PERFORMING ARTS
Jean Clara Cartwright
Jean Clara Cartwright
Au pays où se fair la guerre by Henri Duparc
performed by Jean Clara Cartwright
performed by Jean Clara Cartwright
Artist’s Statement
Originally titled Absence, the song was composed between 1869-70 by Henri Duparc, a French composer of the late Romantic period. Duparc was not known as a conventional songwriter, so this reasonably standard piece is relatively unusual among his works.
In this piece, the piano sets a mood of a weary vigil, as the woman in a tower awaits her lover to return. The singer represents the woman as she sings in simple, clear lines of her long wait, yet her voice begins to rise with enthusiasm as she reminisces their last kiss, where “he took my soul from my lips." When returning to the original theme, the character describes her heart as a lily, about to overflow. The piano accompaniment displays quick, excited chords, which creates a momentary change in mood, as she wonders if the steps coming up the stairs are her beloved’s, yet the following accompaniment of light and empty chords tell us otherwise, that only a moment later she realizes that it is only her page, carrying a lamp. In her last refrain, she calls to the evening winds to tell her beloved that he is “my whole joy”, as the piece draws towards the end the voice returns once again to the slow, evident theme of her waiting.
The words used for this piece are by Théophile Gautier, a French poet and ardent defender of Romanticism. The text shows signs of Pre-Raphaelite movement aesthetics. This image of a princess waiting in a tower for her beloved is common in fairy tales and legends, a popular image for medievalists of the Romantic period.
The word “part” itself can have several meanings, one of which is to leave someone’s company. And that is the definition I will personally choose for this month’s theme “part” in relation to a recording of me singing this piece. Previously written in my programme notes, Au pays où se fait la guerre is a melancholy song of heartache. The romantic words of Gautier paint paired with the emotive melody of Duparc create a poignant and beautifully expressed journey for the listener. The singer takes on the role of the woman waiting for her lover to return in this narrative. Speaking of the heartbreak and loneliness, she feels since his departure and her constant hope and patience to await his return.
My favourite line by Gautier in this work is “En partant, au baiser d'adieu, Il m'a pris mon âme à ma bouche” (On leaving, with the farewell kiss, he took my soul from my lips), which encapsulates how powerful love and its departure can be. How empty one can feel after that farewell kiss and especially so for this character here, reducing her to this soulless and empty shell of a person. That is merely existing through life until she’s reunited with her lover and whole again.
Lyrics
Au pays où se fait la guerre (To the land where a war is waged)
Mon bel ami s'en est allé; (my beloved has departed;)
Il semble à mon cœur désolé (it seems to my disconsolate heart)
Qu'il ne reste que moi sur terre. (that I alone remain on earth.)
En partant, au baiser d'adieu, (On leaving, with the farewell kiss,)
Il m'a pris mon âme à ma bouche (he took my soul from my lips)
Qui le tient si longtemps, mon Dieu? (My God, who withholds so long?)
Voilà le soleil qui se couche, (Here now is the sun setting,)
Et moi, toute seule en ma tour, and me, (all alone in my tower,)
J'attends encore son retour. (I still await his return)
Les pigeons sur le toit roucoulent, (The pigeons are cooing on the roof,)
Roucoulent amoureusement (cooing lovingly)
Avec un son triste et charmant; (with a sad and enchanting sound;)
Les eaux sous les grands saules coulent. (Beneath the big willows the waters are flowing.)
Je me sens tout près de pleurer, (I feel very near to crying,)
Mon cœur comme un lys plein s'épanche, (my heart opens out like a full lily,)
Et je n'ose plus espérer, (and I dare not hope any longer,)
Voici briller la lune blanche. (now the white moon is shining.)
Et moi, toute seule en ma tour, (and me, all alone in my tower,)
J'attends encore son retour. (I still await his return.)
Quelqu'un monte à grand pas la rampe: (Someone is climbing the steps with big strides:)
serait-ce lui, mon doux amant? (would it be him, my sweet lover?)
Ce n'est pas lui, mais seulement (It is not him, but only)
Mon petit page avec ma lampe. (my little page with my lantern.)
Vents du soir, volez, dites-lui (Winds of the evening, fly, tell him)
Qu'il est ma pensée et mon rêve, (that he is my thought and my dream,)
Toute ma joie et mon ennui. (my whole joy and my longing.)
Voici que l'aurore se lève, (Here now is the dawn rising,)
Et moi toute seule en ma tour, (and me, all alone in my tower,)
J'attends encore son retour. (I still await his return.)
Jean Clara Cartwright is currently a first study singer at the University of Nottingham with a highlighted focus and love for coloratura soprano arias. After previously winning a number of state piano competitions in the Philippines and completing her DipABRSM exam, she decided to solely focus on singing and in developing her voice to a higher standard. She is a soprano choral scholar at St Mary’s Church in Nottingham, which has presented her with numerous opportunities for solo work and CD recordings.