Clair de lune

Poem by Paul Verlaine set to music by Dominique Plénat for four voices mixed choir Clair de lune is the first poem in Les Fêtes galantes, Paul Verlaine's second collection. It inspired Gabriel Fauré in a composition for solo voice and piano. Claude Debussy also used it twice in the same configuration and gave its title to the very famous third movement of the Suite bergamasque for piano. The poem uses figures by Watteau or Fragonard as the starting point for a gentle yet sad reverie, figures who, he tells us, 'do not seem to believe in their happiness'. In a chiaroscuro very consistent with the themes evoked and driven by the concern for simplicity that he claims, Dominique Plénat offers us a new version for four mixed voices. As in his previous scores, we note that he is guided first and foremost by total respect for the phrasing and accentuation of the words so that the music really serves the text, which is already so musical in itself, and not the other way round. In order for this text to be audible, the entire poem is set in homorhythm. In just three bars, the voices' entries follow one another to evoke the characters' "fantastic disguises". A few harmonic surprises in passing do not really disturb the minor key used, the deciphering of which does not present any real difficulties. A score that is well suited to a programme of music and poetry... Performance time : 1'40''