Franco Cesarini

Le Cortège du Roi Renaud

Le cortège du roi Renaud is a suite in five parts. It is based on tales that originated in southern European folk songs, dating back as far as the 16th century. A large portion of these songs are of the genre 'Complaintes' songs in which the text gives a detailed description of events having a generally criminal or macabre character. The most familiar song to feature the tales of Roi Renaud is 'Fualdes', consisting of 48 verses. The first part of the suite is based on the song 'La Porcheronne' (The Swineherd). It telis the story of a young woman forced by her mother-in-law to tend pigs while her husband is away fighting in the war. She is freed only when her husband returns sevenyears later. The next part tells the story of 'La mrquise Empoisonnée' (The Poisoned Marquise). A marquise is coerced by her king to become his mistress. The jealous queen poisons her by means of a bouquet of deadly scented fiowers. Despite having the character of a merry dance, the third part, 'La maumariée vengee' (The Avenged Wedding), expresses the touching story of Queen Clotilde, persecuted for her refusal to live according to the Aryan beliefs. 'La belle engloutie' (The Swallowed Beauty) relates the tale of the young wife of King Renaud. She cannot imagine a life without her husband, who was mortally wounded in the war, and begs the earth to open and swallow her up so thst she may rejoin her love. The gruesome content of the final part, 'Le tueur de femmes' (The Wife Killer), bears a strong resembiance to the tale of Bluebeard. The story is about a young wife in danger of being drowned in a pond by her husband, which is what happened to her 13 predecessors. Thanks to her cunning, she manages to turn the tables and contrive her husband's demise.