o mɛ zamur
Always gives o my love
Son épine ou sa rose Reçois la flamme ou l’ombre
sɔ̃ nepi nu sa ro r+swa la flɑmu lɔ̃br+
Its thorn or its rose Receive my flame or the shade
244
In the original poem, the line is “sa musique, sa flamme.”
174
À ses amours De tous mes jours
za sɛ zamur d+ tu mɛ ʒur
To its love Of all my days
Puisque l’air à la branche Mes transports pleins d’ivresse
pɥisk+ lɛr a la brɑ̃ʃ+ mɛ trɑ̃spɔr plɛ̃ divrɛs+
Since air to the branch My impulses full of exhilaration
Donne l’oiseau Purs de soupçons
dɔn+ lwazo pyr d+ supsɔ̃
Gives the bird Pure of suspicion
Que l’aube à la pervenche Et toutes les caresses
k+ lo ba la pɛrvɑ̃ʃ+ e tut+ lɛ karɛs+
That dawn to the periwinkle And all the caresses
Donne un peu d’eau De mes chansons
dɔ nœ̃ pø do d+ mɛ ʃɑ̃sɔ̃
Gives a little water Of my songs
Puisque lorsqu’elle arrive Mon esprit qui sans voile
pɥisk+ lɔrs kɛ lariv+ mɔ̃ nɛspri ki sɑ̃ vwal+
Since when it arrives My mind, which without sail,
S’y reposer Vogue au hasard
si r+poze vɔ go asar
To rest on it Wanders at random
L’onde amère à la rive Et qui n’a pour étoile
lɔ̃ damɛ ra la riv+ e ki nɑ pu retwal+
The bitter wave to the riverbank And that has for a star
Donne un baiser Que ton regard
dɔ nœ̃ beze k+ tɔ̃ r+gar
Gives a kiss Only your glance

175
Je te donne à cette heure, Reçois mon bien céleste
ʒ+ t+ dɔn+ a sɛ tœr+ r+swa mɔ̃ bjɛ̃ selɛst+
I give you, at this hour, Receive my celestial possession
Penché sur toi Ô ma beauté
pɑ̃ʃe syr twa o ma bote
Leaning on you, O my beauty
La chose la meilleure Mon cœur dont rien ne reste
la ʃoz+ la mɛjœr+ mɔ̃ kœr dɔ̃ rjɛ̃ n+ rɛst+
The best thing My heart of which nothing is left
Que j’ai en moi. L’amour ôté !
k+ ʒe ɑ̃ mwa lamur ote]
That I have in me. Love, taken away!
This famous poem by Victor Hugo, indicated as number XI in Hugo’s collection of poems Les
245
Voix intérieures, is dated 19 May 1836. Set to music by numerous French composers,
including Gabriel Fauré, Reynaldo Hahn, Hippolyte Monpou, Édouard Lalo, Louis Niedermeyer,
and Camille Saint-Saëns, it appears that Paul-Émile Prévost used the version of Hugo’s poem
246
found in Hippolyte Monpou’s song “À genoux,” published in 1838 by J. Meissonnier in Paris.
Like Monpou, Prévost omits stanzas 3 and 11 of the original poem, and he uses the same
247
uncommon title for the song, “À genoux.” Set to a 6/8 time signature marked andantino, “À
genoux” is a mélodie built on sustained and lyrical phrases in the vocal line. The score contains
varied dynamic markings, as well as many rallentandi and a tempi, to showcase the expressivity
of the text.
245
Oeuvres complètes de Victor Hugo III: Poésie III (Paris: J. Hetzel & Cie and A. Quantin & Cie, 1880), 279-281,
246
David Tunley, ed., Romantic French Song 1830-1870 (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994), xxxii.
247
Common titles of the song include “Puisqu’ici bas tout’âme,” used by Gabriel Fauré and Édouard Lalo, and
“Rêverie,” used by Reynaldo Hahn and Camille Saint-Saëns’
176
As there is no a tempo following the rallentandi of bars 17 and 18, the singer may consider
inserting an a tempo in measure 19 in order to prevent the middle section from dragging, and to
provide an effective contrast with the rallentando of bar 25. There are a few instances of
awkward prosody; the composer seems to omit a few elisions and sets several unimportant
syllables on strong beats. In order to respect the feet of the poetry and the organic delivery of the
language, one should consider singing the â of the word âme over two notes and perform the
elision between words donne and “à quelqu’un” in bars 7 and 8, as shown in Example 21. In
measure 23, there is no elision between donne and “à cette heure,” since “à cette heure” is a
separate idea that should be stated in between two commas (“I give you, at this hour, leaning on
you, the best thing that I have in me.”). The singer should take care not to accentuate the mute e
of words donne (mm. 12) and triste (mm. 8), which are set to the first beat of the measure.
Example 21: Paul-Émile Prévost, “À genoux,” bars 7-8
In summary, even though many French Canadian vocal compositions were intended to be
performed by amateur musicians, the assessment of their difficulty levels showed that the
majority of these compositions lie in intermediate and advanced difficulty levels, which require a
high degree of musicianship skills from both singer and pianist. Such results indicate that
composers either wrote challenging pieces for the amateur performer or that the amateur
performers of the time possessed a certain level of musical training. The extended performance
lengths of several French Canadian songs show that the repeated stanzas and refrain form was a
dominant form in the nineteenth century. In contrast, in the latter half of the nineteenth century,
as composers began to abandon this form, performance lengths shortened. Interestingly, only one
song used the colloquial form of French Canadian language, “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” by
Blain de Saint-Aubin, which may be explained by the fact that this song is strongly influenced by
French Canadian folklore. The majority of French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano,
however, feature poetry written in the formal form of the French language.
Conclusion
Nineteenth-century French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano represent a large and diverse
body of repertoire, as illustrated by the completion of an inventory of close to 200 pieces. The
present research followed two main objectives: provide an introduction to French Canadian solo
vocal compositions, and guide performers and voice teachers in the choice and interpretation of
this repertoire.
Through a historical narrative, Chapter 1 demonstrated that French Canadian songs have been
influenced by the socio-political scene in Canada, shifts in colonial status, French cultural
songs, First Nations culture, and the publishing industry. Chapter 2 helped highlight three
predominant vocal genres of the nineteenth century, the chansonnette, the romance, and the
mélodie, which led to the development of art song repertoire in Canada. For the performer and
voice teacher, Chapters 1 and 2 not only serve as an introduction to nineteenth-century French
Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, but it also guides the interpretation and programming
choices of this repertoire. For example, the singer may choose to present a group of songs from
the same vocal genre (e.g., a group of patriotic or folkloric songs), with similar subject content
(e.g., mélodies of Spanish influence), featuring the poetry of a French Canadian poet (e.g., songs
with poems by Louis Fréchette) or influenced by a specific historical event (e.g., songs tied to
the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society).
Chapter 3 served as a framework for the presentation of annotated nineteenth-century French

Canadian songs for solo voice and piano in Chapter 4. The literature review of guides specific to
compositions for solo voice and piano highlighted two main characteristics in the fields of voice
performance and vocal pedagogy: choosing appropriate-level repertoire can be problematic, and
no standard methodology exists to rate the level of difficulty of solo vocal pieces. The creation of
an assessment grid for compositions for solo voice and piano, as well as its application to
existing graded repertoire, demonstrated that the grid represents a quantifiable method to rate the
level of difficulty of all genres of compositions for solo voice and piano.
178
In Chapter 4, the presentation of annotations for twenty-two French Canadian songs for solo
voice and piano, representative of the different genres found in the nineteenth century, illustrated
the pedagogical and performance value of this repertoire. Representing a variety of vocal genres
of varying difficulty levels, subject content, and vocal challenges, these songs will appeal to a
wide range of performers and voice teachers interested in expanding their knowledge of French
vocal music. Chapter 4 provided a guide to the interpretation of French Canadian vocal
repertoire by presenting the differences between the pronunciation of French Canadian colloquial
and formal forms of language, as well as the characteristics of the accent d’insistance. In this
repertoire, concerns of faulty prosody were addressed by avoiding emphasis on the mute e, and
by performing adequate elisions or liaisons that may not have been written in the vocal part.
Even though this paper unveils information about where a small number of French Canadian
songs were performed, there is limited access to the performance tradition of this repertoire,
especially with regard to how these songs were taught or how they were performed. A small
number of recordings of this repertoire exist that can help elucidate the performance tradition of
French Canadian songs for solo voice and piano, including diction, style, and vocal delivery. It
would be relevant to pursue further research on recordings of French Canadian vocal repertoire,
in order to create an exhaustive discography extant, and to determine additional characteristics of
its performance tradition; for example, when the affrication of the d and t and the uvular r
appeared in songs of folkloric influence, or if there are differences in the performance traditions
of French and French Canadian mélodies.
In the present research, the creation of a level of difficulty assessment grid was limited to
compositions for solo voice and piano. However, the grid could easily serve as the basis for the
development of level of difficulty assessments applicable to other vocal genres such as opera,
chamber music, or early music. The creation of a quantifiable level of difficulty assessment scale
across the fields of voice performance and vocal pedagogy is essential for establishing consistent
and efficient difficulty level ratings of vocal pieces. As presented in this research, such a scale
may help to address the issue highlighted by pedagogue John Nix—the assigning of
248
inappropriate repertoire can hamper a student’s rate of development.
248
179
In the last decade, the digitalization of Canada’s national archives through organizations such as
the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Early Canadiana Online, Hathi Trust Digital
Library, and Internet Archive, has enabled the public to readily access a repertoire that was
previously difficult to locate. Now that French Canadian vocal compositions are as accessible as
they have ever been, it is important to bring forth this previously obscure repertoire, to recognize
its performance and pedagogical value, and to promote its informed performance. As French
mélodie already constitutes a major portion of classical singers’ training, one hopes that French
Canadian songs for voice and piano will no longer be ignored or forgotten, but might be studied
alongside French mélodie in the singer’s curriculum, and appreciated for their historical, artistic
and pedagogical value.
180
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Lavigueur, Célestin. “La huronne.” Écho du cabinet de lecture paroissial (3 January 1862): 22-
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pour le patrimoine musical canadien, 1987.
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LeVasseur, Nazaire. Le jour de l’an à la campagne. Québec: L. J. Demers & Frère, 1889.
Molt, Theodore Frederic. Sol canadien. Québec: T. F. Molt, n.d. [ca. 1833]. http://collections.
Molt, Theodore Frederic. Sol canadien. Montreal: Typesetting by Senécal, Daniel et Compagnie,
1859. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2022850.
Olivier, Louis A., and Mrs L. A. Olivier. Notre religion, notre langue, nos moeurs et nos lois.
Montreal: Boucher et Manseau, n.d. [between 1862-1864]. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/
ark:/52327/1791.
Panneton, Charles-Marie. “Rallions-nous!” Le Passe-Temps XXVII, no. 685 (25 June 1921):
Paradis, Gaudiose. “Consolation” La Revue Nationale 2, no 9 (October 1895): 281-282.

Premio-Real, The Count of. “Absence.” In Seize mélodies pour chant et piano par le Comte de
Premio-Real, 89-91. Québec: Arthur Lavigne, 1879. http://collections.banq.qc.ca/
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https://archive.org/details/cihm_89685.
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Prévost, Paul-Émile. “L’aveu.” La Revue Nationale 2, no. 10 (November 1895): 378-381.

Prévost, Paul-Émile. Mes Rêves. Montreal: Edmond Hardy, 1897.

Prévost, Paul-Émile. “O souvenir.” In Mes Rêves, 34-37. Montreal: Edmond Hardy, 1897.
Prévost, Paul-Émile. “Prière d’amour.” In Mes Rêves, 11-13. Montreal: Edmond Hardy, 1897.
Prévost, Paul-Émile. “Te souviens-tu.” In Mes Rêves, 5-6. Montreal: Edmond Hardy, 1897.
Prince, Lorenzo. “La cueillette.” Le Passe-Temps I, no. 4 (16 March 1895): 56-57.
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qc.ca/ark:/52327/2022847.
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Sabatier, Charles Wugk. “Le drapeau de Carillon.” Le Canada Musical (1 June 1875): 24-25.
Sauvageau, Charles. “Chant canadien.” In The Canadian musical heritage / Le Patrimoine

St-Denis, A. J. H. “Aux braves de 1760.” Piano-Canada (20 January 1895): 13-14.

Vézina, Joseph. “En m’ouvrant ton coeur.” In The Canadian musical heritage / Le Patrimoine
201
Appendix A
List of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Songs for Solo Voice
and Piano
NF – Music Score Not Found
Aubin, Napoléon
“Le dépit amoureux” piano accompaniment by Charles Sauvageau (1840)
Blain de Saint-Aubin, Emmanuel
“Bavards et bavardes” (between 1858-1865)
“Écho malin” with piano accompaniment by Antoine Dessane (ca. 1871)
“La fée Urgande” (1863)
“La fille à Baptiste: chansonnette villageoise” (ca. 1873) - NF
“Le chemin des amoureux” (1882)
“Près d’un berceau” (1871) - NF
“Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” (1882)
Blain de Saint-Aubin, Miss Emmanuel (Charlotte-Euphémie Rhéaume)
“L’exilé de là-bas!” (1862)
“Servante et reine” (1863)
Contant, Alexis
“Amour trompeur” (1888)
“Aurore” (1882)
“Clos ta paupière” (1886)
“L’âme d’un ange” (1893)
“Les craintes maternelles” (1892)
Couture, Guillaume
“Épanchement” (1884)
“Rêverie” (1894)
Crépault, Napoléon
“La foi, l’espérance et la charité” (1875)
Desbarats, Josette
Chants canadiens (1856)
1.“Légèrement, gai, gaiement”
2. “En roulant ma boule”
3. “J’ai cueilli la rose rose”
4. “Derrière chez mon père”
5. “Ah! qui me passera le bois”
6. “À la claire fontaine”
7. “Catin, catin, belle catin!”
D***, Delle. D.
“Les canotiers du Saint-Laurent” (1863)
D’Eschambault, Guillaume Fleury
“La frontière” (1857)
Dessane, Antoine
“À la claire fontaine” (1861)
“Chant du vieux soldat canadien” (1855-1856)
“Écho malin” with text and melody by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin (ca. 1871)
“Écoutez-bien” (pre-1873)
“La mère canadienne” (1862)
202
“Le chant des voyageurs” (1862)

“Le grillon” (pre-1873)
Dugas, Abbot Georges
“À bas les paresseux” (1898)
“Au saint-berceau” (1889)
“Deux fois trente hivers” (1899)
“Isabeau s’y promène” (1899)
Fortier, Achille
20 chansons populaires du Canada (1893)
1. À la claire fontaine
2. C’est la belle Françoise
3. En roulant ma boule
4. Cécilia
5. Lèv’ ton pied
6. À Saint-Malo, beau port de mer
7. Ah! qui me passera le bois
8. Marianne s’en va-t-au moulin
9. Isabeau s’y promène
10. J’ai fait une maîtresse
11. Un Canadien errant/Si tu te mets anguille
12. Digue dindaine
13. Vive Napoléon!
14. C’est l’vent frivolant
15. Dans les prisons de Nantes
16. Gai lon la, gai le rosier
17. Dans Paris ya-t une brune
18. J’ai perdu mon amant
19. Je le mène bien mon dévidoi’!
20. Vive la Canadienne!/Par derrièr’ chez mon père/Vive la Canadienne!
“Enfant, si j’étais roi” or “Un regard, un baiser” (ca. 1893)
“Ici-bas” (ca. 1893)
“Mon bouquet” (1892)
“Philosophie” (1889)
“Qui saurait?” (1895)
Gagnon, Ernest
“Chant des voltigeurs canadiens” (1861-1862)
“Je me voyais au milieu de ma course” (1862)
Glackemeyer, Frederick
“En roulant ma boule roulant” (ca. 1817)
“Mon père a fait faire un étang” (ca. 1817)
Jéhin-Prume, Frantz
Laissez-moi dormir (1881)
Mélodies par F. Jéhin-Prume (ca. 1899)
1. Le Souvenir (1873)
2. L’Âme d’un ange (1894)
3. Les Amoureux (1882)
4. Laissez-moi dormir, second version (ca. 1899)
5. Flora (1868)
6. Angelus (1898)
7. Mater dolorosa (1898)
203
8. Ave Maria (1898)

9. Chant du berceau (1899)
“Ô ma charmante” (1882)
“Rêverie” (1890)
“Sous les étoiles” (1873)
Labelle, Jean-Baptiste
“Chanson du jour de l’an” (1872)
“Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” (pre-1868)
“Rien n’est si beau que mon couvent” (1878)
Lagueux, Cécile (possible authorship)
“Chanson patriotique” (ca. 1817)
Lavallée, Calixa
“Andalouse” (ca. 1885)
“Harmonie” (1879)
“L’absence” (1881)
“La mansarde” arrangement, music by M. F. E. Valois (between 1862 and 1864)
“Nuit d’été” (1880)
“Ô Canada” (1880)
“Restons Français” (1888)
“Violette” (1879)
Lavigne, Ernest
“Aurore” (1882)
“Chanson d’amour” (1889)
“Cinerès” (1895)
“Dans le bois” (1882)
“Gertrude” (1891)
“Il faut aimer” (1884)
“Je suis chasseur” (1888)
“La fleur du poëte” (1879)
“Laissez-moi dormir” (ca. 1881)
“La maison de mes amours” (1886)
“La petite mendiante” (1895)
“Le frais matin dorait” (1896)
“Le pays des rêves” (1890)
“Le petit baiser” (1887)
“Les pleurs du bon Dieu” (1884)
“Les roses de Saadi” (1895)
“Les vertus de l’amour” (1885)
“Le temps des roses” (1895)
“L’hirondelle” (1887)
“Mariette” (ca. 1881)
“Novembre” (1882)
“Ô ma charmante” (1887)
“Premier rayon” (ca. 1896)
Recueil de 8 mélodies et chansonnettes (1889)
1. La fleur du souvenir
2. Je t’aimerai
3. L’adieu du matin
4. Les hirondelles
5. Suzette et Suzon
204
6. Chanson d’amour
7. La fontaine aux plaintes
8. Le petit doigt de la maman
“Sérénade mélancolique” (1890)
“Si vous étiez” (1881)
“Sous les tilleuls” (1881)
“Ton souvenir” (1881)
“Valse chantée” (1895)
“Vieillard et souvenirs” (1879)
“Vive la France” (1884)
Lavigne, Henri
“Pourquoi plaindre les morts” (1899)
Lavigueur, Célestin
“Amour!” (ca. 1880)
“À notre saint patron” (1877)
“Chant patriotique” (1868)
“Donnez” (1866)
“La huronne” (1861)
“Le départ de la fauvette” (ca. 1877)
“Le nom de ma soeur” (1863)
“Pas d’Thibault!” (1877)
“Soyez les bienvenus” (1879)
L’Écuyer, Eugène
“Soupirs d’amour” (1849)
LeVasseur, Nazaire
“Le jour de l’an à la campagne” (1889)
Molt, Theodore Frederic
“Sol canadien” (ca. 1833)!
Olivier, Louis Auguste
“Notre religion, notre langue, nos moeurs et nos lois” with piano accompaniment by Mrs. L. A. Olivier (between
1862 and 1864)
Panneton, Charles-Marie
“Rallions-nous!” (1874)
Paradis, Gaudiose
“Consolation” (1895)
Pelletier, Romain-Octave
“Les couleurs du Canada” (1858)
Poisson, Roméo
“La bien-aimée” (1895)
Premio-Real, The Count of
“Les jeunes canadiennes” (ca. 1880)
Seize mélodies (1879)
1. Seul
2. Peines d’amour
3. Constance
4. Va, chère, dormir
5. Le plus fort
6. Un rêve
7. Désillusion
8. Tes beaux yeux
205
9. L’empire de la beauté
10. Maraviglia
11. Espagne
12. Serments
13. Absence
14. Crois-moi
15. Tes dons
16. Je t’aimerai toujours
Prévost, Paul-Émile
“Aux mariés des noces d’or” (1899)
“Je ne veux pas autre chose” (1894)
“L’aveu” (1895)
Mes rêves (1897)
1. Te souviens-tu
2. À genoux
3. Prière d’amour
4. La trève
5. Consolation
6. Fleur du vallon
7. L’aveu
8. Dites-moi
9. Aimons toujours
10. O souvenir
11. Je ne veux pas autre chose
12. Les colombes
Mes souvenirs (undated) - NF
Pensées solitaires (1895) - NF
Prince, Lorenzo
“La cueillette” (1895)
Sabatier, Charles Wugk
“L’alouette” (1858)
“La montréalaise” (1858)
“Le drapeau de Carillon” (1858)
“Le mendiant des Basses-Alpes” (1860)
Sauvageau, Charles
“Chant canadien” (1843)
“Le dépit amoureux” melody and text by Napoléon Aubin (1840)
Sénécal, Clovis Omer
“J’ai cinquante ans” (1899)
St-Denis, A. J. H.
“Aux Braves de 1760” (1895)
Vézina, Joseph
“En m’ouvrant ton coeur” (ca. 1879)
X…, M.
Le Souvenir (1896)
206
Appendix B
Brief Biographies of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Song
Composers for Solo Voice and Piano
n.f. – not found
Aubin, Napoléon (1812-1890)

Born in Switzerland, Aubin settled in Quebec in 1835, and practised several professions: editor, journalist,
printer, poet, song-writer, and conductor. He married the sister of composer Charles Sauvageau, and was
sentenced to prison for publishing a poem by Joseph-Guillaume Barthe dedicated to the political prisoners of the
Rebellions of 1837 and 1838 that were deported to Bermuda.
Blain de Saint-Aubin, Emmanuel (1833-1883)
Translator, composer, tenor, and educator, Blain de Saint-Aubin was born in France and settled in Quebec City
in 1858 or 1859. He worked as a translator to the Legistlative Assembly of the Province of Canada, and was
recognized for his talent for song-writing and poetry. He attended weekly receptions given by George-Étienne
Cartier, for which he organized the music and composed occasional songs.
Blain de Saint-Aubin, Miss Emmanuel (Charlotte-Euphémie Rhéaume) (n.f.)
Musican and composer, she was the elder daughter of lawyer Jacques-Philippe Rhéaume, member for Quebec
East in the provincial legislature. She married Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin on 22 November 1864.
Contant, Alexis (1858-1918)
Born into a musical family (his father played the violin, and his mother had studied piano with Emma Albani),
Contant was a pianist, organist, composer, and teacher. He studied with Calixa Lavallée, Frantz Jéhin-Prume,
and Guillaume Couture. He was organist at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Montreal, and taught in several
music intstitutions.
Couture, Guillaume (1851-1915)
Couture was a musician, teacher, and author. His first wife was Malvina Hazen, and his second wife was
Mercédès Papineau, the grand niece of Louis-Joseph Papineau. Couture was the first Canadian to graduate from
the Paris Conservatory, where he studied with Théodore Dubois and Romain Bussine. He attended the salons of
Camille Saint-Saëns, Édouard Lalo, and Pauline Viardot. During his second stay in Paris, he worked as a
choirmaster at Sainte-Clothilde with César Franck. In Montreal, Couture taught in several music institutions,
conducted concerts, and was choirmaster for several churches. His students included Alexis Contant, Achille
Fortier, Léo-Pol Morin, Frédéric Pelletier, and Rodolphe Plamondon.
Crépault, Napoléon (1849-1906)
Organist, choirmaster, pianist, and composer, Crépault studied with Antoine Dessane and Ernest Gagnon in
Quebec City. He was first organist, then choirmaster at St-Roch Church.
Desbarats, Josette (n.f.)
An accomplished musician, Desbarats may be the first Canadian woman composer to publish arrangements for
solo voice and piano. In 1819, she married Peter Sheppard in Quebec City.
D’Eschambault, Guillaume Fleury (1804-1864)
Son of Louis-Joseph D’Eschambault, who was page of King Louis XVI and lieutenant colonel of the 109th
regiment. D’Eschambault (son) graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and married Esther Raymond,
daughter of Jean-Baptiste Raymond, member of parliament for the county of Huntingdon.
Dessane, Antoine (1826-1873)
Dessane was born in France, and he studied at the Paris Conservatory with fellow classmates César Franck and
Jacques Offenbach. He moved to Quebec City in 1849 after accepting a position as organist and choirmaster at
the Quebec Basilica. He was an important musical figure in the development of the music scene in Quebec: he
led the Société Harmonique, he conducted operas, he was a member of several music groups, he was organist for
the Saint-Roch Church, he founded the Société Sainte-Cécile, and he made plans to open a music conservatory in
1871, however these plans did not materialize.
207
Dugas, Abbot Georges (1833-1928)

Ordained in 1862, Dugas travelled to Manitoba in 1866 as a missionary, and was a witness to the resistance of
the Métis led by Louis Riel in 1869. In Winnipeg, Dugas was director of the seminary, priest of the cathedral,
and chaplain of the boarding school. He returned to Quebec in 1888, and wrote several books on the history of
the Northwest.
Fortier, Achille (1864-1939)
Fortier studied in Montreal with Guillaume Couture and Dominique Ducharme, and afterwards at the Paris
Conservatory with Théodore Dubois, Romain Bussine, and Ernest Guiraud. He taught at the École de musique
de Nazareth, affiliated with the Université de Montréal, he was choirmaster at Notre-Dame Church, he was a
tenor (he performed in Church music concerts and operas), and he was a founding member of the short-lived
Conservatoire de la Société artistique canadiaenne. In November of 1893, Fortier gave a concert of his own
works at the Association Hall in Montreal, which was conducted by Guillaume Couture.
Gagnon, Ernest (1834-1915)
Gagnon was a folklorist and organist at the St-Jean-Baptiste Church and at the Quebec Basilica. His work
focused on collecting and transcribing French Canadian folk music. Between 1865 and 1867, he published
Chansons populaires du Canada, a compilation of French Canadian folksongs.
Glackemeyer, Frederick (1759-1836)
Born in Germany, Glackemeyer served as a bandmaster in the German army. After his discharge in 1783, he
settled in Quebec City, where he sold musical instruments, and taught piano, guitar, violin, flute, viola, and cello.
He was organist at the Quebec Basilica, led the Quebec Harmonic Society, and was a lead tenor in several
concerts.
Jéhin-Prume, Frantz (1839-1899)
Jéhin-Prume was born in Belgium, and he studied at the Liège and Brussels Conservatories. As a violinist, he
gave solo recitals across Europe, and North and South America. He was appointed in Brussels as the ‘violinist of
the king’s own music.’ In 1865, he gave recitals in Montreal, and met the singer Rosita del Vecchio, whom he
married on 17 July 1866. With del Vecchio, he gave numerous concerts in Canada, in the United States, in Cuba,
and in Belgium. After the death of his wife, he married the singer Hortense Leduc. Jéhin-Prume founded the
Association artistique de Montréal, and played with the Montreal Philharmonic Society.
Labelle, Jean-Baptiste (1825-1898)
Labelle was an organist, pianist, composer, and conductor. He was a church organist in Boucherville and
Chambly, Quebec, and later at the Notre-Dame Church in Montreal. He taught at several music institutions, and
was a music dealer and importer of pianos.
Lavallée, Calixa (1842-1891)
Lavallée was a composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher, who was an important figure in Canada’s musical
history. He studied with Paul Letondal, Charles Wugk Sabatier, Antoine-François Marmontel, François Bazin,
and Adrien-Louis-Victor Boieldieu. He won first prize at a competition in New Orleans, after which he gave a
recital tour in South America with the Spanish violinist Olivera. He lived both in Canada and in the United
States, where he taught music and performed several concerts. He was widely recognized as a distinguished
composer and conductor, and due to his reputation, he was chosen to compose a national anthem for 24 June
1880, the National Holiday of French Canadians. His “Ô Canada” was later adopted as the national anthem of
Canada.
Lavigne, Ernest (1851-1909)
Lavigne was a bandmaster, cornetist, composer, and publisher. In 1868, he travelled to Rome and was cornet
soloist for the band of the Roman Zouaves. The following years, he travelled across Europe and the United
States before moving to Quebec City. There he opened a music store with his brother Arthur, and conducted
brass bands. In 1881, he founded the music publishing company Lavigne & Lajoie with Louis-Joseph Lajoie,
and together they published several Canadian compositions. Lavigne was one of the most prolific song
composers of his generation, with a total of 81 songs.
208
Lavigne, Henri (n.f.)

Clarinetist and composer, Lavigne studied in New York, and conducted the Trifluvien Orchestra in Trois-
Rivières.
Lavigueur, Célestin (1831-1885)
Lavigueur was a violinist, composer, and teacher. He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, where he taught
piano, violin, and wind instruments from 1853 to 1881. He gave several concerts with Antoine Dessane, and
wrote songs for specific occasions, as well as three operas, La fiancée des bois, Un mariage improvisé, and Les
enfants du manoir.
L’Écuyer, Eugène (1822-1898)
L’Écuyer attended the Petit Séminaire de Québec, and was a notary and writer. He wrote La fille du brigand
(1844), a novel based on the local tale of the bandits of Cap-Rouge.
LeVasseur, Nazaire (1848-1927)
LeVasseur began his musical studies with Antoine Dessane at the age of five. He helped Dessane found the
Société Sainte-Cécile, of which he was director, and he was a founding member of the Septuor Haydn. He was
organist of St-Roch Church, and was a member of the music committee of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Association,
which commissioned Lavallée too compose a national anthem. LeVasseur also played double-bass for the
Quebec Symphony Orchestra.
Molt, Theodore Frederic (1795-1856)
Born in Germany, Molt served in Napoleon’s army before settling in Quebec City in 1822. He married the
daughter of composer Frederick Glackemeyer, Henriette, who would perish, with two of their sons, in the 1845
Théâtre Saint-Louis fire. In 1825, Molt travelled to Europe to further his musical studies, where he met Ludwig
van Beethoven. In 1828, he published Elementary Treatise on Music. Molt was organist at the Quebec Basilica,
and he taught at the Petit Séminaire de Québec. !
Olivier, Louis Auguste (1816-1881)
Olivier was a lawyer, judge, writer, and political figure. In 1863, he was elected to the Legislative Council for
the division of Lanaudière, and in 1873, he was appointed judge for the Quebec Superior Court. He helped found
the periodical L’Écho des campagnes, and wrote several poems.
Panneton, Charles-Marie (1845-1890)
Pianist, organist, teacher, and composer, Panneton studied with Paul Letondal in Montreal, and with Antoine-
François Marmontel and Camille Stamaty in Paris. While in Paris, he attended the salons of Gioacchino Rossini
and Charles Durand. He lived briefly in Denver, and taught in Montreal.
Paradis, Gaudiose (1860-1924)
Paradis was a physician and surgeon who devoted his spare time to music. He was organist at St. Thomas
Church in Montmagny, Quebec.
Pelletier, Romain-Octave (1843-1927)
Mainly self-taught, Pelletier was an organist, pianist, composer, notary and teacher. He was organist at the St
James Cathedral and at the Church of St James-the-Less. He notarized the wedding contract of Frantz Jéhin-
Prume and Rosita del Vecchio, and accompanied Jéhin-Prume in several recitals. In 1871, he travelled to
London, Paris, and Brussels to further his musical studies. There, he studied with George Cooper, William
Thomas Best, John Baptist Calkin, Antoine-François Marmontel, and Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens. Pelletier was
president of the Académie de musique de Québec, and he taught at the École normale Jacques-Cartier, the
Institut Nazareth, and the McGill Conservatory.
Poisson, Roméo (1852-1914)
Poisson was organist at the Saint Christophe Church of Arthabaska, and he composed several hymns on texts
written by his brother, the writer Adolphe Poisson.
Premio-Real, The Count of (1840-1888)
The Count of Premio-Real (José Antonio de Lavalle Romero-Montezuma) was Consul General of Spain for the
whole of Canada, stationed in Quebec City, from 1874 until his death in 1888. He published the first collection
of mélodies in Canada (Seize mélodies pour chant et piano), and hosted leading intellectuals and artists at his
residence. He was well educated: he held a Master’s degree in Arts, was a civil engineer, had earned eight
209
decorations, was a member of eighteen scholar societies, and mastered four languages (Spanish, French, English,
and Italian). A wealthy man all his life, Premio-Real committed suicide on 17 October 1888, when his financial
affairs were in difficulty.
Prévost, Paul-Émile (1864-1908)
Prévost was a physician and composer. He published three collections of songs, Mes rêves, Pensées solitaires,
and Mes souvenirs, and wrote operettas that were performed at the Cercle Ville-Marie. He also wrote the novel
L’Épreuve (1900), and the play L’Agence matrimoniale.
Prince, Lorenzo (n.f.)
Prince was a journalist and editor-in-chief of the newspaper La Presse.
Sabatier, Charles Wugk (1819-1862)
Born in France, Sabatier studied at the Paris Conservatory. In 1854, he settled in Quebec City, where he taught
and performed as a pianist and organist. He later moved to Montreal, and taught, among others, Calixa Lavallée
and Dominique Ducharme. He wrote a cantata for the visit of the Prince of Wales, which was performed on 24
August 1860 by 250 singers, and soloists Adelina Patti and Emma Albani.
Sauvageau, Charles (1807-1849)
Sauvageau was a conductor, composer, and teacher who was mainly self-taught. He led several bands and
orchestras, organized numerous concerts, and operated a music store.
Sénécal, Clovis Omer (1863-1939)
Sénécal was an engineer who held different government positions in Ottawa. He played several instruments, and
composed piano, vocal, and religious pieces. He was choirmaster at the Sacré-Coeur Church in Ottawa.
St-Denis, A. J. H. (n.f.)
There is little biographical information available for this composer. There is evidence that he was a notary.
Vézina, Joseph (1849-1924)
Vézina was a bandmaster, conductor, teacher, organist, and composer. He studied briefly with Calixa Lavallée,
but was mainly self-taught. He led several bands, and conducted the first performance of Lavallée’s “Ô Canada.”
He conducted the Société symphonique de Québec, and several performances by Emma Albani. He taught at the
Petit Séminaire de Québec, and was organist for the parish of St Patrick. In 1922, he became professor at and
obtained a doctor of music from the École de Musique of the Université Laval.
210
Appendix C
List of Voice Guides Used for the Literature Review
1. Bathori, Jane. On the Interpretation of the Mélodies of Claude Debussy (Stuyvesant, NY:
Pendagron Press, 1998).
2. Bernac, Pierre. Francis Poulenc: The Man and his Songs (London: Kahn & Averill,
2001).
3. Bernac, Pierre. The Interpretation of French Song (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, Inc., 1978).
4. Bonnardot, Jacqueline, Irène Jarsky, Roland Mancini, and Jean Nirouët. Répertoires pour
le chant: catalogues accompagnés de commentaires et de conseils à l’usage des
professeurs et des étudiants (Paris: Cité de la musique, 1997).
5. Boytim, Joan Frey. Solo Vocal Repertoire for Young Singers: An Annotated
Bibliography. USA: National Association of Teachers of Singing, 1982.
6. Carman, Judith. “Music Review,” Journal of Singing (2013-2015).249
7. Cockburn, Jacqueline and Richard Stokes. The Spanish Song Companion (London:
Victor Gollancz, 1992).
8. Coffin, Berton, Pierre Delattre, Ralph Errolle, and Werner Singer. Phonetic Readings of
Songs and Arias (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc, 1982).
9. Coffin, Berton. Singer’s Repertoire Parts I-IV (New York: The Scarecrow Press, Inc,
1960).
10. Dibbern, Mary, Carol Kimball and Patrick Choukroun. Interpreting the Songs of Jacques
Leguerney: A Guide for Study and Performance (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2001).
11. Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich. The Fischer-Dieskau Book of Lieder (New York: Limelight
Editions, 1995).
12. Gartside, Robert. Interpreting the songs of Gabriel Fauré (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle
Publications, 1996).
13. Gartside, Robert. Interpreting the songs of Maurice Ravel (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle
249
Judith Carman’s Music Review is a recurring column in the Journal of Singing.
211
14. Gerhart, Martha. Italian Song Texts from the 17th through the 20th Centuries (Geneseo,
NY: Leyerle Publications, 2002).
15. Glass, Beaumont. Brahms’ Complete Song Texts (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle Publications,
1999).
16. Glass, Beaumont. Richard Strauss’ Complete Song Texts (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle
17. Glass, Beaumont. Schubert’s Complete Song Texts (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle Publications,
1996).
18. Hoover, Maya. A Guide to the Latin American Art Song Repertoire: An Annotated
Catalogue of Twentieth-Century Art Songs for Voice and Piano (Bloomington, IN:
Indiana University Press, 2010).
19. Hopkin, J. Arden. Songs for Young Singers: An Annotated List for Developing Voices
(Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press Inc., 2002).
20. Johnson, Graham and Richard Stokes. A French Song Companion (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000).
21. Kagen, Sergius. Music for the Voice: A Descriptive List of Concert and Teaching
Material (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968).
22. Kimball, Carol. Song: A Guide to Art Song Style and Literature (Milwaukee, WI: Hal
Leonard Corporation, 2006).
23. Kimball, Carol and Richard Walters. The French Song Anthology (Milwaukee, WI : Hal
Leonard, 2001).
24. Le Van, Timothy. Masters of the French Art Song: Translations of the Complete Songs of
Chausson, Debussy, Duparc, Fauré & Ravel (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.,
1991).
25. Manifold, Lorraine. “The Pedagogical Value of Art Songs by French-Canadian

Composers” (MA thesis, Northeastern Illinois University, 2011).
26. Meister, Barbara. Nineteenth-Century French Song: Fauré, Chausson, Duparc, and
Debussy (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998).
27. Miller, Richard. Singing Schumann: An Interpretive Guide for Performers (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1999).
28. Nagy, Gloria Jean. A Singer’s Overview: Canadian Contemporary Vocal Literature
(Toronto: N.A.T.S., 2007).
212
29. Ord, Alan J. Songs for Beginning Bass voice: With Annotated Guide to Works for
Beginning Bass Voice (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2002).
30. Paton, John Glenn. 26 Italian Songs and Arias (Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing Co.,
Inc., 1991).
31. Phillips, Lois. Lieder Line by Line (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
32. Pilkington, Michael. English Solo Song: A Guide for Singers, Teachers, Librarians and
the Music Trade of Songs Currently Available (London: Thames Publishing, 1998).
33. Reed, John. The Schubert Song Companion (Manchester: Mandolin, 1997).
34. Retzlaff, Jonathan. Exploring Art Song Lyrics: Translation and Pronunciation of the
Italian, German, and French Repertoire (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
35. Richter, Laurence R. Rachmaninov’s Complete Song Texts (Geneseo, NY: Leyerle
36. Rohinsky, Marie-Claire. The Singer’s Debussy (New York: Pelion Press, 1987).
37. Schiller, Caroline. "A Performer’s Guide to Works for Soprano Voice by Canadian
Women Composers" (DMA diss., Florida State University, 2001).
38. Sobrer, Josep Miquel and Edmon Colomer. The Singer’s Anthology of 20th Century
Spanish Songs (New York: Pelion Press, 1987).
39. Stokes, Richard. The Book of Lieder (London: Faber and Faber Limited, 2005).
40. The Royal Conservatory Voice Syllabus 2012 Edition. Toronto: The Royal Conservatory,
2012.
41. Varcoe, Stephen. Sing English Song: A practical Approach to the Language and the
Repertoire (London: Thames Publishing, 2000).
42. Wilson, Kathleen L. The Art Song in Latin America (Stuyvesany, NY: Pendragon Press,
1998).
213
Appendix D
Level of Difficulty Assessment Grids for Graded Solo Vocal
Compositions in Existing Literature
Elementary Level
1. “The Daisies” by Samuel Barber

Large interval leaps (a minor sixth or larger)/diminished x
Articulation x
Extended dynamics/rapid changes of dynamics x
Tempo changes x
Rhythm Metric changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 4 (x1) 1 (x2) (x3)
Total Score 6
214
2. “Liebhaber in allen Gestalten” by Franz Schubert

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Harmony Unprepared modulations/multiple modulations x
Chromatic/modal/atonal x
Mature subject
Virtuosic piano writing x
Subtotal 4 (x1) (x2) (x3)
Total Score 4
215
3. “Loveliest of Trees” by John Duke

High tessitura/low tessitura x
Long phrases/long sustained notes x
Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Complex rhythms (tuplets, hemiolas, and polyrhythms) x
Mature subject x
Does not prepare the entrance of the vocal line/creates x
Light texture/dense texture x
Total Score 15
216
4. “El Majo Discreto” by Enrique Granados

Melody Ornamentation x
Articulation x
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Text Comical subject x
Subtotal 8 (x1) 1 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 13
217
5. “The White Rose” by Jean Coulthard

Wide range (more than one octave and a half) x
Through-composed/various sections of new material x
Articulation x
Slow tempo (52 BPM or slower) x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Use of dialect/old form of language/texts in which the x
Subtotal 8 (x1) 6 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 32
218
6. “Long Ago” by Jean Coulthard

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Spoken text/recitative/multiple markings of expression x
Subtotal 10 (x1) 1 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 24
219
7. “Natsu no Omoide” by Yoshinao Nakada

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 7 (x1) (x2) (x3)
Total Score 7
220
8. “The Lament of Frostina the Snow Woman” by Roger Keele

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 7 (x1) 2 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 14
221
9. “Sonntag” by Johannes Brahms

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Absence of prelude/very short prelude/long prelude, x
Subtotal 3 (x1) 2 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 10
222
10. “Gruß” by Felix Mendelssohn

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Total Score 4
223
Intermediate Level
1. “Si mes vers avaient des ailes” by Reynaldo Hahn

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 6 (x1) 2 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 16
224
2. “Lied der Mignon” by Franz Schubert

Articulation
Tempo changes x
Compound meter/asymmetrical meter/nonmetric meter/ x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Total Score 17
225
3. “Charmant papillon” by André Campra

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 4 (x1) 2 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 23
226
4. “Orpheus with his Lute” by W. Schuman

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 4 (x1) 3 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 16
227
5. “J’ai fermé mon coeur” by Jean Coulthard

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 6 (x1) 6 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 33
228
6. “Swift Current” by Violet Archer

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 8 (x1) 2 (x2) 3 (x3)
Total Score 21
229
7. “Building a House” by Lori Laitman

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Long text (100 words or longer) x
Mature subject x
Subtotal 4 (x1) 4 (x2) 6 (x3)
Total Score 30
230
8. “O Captain! My Captain” by Kurt Weill

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 6 (x1) 3 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 27
231
9. “Nun lass uns Frieden Schliessen” by Hugo Wolf

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 2 (x2) 3 (x3)
Total Score 18
232
10. “Adieu” by Gabriel Fauré

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 4 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 16
233
Advanced Level
1. “Absence” by Hector Berlioz

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 3 (x2) 6 (x3)
Total Score 29
234
2. “Villanelle” by Eva Dell’Acqua

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 2 (x1) 7 (x2) 6 (x3)
Total Score 34
235
3. “Silver” by John Duke

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 6 (x1) 4 (x2) 3 (x3)
Total Score 23
236
4. “A Nun Takes the Veil” by Samuel Barber

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 7 (x1) 5 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 23
237
5. “Contrastes” by Anne Lauber

Articulation
Extended vocal technique x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 1 (x1) 7 (x2) 11 (x3)
Total Score 48
238
6. “Valzer Musette” by Violet Archer

Articulation
Extended vocal technique x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 8 (x1) 2 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 27
239
7. “Summer Stars” by John Musto

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 7 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 34
240
8. “An Opera House” by Lowell Liebermann

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 3 (x1) 8 (x2) 11 (x3)
Total Score 52
241
9. “Prison” by Gabriel Fauré

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 4 (x1) 3 (x2) 3 (x3)
Total Score 19
242
10. “My German Boyfriend” by Richard Pearson Thomas

Articulation x
Fast tempo (120 BPM or faster) x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 3 (x1) 6 (x2) 3 (x3)
Total Score 24
!
243
Appendix E
Level of Difficulty Assessment Grids for French Canadian Songs
for Solo Voice and Piano
Pre-Confederation
4.3.1 “Sol canadien” (Canadian Soil) arranged by Theodore Frederic Molt (1795-1856),
Version 1
Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 3 (x1) 1 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 8
!
244
Version 2
Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Total Score 12
!
!
245
4.3.2 “Le drapeau de Carillon” (The Flag of Carillon) by Charles Wugk Sabatier (1819-1862)
Articulation
Fast tempo (120 BPM or faster) x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 8 (x1) 2 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 18
!
!
246
4.3.3 “À la claire fontaine” (At the Clear Fountain) arranged by Antoine Dessane (1826-1873)
Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 1 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 13
!
!
247
4.3.4 “La huronne” (The Huron Woman) by Célestin Lavigueur (1831-1885)

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Total Score 12
!
!
248
Confederation
4.4.1 “Ô Canada, mon pays, mes amours” (O Canada, My Country, My Love) by Jean-Baptiste
Labelle (1825-1898)
Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Total Score 6
!
!
249
4.4.2 “Écho malin” (Devious Echo) by Emmanuel Blain de Saint-Aubin (1833-1883) with piano
accompaniment by Antoine Dessane (1826-1873)
Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 11 (x1) 2 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 27
!
!
250
Late Nineteenth Century

4.5.1 “En m’ouvrant ton coeur” (Opening Your Heart to Me) by Joseph Vézina (1849-1924)
Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 4 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 25
!
!
251
4.5.2 “Espagne” (Spain) by Count of Premio-Real (1840-1888)

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 10 (x1) 2 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 26
!
!
252
4.5.3 “Amour!” (Love) by Célestin Lavigueur (1831-1885)

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 4 (x1) 2 (x2) 5 (x3)
Total Score 23
!
!
253
4.5.4 “Ô Canada” (O Canada) by Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891)

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 6 (x1) (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 9
!
!
254
4.5.5 “Laissez-moi dormir” (Let Me Sleep) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume (1839-1899)

Version 1
Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 7 (x1) 3 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 19
!
!
255
Version 2
Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 4 (x1) 7 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 24
!
!
256
4.5.6 “L’absence” (The Absence) by Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891)

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 2 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 15
!
!
257
4.5.7 “Vir’ de bord, mon ami Pierre” (Tack, My Friend Pierre) arranged by Emmanuel Blain de
Saint-Aubin (1833-1883)
Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 6 (x1) 1 (x2) 6 (x3)
Total Score 26
!
!
258
4.5.8 “Épanchement” (Outpouring) by Guillaume Couture (1851-1915)

Articulation
Tempo changes
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 6 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 23
!
!
259
4.5.9 “Andalouse” (Andalusian Woman), op. 38, by Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891)!!

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 4 (x1) 4 (x2) 10 (x3)
Total Score 42
!
!
260
4.5.10 “Le Jour de l’an à la campagne” (New Year’s Day in the Country) by Nazaire LeVasseur
(1848-1927)
Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject
Subtotal 6 (x1) 4 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 17
!
!
261
4.5.11 “Philosophie” (Philosophy) by Achille Fortier (1864-1939)

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 3 (x1) 5 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 19
!
!
262
4.5.12 “Sérénade mélancolique” (Melancholic Serenade) by Ernest Lavigne (1851-1909)

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 7 (x1) 3 (x2) 2 (x3)
Total Score 19
!
!
263
4.5.13 “Rêverie” (Daydream) by Frantz Jéhin-Prume (1839-1899)

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 5 (x1) 1 (x2) 6 (x3)
Total Score 25
!
!
264
4.5.14 “L’âme d’un ange” (The Soul of an Angel) by Alexis Contant (1858-1918)
Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 8 (x1) 6 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 23
!
!
265
4.5.15 “Premier rayon” (First Ray) by Ernest Lavigne (1851-1909)

Articulation x
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 9 (x1) 3 (x2) 1 (x3)
Total Score 18
!
!
266
4.5.16 “À genoux” (Kneeling Down) Paul-Émile Prévost (1864-1908)

Articulation
Tempo changes x
improvisatory meter
Mature subject x
Subtotal 6 (x1) 5 (x2) 4 (x3)
Total Score 28
!
!
267
Appendix F
Glossary
Accent d’insistance: Non-mandatory stress in French that allows the speaker to emphasize a
particular word, to orient the meaning of a statement, or to add expressivity.
Chansonette: A song with light and gracious subject characterized by the simplicity of its poetic
and musical language.
Complex multiphonics: Two or more sounds produced by one voice.
Elision: The omission of the final mute e in a word followed by a word beginning with a vowel
or a mute h.
Falsetto: A high-pitched voice or register produced when only the ligamentous edges of the
vocal folds vibrate.
Glottal stop: A speech sound produced by a complete closure of the glottis, followed by an
explosive release.
Hemiola: A rhythmic pattern with ratio 3:2.
Liaison: The pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant in a word followed by a word
beginning with a vowel or a mute h.
Mélodie: A French vocal genre of the nineteenth century characterized a sophisticated poetic
and musical language, and where voice and piano are employed in equal partnership.
Passaggio: The transitional area between vocal registers.
Plosive: A consonant accompanied by a plosion (e.g., p or d).
Polyrhythm: The superposition of different rhythms or metres.
Recitative: A type of vocal writing that emphasizes the rhythms and accents of spoken language,
characterized by the absence of a strict beat.
268
Reinforced harmonics: The reinforcement or amplification of specific harmonics in a sung tone

by changing the shape of the vocal tract and removing vibrato.
Romance: A popular French vocal genre of the nineteenth century characterized by sentimental
subject and harmonic simplicity.
Sibilant: A consonant pronounced with a hissing sound (e.g., s or z).
Sprechgesang: A type of vocal writing intermediate between speaking and singing.
Tuplet: A rhythm that divides a beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that
usually permitted by the time signature (e.g., duplets, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc.).
Ululation: A rapid and even interruption of a sound.
Vocal fry: Low-frequency popping or rattling sounds produced by a loose glottal closure.

Pedagogical Guide To The Interpretation of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Songs For Solo Voice and Piano

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Pedagogical Guide To The Interpretation of Nineteenth-Century French Canadian Songs For Solo Voice and Piano

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Pedagogical Guide to the Interpretation of Nineteenth-

Century French Canadian Songs for Solo Voice and Piano

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

© Copyright by Karine St-Pierre 2016

Doctor of Musical Arts

the development of art song repertoire in Canada.

(elementary, intermediate, or advanced).

helping to illustrate their pedagogical and performance value.

I would like to extend gratitude to Guylaine Vallée, documentation technician at the

The present research serves several purposes:

BAnQ Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

CMH Lucien Poirier, ed., The Canadian Musical Heritage / Le Patrimoine

musical canadien: Vol. 7: Songs II to French Texts / Chansons II sur

des textes français (Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society /

Société pour le patrimoine musical canadien, 1987)

CMC Canadian Music Centre (http://www.musiccentre.ca)

ECO Early Canadiana Online (http://eco.canadiana.ca)

IA Internet Archive (http://archive.org)

The present historical narrative offers a chronological overview of nineteenth-century French

1.1.2 Patriotic Songs and Colonial Shifts

As stated in the Recueil de chansons canadiennes et françaises (Collection of Canadian and

1.1.3 The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society and Nationalism

Devant l’Anglais, triomphant sur In front of the British, who triumphed on

1.1.4 The Development of the Music Publishing Industry

1.1.5 Folksongs and Nationalism

1.1.6 Comical Songs

George-Étienne Cartier, a supporter of La Fontaine, continued working to promote the federation

1.2.2 The Copyright Act

Another important periodical dedicated to music was Piano-Canada, issued by J. R. Brodeur

1.3.2 Political Songs

1.3.3 New Year’s Day Songs and Celebration Songs

1.3.4 Finding an Anthem for French Canadians

afternoon concert hosted by Lieutenant-Governor Robitaille at Spencer Wood. In its account of

Nous t’acclamons, Ligue des Patriotes, We acclaim you, Ligue of Patriots,

2.1 The Chansonnette

Example 1: Ernest Lavigne, “Le frais matin dorait,” bars 13-15

2.2 The Romance

Example 2: Calixa Lavallée, “Harmonie,” bars 27-29

Example 3: Ernest Lavigne, “Les pleurs du bon Dieu,” bars 14-16

2.3 The Mélodie

The Count of Premio-Real (José Antonio de Lavalle Romero-Montezuma) was an instrumental

French Canadian composers occasionally turned to current events as a source of inspiration. A

Example 5: Achille Fortier, “Philosophie,” bars 10, 31

Example 6: Achille Fortier, “Ici-bas,” bars 5-8

Example 7: Achille Fortier, “Ici-bas,” bars 26-29

A Section B Section A1 Section

Example 9: Guillaume Couture, “Rêverie,” bars 8-10

Example 10: Achille Fortier, “Un regard, un baiser,” bars 1-11

Example 11: Achille Fortier, “Qui saurait?” bars 23-26

Example 12: Paul-Émile Prévost, “La trêve,” bars 20-21

Example 13: Calixa Lavallée, “Andalouse,” bars 17-19

Example 14: Achille Fortier, “Mon bouquet,” bar 25

3.1 Literature Review

Table 1: A Compilation of Annotations Used in Forty-Two Voice Guides

Figure 1: Most Commonly Used Annotations in Voice Guides

Figure 2: Least Commonly Used Annotations in Voice Guides

As evidenced by the compilation of forty-two voice guides, there exists a multitude of

Evaluative annotations involve the assessment of components of a piece according to the

Prescriptive annotations represent the author’s recommendations regarding the interpretation of a

3.1.2 Review of Existing Difficulty Level Assessment Methods

dissertation “A Performer’s Guide to Works for Soprano Voice by Canadian Women

3.2. Elaboration of a Level of Difficulty Assessment Grid

Table 2: Carol Kimball’s Components of Style