mezzo-soprano, bass clarinet, violin, cello, harp
8 min.
song cycle
I. L’on revient toujours (text: Charles-Guillaume Étienne)
II. Maîtresse, embrasse-moi (text: Pierre de Ronsard)
III. Rossignol du vert bocage (text: trad. French-Canadian)
P’tites chansons d’amour is a miniature song cycle, conceived as something simple, pure, and folk-like. The three songs are loosely bound together by the common theme of love— which is of course anything but pure or simple. The text was taken from three different French authors: Charles-Guillaume Étienne (1778-1845), Pierre de Ronsard (1524-85), and the third by an unknown early French Canadian. The text follows the remembrance of a first love, the passion of lovers, and eventually the bittersweetness of leaving a lover.
This work received its premiere on March 24, 2011 (in a previous version, before a violin part was added), at the Sonic Boom Festival in Vancouver, Canada.
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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.