Mélodie facts for kids

Mélodie is a French word that means “melody”. In classical music, it refers to songs written by French composers. These songs became popular from the mid-19th century and are still composed today.

A mélodie is similar to a Lied in German music. However, it is different from a chanson, which is the French word for a general “song”. The word "chanson" is usually used for folksongs or popular songs.

History of Mélodie

While German composers started writing great songs around 1800, the mélodie became important in France about 50 years later. German Lieder sometimes used texts from folksongs. But mélodies usually used poems by serious poets.

Hector Berlioz was the first composer to call some of his works mélodies. His famous work Les Nuits d'Été (from 1841) is a great example of a song cycle. A song cycle is a group of songs meant to be performed together.

Charles Gounod wrote about 200 mélodies. He often used poems by famous writers like Victor Hugo.

Gabriel Fauré composed over 100 mélodies. Many of these were based on poems by Paul Verlaine.

Henri Duparc is known for his seventeen mélodies. These are his most famous works.

Later, very famous composers like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel also wrote many mélodies. These are still sung often today. Ravel's melodies are special because they sometimes use ideas from folksongs. Other composers who wrote mélodies at that time include Albert Roussel, Reynaldo Hahn, and André Caplet.

Mélodies are still being composed today. However, one of the last very popular composers of mélodie was Francis Poulenc, who passed away in 1963.

Performing Mélodies

When singing a French mélodie, the poet’s feelings are often hinted at rather than clearly stated. There is a very close connection between the words and the music.

To sing mélodie well, a singer needs to know the French language very well. They also need to understand a lot about French poetry. The rules for singing in French can be quite complex. For example, it's important to know when the last sound of a word should blend into the next word (elision). Many books have been written to explain these rules.

Many famous singers are known for performing French mélodies. One of the most famous singers from the past was Pierre Bernac. He often gave recitals (music performances) with the composer Francis Poulenc. Poulenc would play the piano while Bernac sang. Bernac even wrote a book about how to sing mélodies.