Henri Dutilleux

Three Posthumous Songs

Singer François Le Roux brings us “ Three Posthumous Songs ”, writen in 1941 by Henri Dutilleux at the request of the great baritone Charles Panzéra. In L'Ange pleureur (The Weeping Angel), a poem by Edmond Borsent, there are no tears but much irony as the chubby cherub frets over the “dark deeds” committed by the soul he must guard! Ronsard's Verses take a delicately archaic style to illustrate the poet's desire for young Angevin peasant girl Marie Dupin: starting out as pious believers, they soon frolic under the sheets as lovers. An excerpt from Rymes, written by Pernette du Guillet, a poetess from Lyon about whom very little is known, La Faute en est à toi (Love, Blame Yourself) brings a “Renaissance” feel to the graceful crochet-half note rhythm, with this third melody following in the footsteps of Ravel and Poulenc.