Joseph Canteloube

Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret (French pronunciation: ​[ma.ʁi ʒɔ.zɛf kɑ̃t.lub də ma.la.ʁɛ]) (21 October 1879 – 4 November 1957) was a French composer, musicologist, and author best known for his collections of orchestrated folksongs from the Auvergne region, Chants d'Auvergne.

Biography

Canteloube was born in Annonay, Ardèche, into a family with deep roots in the Auvergne region of France. He studied piano from the age of six with Amélie Doetzer, a friend of Frédéric Chopin. After earning his baccalauréat, he worked at a bank in Bordeaux. He returned to his family home in Malaret (Annonay) upon his father's death in 1896, remaining there until his mother's death in 1899 and then beyond as sole owner of the estate. After a period of silence and mourning, Canteloube married Charlotte Marthe Calaret in 1901, who gave birth to twins Pierre and Guy in 1903.

He began studying with Vincent d'Indy via correspondence in 1901, reluctant to leave Malaret. Upon d'Indy's constant urging, he finally entered the Schola Cantorum in 1907 in Paris, where he remained until the beginning of WWI in 1914. At the Schola, Canteloube became close friends with fellow composer and student Déodat de Séverac.

Chants d'Auvergne

Chants d'Auvergne (French pronunciation: ​[ʃɑ̃ dovɛːʁɲ]; English: Songs from the Auvergne) is a collection of folk songs from the Auvergne region of France arranged for soprano voice and orchestra or piano by Joseph Canteloube between 1923 and 1930. The songs are in the local language, Occitan. The best known of the songs is the "Baïlèro", which has been frequently recorded and performed in slight variations of Canteloube's arrangement, such as for choir or instrumental instead of the original soprano solo.

The first recording, of eleven of the songs, was by Madeleine Grey in 1930, with an ensemble conducted by Élie Cohen. The songs are part of the standard repertoire and have been recorded by many singers.

The melodic elements of two of these songs, "Baïlèro" and "Obal, din lou limouzi (La-bas dans le limousin)", were incorporated into William Walton's soundtrack for Laurence Olivier's film Henry V. "Baïlèro" (sometimes known as "Le Baylere" or "The Shepherd's Song") has also been re-arranged for full chorus by Goff Richards for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. It was recorded by Tony Osborne Sound for use in a Dubonnet advertisement in 1972.

Auvergne

Auvergne (French pronunciation: [ovɛʁɲ]; Occitan: Auvèrnhe / Auvèrnha) is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It comprises the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire.

The administrative region of Auvergne is larger than the historical province of Auvergne, and includes provinces and areas that historically were not part of Auvergne. The Auvergne region is composed of the following old provinces:

Dawn Upshaw

Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an American soprano. The recipient of several Grammy Awards and Edison Prize-winning discs, she performs both opera and art song, and in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary. Many composers, including Henri Dutilleux, Osvaldo Golijov, John Harbison, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Adams, and Kaija Saariaho, have written for her, and her artistic achievements are extensive. In 2007, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

Early life

Dawn Upshaw was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She began singing while attending Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois and was the only female ever promoted to the top choir (the Singing Rockets) as a sophomore, according to choir director Douglas Ulreich. She received a B.A. in 1982 from Illinois Wesleyan University, where she studied voice with the late Dr. David Nott. She went on to study voice with Ellen Faull at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, earning her M.M. in 1984. She also attended courses given by Jan DeGaetani at the Aspen (Colorado) Music School. She was a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions (1984) and the Walter M. Naumburg Competition (1985), and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Development Program. Since her start in 1984, Upshaw has made more than 300 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera.

Chant

A chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures, often including a great deal of repetition of musical subphrases, such as Great Responsories and Offertories of Gregorian chant. Chant may be considered speech, music, or a heightened or stylized form of speech. In the later Middle Ages some religious chant evolved into song (forming one of the roots of later Western music).

Chant as a spiritual practice

Chanting (e.g., mantra, sacred text, the name of God/Spirit, etc.) is a commonly used spiritual practice. Like prayer, chant may be a component of either personal or group practice. Diverse spiritual traditions consider chant a route to spiritual development.

Some examples include chant in African, Hawaiian, and Native American, and Australian Aboriginal cultures, Gregorian chant, Vedic chant, Qur'an reading, Islamic Dhikr, Baha'i chants, various Buddhist chants, various mantras, Jewish cantillation, and the chanting of psalms and prayers especially in Roman Catholic (see Gregorian chant or Taizé Community), Eastern Orthodox (see Byzantine chant or Znamenny chant, for examples), Lutheran, and Anglican churches (see Anglican Chant).