| Jean Cocteau and his literary works served as an inspiration and motivation for the composers chosen for this dissertation performance project. Cocteau lived at a time when the French musical world was reacting against French Impressionism, Russian influence, and German Romanticism. He led, inspired, and motivated this new musical aesthetic beginning with the publication of his manifesto, Le coq et l'arlequin. Cocteau was born into a Parisian bourgeois family that was entranced with all the art mediums. Later he was also influenced by his artistic colleagues: Serge Diaghilev, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie, and Igor Stravinsky.; Recital I focuses on Cocteau's work as a dramatist. The selected composers' works were shaped and molded by Cocteau's texts. This is evidenced by Arthur Honegger's violent and intense musical style in Antigone, Darius Milhaud's use of employing light-hearted sea chanteys in Le pauvre matelot, and Francis Poulenc's highly dramatic and desperate La voix humaine. The second half of Recital I is devoted solely to Philip Glass's trilogy of Cocteau operas---Orphee, Les enfants terribles, and La Belle et la Bete. Glass was inspired by Cocteau's use of classicism, symbolism, themes of transformation, and understanding of collaboration.; Although best known for his work as a director and writer, Cocteau was very active as a poet and viewed all art forms as being fundamentally "poetic." Through the works of Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Maxime Jacob, Darius Milhaud, and Francis Poulenc, the understanding of Cocteau's poetry throughout Recital II is further enhanced and refined. The influence of contemporary popular entertainments such as the music hall, cabaret, and jazz are evident. Themes of childhood, angels, war, technology, maritime subjects, and fantasy are abundant. The full spectrum of human emotion is apparent through book-ending Recital II with two works by Poulenc: the lighthearted Cocardes and the tragic La dame de Monte-Carlo.; Cocteau's oeuvre inspired the creation of these works by the selected composers. These musical works further enhanced and refined Cocteau's artistic objectives.; Included in this document are English translations, a listing of vocal works utilizing Cocteau texts, and a bibliography. |
