The Mélodie Comes of Age (Gounod, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, Massenet)

The focus is on four important and prolific figures in the mélodie repertoire: Charles Gounod, Camille Saint-Saëns, Georges Bizet, and Jules Massenet. The mid-nineteenth century mélodie emerged in close association with the romance and in response to the impact of the German Lied on the French scene. Gounod was a key figure in this development, cultivating a new style through flexible shaping of melodic lines within symmetrical phrases. Saint-Saëns followed closely in these footsteps, with more elaborate piano writing and looser phrase structure. Bizet and Massenet did as well, injecting greater theatrical flair and a larger harmonic palette. That Gounod, Saint-Saëns, and Massenet all began their careers perceived as progressives and ended as musical conservatives accounts in part for their eclipse by the generation of mélodie composers born after 1850, notwithstanding a repertory of over 700 mélodies that contains many pearls.