Vol. 2
2 pp. $2.95. Presser Order number 494-02795 (PWYS-77)
The
Élégie by Jules Massenet (1842-1912) was perhaps one of the most popular
melodies in Europe of the fin de siècle, the last decades of the
nineteenth century, often referred to as the Belle Epoque. Massenet
originally composed Élégie in 1866 for a piano cycle titled Pièces de
Genre, Op. 10 Nº 5. In 1872, he incorporated the piece into Les Erinnyes
(The Furies), a play by Leconte de Lisle. The sorrowful melody for muted cello
became a solo piece entitled Mélodie-Elégie and was arranged numerous
times for many instruments and instrumental ensembles. At some point it was
adapted to the lyrics ‘O doux printemps d’autrefois’ by Louis Gallet
(1698?-1757). The present arrangement by the Catalan guitarist Jaime Bosch
(1826-1895), mainly known in France as Jacques Bosch, was published in 1891 in
Paris by the Vve. E. Girod, the successor of the original publisher of the cello
and piano version, E. et A. Girod, 16 Boulevard Montmarte (pl. nr. 5499). The
guitar arrangement seems to have been a hastily prepared edition, employing the
original cover page of the cello and piano edition, with a new rubber stamp
marking it as Edition pour Guitare (pl. nr. 6203). The guitar version
does not contain any dynamics and articulations, and skips the initial two
measures of Introduction played originally on the piano. The paucity of
fingering indications is at a great contrast to other guitar editions of the
period. The present edition is fully fingered, contains all the dynamics markings
from the original edition, and the missing two bars of the Introduction have
been added editorially.
Copyright © 2006 by Editions Orphée, Inc. All Rights Reserved.