Life in Shades of F-Major

I first encountered this enchanting piece of music several years ago when I bought a CD of various arias and art songs sung by Kiri Te Kaniwa. The first time I listened to it I thought it to be the most heavenly music I'd ever heard.

Marie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret (21 October 1879 - November 4, 1957), was a French composer. Canteloube was born in Annonay, Ardèche and died at Grigny, Essonne, a part of the Île-de-France region.

He is best known for his collection of orchestrated folk songs from the Auvergne region, Chants d'Auvergne ("Songs of the Auvergne"). Canteloube himself believed that "les chants paysans s’élèvent bien souvent au niveau de l’art le plus pur, par le sentiment et l’expression, sinon par la forme" ("peasant songs often rise to the level of purest art in terms of feeling and expression, if not in form").

Canteloube studied music in Paris under Amélie Daetzer, a former pupil of Chopin. He also studied composition under Vincent d'Indy. His first composition, Colloque sentimental, dates from 1903. His other works include the operas Le Mas and Vercingétorix. In 1925, he founded La Bourrée, an association whose aim was to promote the Auvergne. In 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, Canteloube joined the Vichy government, an action that has been attributed to political naiveté.

As well as collecting and arranging traditional folk songs, Canteloube wrote extensively on the subject of music. His works include biographies of his former teacher, Vincent d'Indy, and of Déodat de Séverac.

Information source: Wikipedia

This version features Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, and has the English translation of the French text at the bottom of the screen.

There's no way to happiness, happiness IS the way.

~ Wayne Dyer

Once again, I am appalled and disgusted by the sheer childishness and arrogance displayed by a public official, only this time it's Stillwater's own mayor, Roger McMillian. For those of you who don't know, Mayor McMillian, who is the current president of our branch of The Bank N.A. has been sued by three female employees, (two of them are now former employees), for sexual harassment or in their words, for creating a "sexually charged, and hostile work environment" by engaging in derogatory and sexually demeaning behavior and language directed at female employees and even bank customers.

Steph has written a great entry about it, so I'm going to direct you to her blog where you can read in more detail about this disgusting and embarrassing turn of events.

I'm completely appalled.

If you don't have love for yourself, you are not trusting on the wisdom that created you.

~Anonymous

I'm nearly 48 years old, overweight, and in the throes of menopause. About a month ago I went to bed feeling like crap. It hit me all of the sudden, I mean menopause. One day I felt pretty good, aside from being overweight and out of shape. But considering, I felt good. Then it seemed the very next day it hit me with a vengeance--every symptom of menopause that could hit--fatigue, memory loss, irritability, debilitating hot flashes, horrible burning and tingling in my hands and feet, lack of energy or motivation, depression... You name it, I had it. It scared me and I made the decision then and there that I was too young to feel old and that I HAD to do something about it. So I immediately changed my diet, went out and bought a menopause supplement at GNC and then I went to the gym where the company where I work has a corporate membership and signed up with a trainer and started a rigorous weight training and work-out routine. Within a week the hot flashes diminished, the tingling in my hands and feet virtually disappeared, and within two weeks the fatigue and lack of energy & motivation disappeared. I went to the doctor this last Tuesday with a mild sinus/bronchial infection and when I weighed in it indicated that I have already lost nine pounds, and my blood pressure, which had been soaring out of control over the last year, (even on medication), was down to 118/82, which is ideal! This all after only THREE WEEKS! I've worked up from 10 minutes to nearly an hour on the treadmill and over doubled my pace. I've already increased my weight limits on some of my exercise machines, and what's so wonderful is that I FEEL GREAT! It's amazing how quickly the body will begin to respond and heal itself once you start treating it well and giving it what it needs.

I did it. I just quit making excuses, kicked myself in the butt, and did it. Now I'm hooked on feeling great. No more "Chicken Fat" for me!

Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc, (January 7, 1899–January 30, 1963) was a French composer and a member of the French group Les Six. He composed music in all major genres, including art song, chamber music, oratorio, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music. Critic Claude Rostand, in a July 1950 Paris-Presse article, described Poulenc as "half bad boy, half monk" ("le moine et le voyou"), a tag that was to be attached to his name for the rest of his career.

Poulenc was born in Paris in 1899. His mother, an amateur pianist, taught him to play, and music formed a part of family life. As he was a capable pianist, the keyboard dominated much of his early compositions. He also, throughout his career, borrowed from his own compositions as well as those of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Camille Saint-Saëns. Later in his life, the loss of some close friends, coupled with a pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour, led him to rediscovery of the Catholic faith and resulted in compositions of a more sombre, austere tone.

Some writers consider Poulenc one of the first openly gay composers. His first serious relationship was with painter Richard Chanlaire to whom he dedicated his Concert champêtre: "You have changed my life, you are the sunshine of my thirty years, a reason for living and working." He also once said, "You know that I am as sincere in my faith, without any messianic screamings, as I am in my Parisian sexuality." However, Poulenc's life was also one of inner struggle. Having been born and raised a Roman Catholic, he struggled between coming to terms with his unorthodox sexual appetites and maintaining his religious convictions.

Poulenc also had a number of relationships with women. He fathered a daughter, Marie-Ange, although he never formally admitted that he was indeed her father. He was also a very close friend of the singer Pierre Bernac for whom he wrote many songs; some sources have hinted that this long friendship had sexual undertones; however, the now-published correspondence between the two men strongly suggests that this was not the case.

(Information source: Wikipedia)

Les Chemins de l'amour is a torch song composed near the end of WWII for one of Paris' famous night club singers, Yvonne Printemps. I discovered this chanson years ago, and fell in love with it and several years later used it as the closing piece on my master's recital. Sung here by one of the world's greatest singers, Jesse Norman, you'll hear why this piece is so beloved.

The English translation of the French text is as follows:

The paths that arch of the ocean
protect our crossing,
flowers losing their leaves
and the echo under the trees,
Our two bright laughs.
Alas, from days of happiness
radiant joys take flight,
I journey without recovering your traces
In my heart.

Paths of my love
I try to find you always
lost paths, you don't exist anymore,
And your echoes have been muffled.
Paths of despair,
Paths of memory,
Paths of first love,
Divine pathways of love.

This I am duty-bound to forget one day
the way that life obliterates all things.
I want in my heart that a memory will rest
More strongly than another love.
The memory of paths
Where trembling and completely passionate,
a day I have felt above myself
to burn and be consumed by your hands.

(text by Jean Anouilh)