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| Verlaine in the 1890s drinking absynthe |
Paul Verlaine was someone who hopped in and out of Debussy's (French composer - you know his stuff) early works and perhaps from the poem "Chanson d'Automne" which was the signal to the French underground that D-day was coming:
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| Verlaine's Fetes (the famous cover) |
"Les sanglots longs
Des violons
De l'automne"
In any event, Debussy was in the early part of his career and he either chose Verlaine's poems or had them chosen for him as inspiration for his compositions. It wasn't uncommon for composers to publish poems along with their music - a musical blog so to speak as bloggers use pictures and music to illustrate the text (what can't be said in words needs a "see here or listen here to what I mean").
In 1889 Debussy wrote a small suite (yes actually called the Petite Suite) for piano duet "inspired" by Verlaine's poems (a collection called "Fetes") of, I think about 1860-something (near the time of Debussy's birth). Here are the first lines from "sailing", so you get some idea that these aren't kids poems:
Cependant la lune se lève
Et l’esquif en sa course brève
File gaîment sur l’eau qui rêve.
Et l’esquif en sa course brève
File gaîment sur l’eau qui rêve.
(Meanwhile comes the moon and beams
as the sailboat gaily skims
briefly over waves of dreams).
as the sailboat gaily skims
briefly over waves of dreams).
He used 4 of Verlaine's poems as a basis for his composition (the movements are):
En bateau (Sailing)
Cortège (Retinue)
Menuet
Ballet
They are pleasant little works - not his best stuff - but non-threatening to the ear and just right for a very calm Monday morning. Thus armed with these trinkets of knowledge, you can face the day.